Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was sidelined for all of what should’ve been his rookie season after suffering a knee injury during the 2024 preseason. It’s easy to see the 2024 campaign as a wasted year for McCarthy and his development, but the Vikings were adamant on making sure that wouldn’t be the case.
The Vikings made sure to keep McCarthy engaged. This was done via a weekly one-hour meeting with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“I just wanted to give him a platform with me,” O’Connell said, according to ESPN. “Maybe it was football one day. Maybe it was no football. My time is very hard to find during the season, but I just wanted to make sure that we got together.
“The one thing I learned about him in those meetings is he had great questions, and that validated that he was receiving and getting something out of that time. And as I’ve told him, it doesn’t really guarantee you anything, but once you’re fighting the fight on a daily basis of growing within the system, he would be able to rely on some of what we did together.”
Fans reacted to the news on social media.
“McCarthy needs to sit and develop. The worst possible thing we could do is throw him to the wolves with this schedule. Go trade Howell and pick up like 20 mil of his salary for Kirk Cousins,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Nothing can replace live game reps but having him mentally ready shows that KOC is ready die on the McCarthy hill and that the people pushing the Rodgers stuff are embarrassing,” another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see what sort of dividends the weekly meetings pay this season.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. At Next Impulse, Qwame covers sports with the same enthusiasm he brings to his recreational basketball and softball leagues.