The Vikings head coach enjoyed McCarthy's game before his hand injury
Although J.J. McCarthy finished just above 100 yards passing with two turnovers before leaving the game with a hand injury, Vikings head coach loved his quarterback's performance against the New York Giants. The good news is McCarthy's injury isn't considered serious, but the Vikings might be cautious and hold McCarthy out for the final two games of 2025.
“You know what? I thought, again, he was in a rhythm of great decision-making early on,” said O’Connell about McCarthy. “Obviously, the tip-ball interception, it’s a simple, quick-gain, out route, makes a great decision there… Loved the decisive decision to [Jordan] Addison on the play action there at one point. And [McCarthy] showed his athleticism on a big, big third down to put the ball in the end zone, which was huge.
“So, I thought JJ was doing a lot of really good things,” continued O’Connell. “Really, really unfortunate he was not able to finish the football game. He, in my opinion, was stacking, putting together a nice performance again.”
As always, O'Connell said there is room for improvement, but overall, the Vikings head coach believed McCarthy was headed to his third straight impressive performance.
McCarthy on the season is sporting a passing line of 57.3% completion percentage, 1,450 yards, 11 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and an NFL QB rating of 71.2.
On Sunday, McCarthy did his best work in the 0-9 yard range with a line of 4/7, 47 yards, and accounted for 50% of his throws. Unfortunately, his interception came in the same range. PFF charged McCarthy with three TWP and all three were when pressured in the pocket.
Former Minnesota Viking great Cris Carter hasn't been the biggest McCarthy supporter and spoke about him right after Sunday's game also.
“We knew this was coming,” said Carter of McCarthy’s struggles. “We knew that he had been spoiled. But the connection with Kevin O’Connell, we didn’t think that the offseason, or the season last year, he was going to miss as many reps, quarterback reps. Because he couldn’t get on the field because he had one knee procedure, and he had to have another one to go correct some other things.”
The discussion about McCarthy may fade when the Vikings head into the offseason, but it is the most important discussion for the Vikings and their future and right before the draft, the conversation will pick right back up and continue its momentum.