J.J. McCarthy hasn't been with the Minnesota Vikings for that long, but he's already made it obvious that he's the type of player who wears his emotions on his sleeve. This was the case once again for McCarthy following the Vikings' unexpected win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
After the victory, Minnesota's social media accounts shared a video of the team's locker room erupting in cheers when McCarthy arrived, and when asked about the reaction during his post-game presser, the second-year quarterback struggled to keep his emotions in check.
"It was awesome. Yeah, just...
When you're hurt, you know, being on IR last year and being out for five weeks, it absolutely kills me not being out there with those guys [because] I love every single one of them, and I know they've got my back, and I've got theirs the rest of the way."
Emotions get the best of Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy after big Week 9 win over the Detroit Lions
It's not difficult to understand why McCarthy got emotional after Sunday's big win.
The last few weeks have been full of ups and downs for the 22-year-old quarterback.
McCarthy began the 2025 season by making his first-career NFL start on "Monday Night Football" in a road matchup against the Chicago Bears that ended with a Vikings win after he led the team on an epic comeback in the fourth quarter.
A few days later, McCarthy became a father after he and his fiancée welcomed their first child into the world. Then things came crashing back down to earth in Week 2 for the young Minnesota quarterback when he struggled mightily in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons and suffered a high-ankle sprain in the matchup.
After some optimism at first, that injury wound up keeping McCarthy on the sideline for five games, and all he could do was watch as the Vikings lost three of their five matchups with Carson Wentz starting under center.
Then, on Sunday, McCarthy's first game back in Minnesota's starting lineup was against a Lions team that is one of the best in the NFL this season, and it was played inside a state where he created a legend for himself during his college career at the University of Michigan.
Basically, the kid has gone through a lot in just a few short weeks.
But all of that really makes what McCarthy did on Sunday that much more impressive, since he had every excuse not to show up in the contest and struggle like many in the national media expected him to.
Instead, he helped the Vikings turn things around by getting a win in Detroit for the first time since Week 17 of the 2020 season.