It's been an up-and-down year for Minnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy. The former Michigan Wolverine is considered the team's future franchise leader, but his stint as the starter has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride.
After missing the entire 2024 schedule with a torn meniscus that he suffered in the pre-season, the youngster has been pressed into the starting role for the Vikings. He won NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors in the opener against the Bears before missing even more time with a high ankle sprain. He returned in Week 9, and he's been inconsistent ever since.
McCarthy discussed his progress this season and admitted that he's making adjustments to improve, including his rhythm and how he operates in the pocket.
"It was really just the injuries that I felt kind of took away all those reps," McCarthy said, according to ESPN Vikings insider Kevin Seifert, "In the constant repetition to make those a habit and make them concrete like [O'Connell] talks about... Little things like that, where I just keep getting the reps."
"You're rewiring neurological pathways, and that's not something that happens overnight. So just understanding in giving myself that grace, that patience that I might not have it today, but it's something I'm going to continue to strive after day after day, rep after rep, and get to the place where we all want me to be."
Herbstreit says Vikings quarterback needs time.
"[McCarthy] is such a rare talent," Kirk Herbstreit stated on the Wednesday episode of the Pat McAfee Show. "[But] how many starts does JJ McCarthy have in his career? Five or six? At this point, when we've had a year where we've seen Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield, and Sam Darnold all kind of resurrect their careers and get in the right spot, I just think it's very premature."
At that point, Herbstreit said that McCarthy and other young QBs should be expected to struggle at times, and how impatient the team and fans can be.
"Whether it's a guy like JJ McCarthy or a Michael Penix, or whoever it might be. To look at them and evaluate that this guy's trash, or this guy doesn't have what it takes... We are, as a world consuming sports... We want results right now."
McCarthy will have a chance to showcase whatever adjustments he's been making when the Vikes take on the Green Bay Packers (6-3-1) this Sunday. Fans will get an up-close look at just how much of that patience that Herbstreit called for will be shown, based on the prodigious passer's performance.