Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy starting in the preseason vs. Texans comes with a unique set of expectations
Understanding the expectations for J.J. McCarthy in the preseason are key.
The Minnesota Vikings didn’t get to see J.J. McCarthy practice throughout the course of the 2024 season due to the torn meniscus he suffered in the first preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders. With the need to get McCarthy more reps before his first start against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, he will get the start on Saturday against the Houston Texans.
As we saw last year, it’s a risk to put in McCarthy due to the injury risk. However, the ability to get him reps arguably outweighs the injury risk, and it could be huge for him to get off to a better start.
J.J. McCarthy’s expectations in preseason game vs. Texans
When it comes to what to expect in the preseason for McCarthy, it’s important to set proper expectations for his start. It’s not fair to expect him to be as dynamic as he was in his debut where he threw for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns. What we should see is consistency and good process.
“It’s just another small circumstance of the process that we’re building moving forward with him,” said head coach Kevin O’Connell about the preseason’ in the ‘s role in the evaluation process. “It’s a chance to wake up on Saturday morning and get in your car and drive to U.S. Bank Stadium. Go through the pre-game warmups and build up to the ball getting kicked off. You run out there and lead a unit and try to put together some successful sequences of plays. Then, there’s going to be a bunch of things that he will personally feel that we can build upon. There’s going to be a bunch of things as a team that hopefully we can build upon. Then, there’s going to be some coachable moments as well, that are all part of the process getting him ready to go towards the season. Another part of many slivers of the process that we’ve seen already.
“We’ll continue to see next week with some joint practice work and what we have planned for the final week leading into the final preseason game. I’m looking forward to it all. Any time you’re putting on the Vikings uniform and going to play, I want our whole team. Regardless of whether you play one snap or 70 snaps. I want our whole team to be prepared and using that for what it is, which is a dress rehearsal for 17 opportunities to come.”
The process is the progress has been a major theme for the Vikings with McCarthy throughout his development. Getting the process down is the most important thing, and the results will come from there. O’Connell mentioned working on the variety of throws that you need to make in the NFL, as he’s been making it a focus to work on touch throws.
“He works certain throws for getting prepared for the season. It’s just an array of what our
offense presents from a standpoint of the quick game, the drop-back pass game. Some of the
weighty downs in the third-down red zone. Those are all different kind of throws, depending on
where you are in the drop-back game and where you are on the field. Regarding where you’re
going to try to throw those balls, then you have the play-pass game, where you’re trying to put
defenders in conflicts to open up voids and vacancies. Then you’ve got some things outside of
the pocket in the movement game, screen game. There’s no throws in particular. We’re just trying
to expose him and to as many of those throws as we can. You’re not going to even be able to get
all the reps in training camp in the in the 11-on-11 setting. That’s why we have different phases
of the practice. Then, you’re not going to show a whole lot in the preseason games. I mean, that’s
just that’s both sides. I’ve said from day one arm strength is not something that I question
whatsoever. I think he’s [J.J. McCarthy] got a very strong arm.”
Overall, the biggest thing that we want to see from McCarthy is growth and consistent process. One thing to watch for is how much his back leg swings out. That has been a big focus for the Vikings to maximize the legit arm strength that he has. He’s already shown a lot of improvement, but it’s not all the way there yet.
As long as we see good process and progress from McCarthy, he will meet expectations.