J.J. McCarthy is ready for the job and the pressure of taking over as QB for the Vikings

While everyone else in the NFL ‘s record crop of first-round quarterbacks in the draft last year launched their careers on the field, J.J. McCarthy was forced to begin his with film study and in the training room for the Minnesota Vikings.

McCarthy would hardly consider that a wasted season, even though the torn meniscus in his right knee made him the first quarterback selected in the first round since the common draft era began in 1967 to not play any games as a rookie because of injury.

His gratitude journal helped take care of that.

“The little things that go overlooked and underappreciated when you are healthy and you can walk, or even the ability to see. I feel like that’s been a great anchor for me every single morning, along with my meditation, to kind of put great perspective into my days and jump-start my day,” McCarthy said, reflecting on the practice he started in college at Michigan and resumed after he was hurt in the team’s first exhibition game and needed surgery four days later.

McCarthy was moving around crisply on the indoor practice field on Tuesday with a group of offensive players, wearing a backward hat and a recurring smile a session in the first phase of the offseason conditioning program that was briefly opened to reporters. He said he feels better than he did before the injury in August.

“I felt like I was back the second I started throwing. I was itching to be out there and get after it, and kind of always felt better than what I was supposed to feel,” McCarthy said in his first interview with local media since Sept. 6.

The Vikings mulled in March the bold move of bringing in Aaron Rodgers, but they ultimately decided to table that as an emergency option down the road and solidify their commitment to McCarthy.

When Sam Darnold signed with Seattle and Daniel Jones and Nick Mullens also departed in free agency, the Vikings were left with just Brett Rypien behind McCarthy. Considering Rodgers made sense without any significant experience at the position, but a four-time NFL MVP wasn’t going to be a backup. The Vikings settled on a trade for Sam Howell, who started all 17 games for Washington in 2023 and was with Seattle last season.

“Obviously I respect Aaron Rodgers, one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, but all I was focusing on was that day-to-day task, what I was doing here, what I was doing at home just to kind of make myself the best overall player I can be,” McCarthy said.

The Vikings have made significant enhancements to an offense that finished ninth in the NFL in points and 12th in yards last season, committing more than $53 million guaranteed to bring in right guard Will Fries and center Ryan Kelly as free agents from Indianapolis. They re-signed running back Aaron Jones and acquired a young and promising backup, Jordan Mason, in a trade with San Francisco. Then they drafted left guard Donovan Jackson in the first round last week and wide receiver Tai Felton in the third round.

Coming off a 14-win season, the Vikings are clearly in win-now mode even with a quarterback who’s never taken a snap in a game that counts.

“I know I’m ready to start, because of all the work that I put in and just the confidence in my skills and abilities,” McCarthy said.

Last week, coach Kevin O’Connell offered his latest praise of McCarthy’s commitment to the “invisible habits” of completing his rehab and soaking up as much as he can from a strategic standpoint. After slimming down to below 190 pounds before he ramped up his weight-room work, McCarthy is back to his ideal weight of about 215 pounds.

There will be immense pressure on McCarthy to succeed this season with a championship-ready roster around him. Living with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder since he was a kid, McCarthy has long found calm and confidence in the chaos.

“That’s where I feel most comfortable, where the lights are the brightest, the stage is the biggest out there,” he said, “and I know there’s going to be a lot more of that to come.”

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