After missing five consecutive games with a high-ankle sprain, Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy returned to the lineup this past Sunday and helped the Purple & Gold to a 27-24 upset victory over the Detroit Lions, a win they desperately needed to avoid falling too far behind in the NFC playoff race.
Now, did McCarthy play the perfect game of football? No, he certainly didn't, completing just 56 percent of his passes for 143 yards with two touchdowns and an interception to earn an average 82.6 passer rating.
But after seven weeks of no actual game action and facing a difficult Detroit defense—on the road, no less—in just his third career regular-season start, McCarthy undoubtedly deserved plenty of praise for his performance.
Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Will Fries is a believer in quarterback J.J. McCarthy
Not everyone is sold on the Michigan alum just yet, of course, but Will Fries is definitely not a member of that group, as the Vikings' right guard is 100 percent bought in on his young quarterback.
"It's real. I think it's the most real I may have ever been around," Fries said during an appearance on The Ross Tucker Podcast. "The look in his eye doesn't waver from snap one to snap 65. Every single play—the intent, the intensity, the moxie—you just believe that he can make something happen at any time.
"He's been so fun to play with. He's just a guy's guy. The leadership's incredible. When things aren't going well, keeping guys engaged, going up and down the sideline, looking guys in the eye. He just has a look to him, something in his eyes that you can just feel, and the whole team feeds off it."
McCarthy has certainly proven that he can indeed, as Fries said, "make something happen at any time," as he led the Vikings to an improbable comeback victory in his regular-season debut in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another in the final frame alone.
The knock on McCarthy, of course, has been inconsistency. Outside of the two fourth-quarter touchdowns he threw against the Bears and the pair of first-quarter touchdowns he tossed this past Sunday against the Lions, the 22-year-old has failed to throw for a score in any of the other 10 quarters he's played thus far.
Nevertheless, the fact that McCarthy has been able to show these flashes of brilliance this early in his career is obviously nothing but positive. And as Fries mentioned, he's clearly locked in for every snap and has the trust of his teammates. The next step is simply sustaining a high level of play for an entire game, which he'll next attempt to do this Sunday when the Vikings host Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.