Resilience of J.J. McCarthy on display during Saturday’s training camp practice

The conversation about J.J. McCarthy working with the first team offense at Minnesota Vikings training camp is heating up. The rookie quarterback out of the University of Michigan is looking good during team activities at training camp practices.

On Saturday, McCarthy continued to work with the first team during seven-on-seven drills. Sports Illustrated Vikings beat writer Will Ragatz shared in his recent breakdown of Saturday's practice that the National Champion QB has been working with both the first and second-team offenses.

Putting the young passer up against the best the Vikings have to offer is a good test of his preparedness and skills heading into the preseason. There has already been quite a bit learned about the young man's resilience.

Resilience of J.J. McCarthy on display during Saturday’s training camp practice

Ragatz is doing an excellent job of breaking down Vikings practices during training camp. Regarding Friday's session, the Sports Illustrated analyst noted that J.J. McCarthy had a particularly rough session and struggled immensely.

""It was a particularly rough day for McCarthy — probably his worst of camp so far. The rookie really struggled to get the ball out quickly, which led to sacks and scrambles and rushed throws.""

- Will Ragatz on J.J. McCarthy

Confidence can be a major factor in the development of a young quarterback. McCarthy took his struggles from Friday and rolled them into a much better performance during Minnesota's next practice session.

"" J.J. McCarthy had plenty of impressive moments in his own right, including a fun stretch of action with the first-team offense.""

- Will Ragatz on J.J. McCarthy

Good quarterbacks need to have a short memory. Mistakes are learning experiences but should not be a regular part of their performance. Going from his major struggles on Friday to putting on an "impressive" performance on Saturday is the kind of bounce-back effort that is encouraging to hear about the Vikings' No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Whether or not this resilience will help the case of moving up a potential McCarthy regular season debut will need to be seen. For now, Sam Darnold is still expected to start the year as QB1 but the rookie will likely take over the job when head coach Kevin O'Connell believes he is ready.

J.J. McCarthy is definitely a player to keep an eye on this preseason. His workload during the Minnesota Vikings' three preseason games is unknown but continuing his development and allowing him to grow and develop should help the case to see him behind center sooner rather than later.

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