Kevin O'Connell reveals reason JJ McCarthy still isn't named Vikings starter
Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell shed light on why quarterback JJ McCarthy hasn't yet been named the team's starter.
O'Connell - entering his third season as Vikings HC - addressed the situation during an appearance on the "Up & Adams" show with Kay Adams. The coach's comments came after McCarthy had fully recovered from the torn meniscus that sidelined him for his entire rookie season.
The discussion took place on Wednesday, just days after JJ McCarthy spoke publicly about his recovery and readiness to lead Minnesota's offense. Kay Adams directly questioned why the team hasn't officially named McCarthy the starter.
"Unless, Kay, I'm unaware of rule changes that allow us to play against not only just, you know phase two, I know you know this... we can't even line up defensive players from our own team against him yet. So we really don't have a need to have anything more than just development, time learning, time teaching phase for our team," O'Connell said.
But trust me, JJ is going to get all the prerequisite work for us to come out of the spring feeling great about where he's at and heading into training camp. And as those days and, you know, weeks click off the calendar here, I'm sure he'll be in a great position to do a lot of good things for us," he added.
The Minnesota Vikings selected JJ McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, but he suffered a knee injury in his first preseason game. That required surgery and sidelined him for the entire season. This made him the first quarterback selected in the first round since 1967 to not play any games as a rookie due to injury.
"I know I'm ready to start": JJ McCarthy confident after a year of preparation
Despite not taking a single regular-season snap last year, JJ McCarthy expressed absolute confidence in his ability to lead the Vikings in 2025.
McCarthy has devoted himself to preparation during his recovery, a commitment O'Connell previously praised as maintaining "invisible habits" throughout his rehab process. JJ McCarthy has regained his ideal playing weight of 215 pounds after dropping to under 190 during his initial recovery phase.
"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," JJ McCarthy said in his first local media interview since September 6.
The Vikings have shown a commitment to JJ McCarthy this offseason. When Sam Darnold left in free agency, Minnesota looked at signing Aaron Rodgers but instead chose to reaffirm its commitment to McCarthy. They acquired Sam Howell as a backup and spent big on offensive line support. They also signed center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries, and took left guard Donovan Jackson in the first round.