McCarthy welcomes his latest return at QB for the Vikings, this time with a clearer mind

By Canadian Press on December 4, 2025.

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — J.J. McCarthy has returned to the lineup for the Minnesota Vikings, refreshed after an injury absence to resume his much-delayed development with a better perspective on how to handle this most difficult job.

That sure sounds familiar.

After yet another reset, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell has at least temporarily revised his expectation and strategy. The weekly game plan needs to include fewer plays, he decided, for the sake of the entire offense, not just the 22-year-old quarterback. The lower-body passing mechanics O’Connell and his staff have been working so exhaustively on with the struggling McCarthy can be shelved until spring.

“I want him to have a clear head and a clear mind to just go play,” O’Connell said, “but play with an understanding.”

There’s always a “but,” and in this case the Vikings and their NFL-worst minus-15 turnover margin need McCarthy to bring his decision-making more in line with how closely it can correlate to devastating interceptions.

“A lot of the mentality has changed for sure. I was just so focused on doing every rep perfect and making sure every little detail was crossed and checked off,” McCarthy said, later adding: “I’m definitely a natural overthinker, and it’s not against them. I need to do a better job of compartmentalizing those coaching points and realizing when it’s game time, it’s time to let it loose.”

O’Connell has clearly had to make his own improvements this season, too. After winning the AP NFL Coach of the Year award in 2024 on the strength of his work toward the transformation of quarterback Sam Darnold’s career, O’Connell has not enjoyed much carryover from that process when it comes to a prospect such as McCarthy at a very different stage.

“It’s not like I’m totally disregarding all the coaching points and all that, definitely not, but it’s just picking and choosing which ones you carry into gameday with and what’s going to be the most effective way of completing that play,” McCarthy said.

Given that McCarthy has missed 24 of a possible 30 games in his career because of the knee injury that cost him his rookie season, a sprained ankle earlier this season and a concussion last week, the current messaging from the coaching staff also includes an emphasis on remembering to slide after scrambling so he can better protect his body.

“Every single game kind of feels like you got kicked in the face by a donkey,” McCarthy said on Thursday after he was cleared from the concussion protocol. “That’s inevitable, the feeling of the whiplash and all that, so how can I avoid those situations where something catastrophic could happen — or just something ticky-tack like an ankle sprain that puts you out for six weeks?”

Though rookie Max Brosmer and 10-year veteran Carson Wentz have also contributed to this problem, the Vikings at 5.2% have the worst interception rate per pass attempt by any team in the NFL since 2009, per Sportradar data. Coincidentally, their 2010 team (5.1%) during Brett Favre’s final season with Tarvaris Jackson and Joe Webb as injury fill-ins has the second worst.

While a once-potent passing attack has gone dormant, star wide receiver Justin Jefferson has had to be patient with the quarterback development — in the prime of his career without a single playoff game win. But Jefferson said on Thursday his confidence in McCarthy remains high.

“It’s just all about him just going out there and doing stuff that he’s been doing all week. All week at practice the throws are there and accurate and the decision-making is there,” Jefferson said. “It’s just all about taking that into the game and playing freely, calm, and poised.”

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Dave Campbell, The Associated Press