Vikings RT Brian O'Neill Stands Up for QB J.J. McCarthy

Minnesota Vikings starting right tackle and team captain Brian O'Neill voiced strong support for his young quarterback JJ McCarthy during his appearance on the Green Light podcast with Chris Long and Beau Allen.

The 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, McCarthy’s journey has been anything but smooth upon entering the league. He tore his meniscus in the preseason, forcing him to miss his entire rookie year, before later dealing with a high ankle sprain, a concussion and a fractured hand in 2025. The injuries stalled what many expected to be an early developmental runway for the former first-round pick and kept him from gaining valuable experience.

Despite the setbacks, O’Neill has emphasized patience with the 23-year-old as he continues adjusting to the NFL after an injury-riddled start to his career, also pointing to McCarthy’s leadership traits and the respect he has already earned inside the locker room as encouraging signs for the organization and player moving forward.

“If I was judged after my first 10 games in the NFL, I’m not playing right now. It’s still so fresh, and he’s only going to continue to get better… you hear the term lose the locker room. He had the locker room more than anybody I’ve seen ever.”

O’Neill’s comments come from a veteran voice who has been a stabilizing presence for the Minnesota offense and a staple of the offensive line for the past eight seasons. As a multiple-time team captain, he has seen firsthand how the locker room responds to young players navigating early adversity, where expectations are often immediate but development is rarely linear. He has also seen both the best and worst of how a locker room responds to a quarterback, and the team clearly respects his perspective. His consistency and high-level production over the years, while going through coaching changes and different starting quarterbacks, has also helped establish him as one of the more trusted voices in the building.

Beyond his on-field role, O’Neill’s leadership has often helped younger players adjust to the speed of the NFL—especially in this situation with a young quarterback trying to regain his confidence. That credibility gives added weight to his comments on McCarthy, particularly when evaluating patience versus performance early in a quarterback’s career.

In a league where pressure can derail careers quickly, his message reinforces the idea that development takes time, especially for a young signal-caller still working through injuries and limited reps.