Plenty of eyebrows were raised a few weeks ago when it was revealed that Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy was working out with Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Thielen, of course, spent the first 10 years of his NFL career with the Vikings, and he grew up in nearby Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He still has plenty of Vikings fans rooting for him these days, so the clips of him catching passes from McCarthy have unsurprisingly caused some to dream about him returning to play in Minnesota once again before his career comes to a close.
McCarthy and Thielen worked out multiple times during the last few weeks, and it sounds like the rookie signal-caller was able to learn a lot in the time that he spent with the Pro Bowl receiver.
Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy says working with Adam Thielen "was huge"
On Friday, McCarthy stepped up to the podium for the first time this summer, and he answered a few questions from some of the local Twin Cities media.
At one point, the young quarterback was asked about the time he spent working with Thielen this year, and he shared what he learned from the former Vikings pass-catcher.
"I was working with him twice a week, and it was so great to work with him because he's someone familiar with the offense. So I could work on that and be able to call the plays, and him actually going out there and running and him from his perspective on certain concepts, it was huge."
Twice a week? McCarthy and Thielen certainly got in plenty of reps together this summer.
Carolina probably would have preferred the former Vikings receiver work with his current team's quarterback, Bryce Young, but with McCarthy choosing to remain in Minnesota after this year's OTAs, he was probably the more convenient option when Thielen was back in his home state for a few weeks.
Thielen will turn 34 in August and it seems like he's going to remain with the Panthers for at least one more season. After that, could a return to the Vikings to catch passes from McCarthy in actual, meaningful games be how the veteran receiver wants to finish up his NFL career?