'He's a great kid': Adam Thielen details his experience with J.J. McCarthy

Last week, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen generated a ton of attention from his former team's fan base when he posted some footage on his Instagram account from a recent workout with Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

Thielen, a native of Minnesota, was back in the Twin Cities recently, and before he has to return to the southeastern part of the country to take part in Panthers training camp at the end of the month, he got to catch some passes from McCarthy.

Recently, the former Vikings receiver shared some details about what he took away from his interaction with his old team's rookie signal-caller.

Carolina Panthers WR Adam Thielen says Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy has "all the tools"

On Monday, Thielen joined Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen on his daily radio show on KFXN-FM, and, unsurprisingly, the veteran wide receiver was asked about the time he spent working out with McCarthy last week.

Thielen had the following to say about Minnesota's rookie quarterback.

"He's got all the tools, that's for sure. He can sling it [and] he's super accurate. We're wearing shorts and t-shirts out there, but you can [still] see a lot, just from accuracy, timing, and those kinda things when you're running routes on air.

The former Vikings pass-catcher then talked about some of the things he noticed about McCarthy that didn't have to do with how accurately he threw a pass.

"He's a great kid. You don't really realize that he's 21-years-old when you're talking to him [and] when you're hanging around him. He's got a maturity about him that you can tell goes beyond his age.

And that's step No. 1 as a quarterback, right? To have that maturity level, have that kind of poise or kind of that aura around you that just feels confident. And [he's] just a good person. So, I've really enjoyed being around him for the little time that I've been able to be around him."

With Thielen currently being a member of the Panthers, it's not like he's saying this stuff just to build up the young quarterback's confidence, as McCarthy isn't going to be throwing him passes next season.

The comments from the former Minnesota receiver just seem genuine, and some of his takeaways from his interactions with McCarthy are exactly why the Vikings used the No. 10 pick in this year's NFL Draft to select the young signal-caller.

Who knows if these two will ever actually become teammates down the road, but if McCarthy is the starting quarterback in Minnesota whenever Thielen becomes available again, the veteran receiver might now be more intrigued by the idea of returning to the Vikings.

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