‘It’s something I’m going to continue to strive for’ — J.J. McCarthy opens up about his mechanics and his struggles this season

There isn’t a simple answer to the problem, and the road will be bumpy.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Nov 16, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) throws downfield during the first quarter against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium.
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The discussion surrounding Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy has been exhausting, and it’s mainly because he is so inconsistent in his first five starts.

With McCarthy starting at quarterback, the Vikings are 2-3, and he’s started just five of the first 28 games he’s been on the Vikings for, and that includes the playoff game. In those games, McCarthy’s counting stats and underlying metrics have been far from perfect. In fact, they have been mostly bad.

Fixing some of the mechanical issues of McCarthy has been the biggest topic of conversation, and he was asked about those in his weekly press conference with the media.

J.J. McCarthy talks openly about mechanical issues

When you watch McCarthy, his feet are incredibly frantic, and he sets up with a really wide base. Those two things cause the majority of his issues.

However, when he puts it all together, it looks good. The biggest piece of that was the last drive on Sunday when he led the Vikings what was the go-ahead touchdown. It wasn’t the first time he’d led a drive like that, either, which is what makes his inconsistencies mechanically so incredibly frustrating.

Needless to say, McCarthy knows what the issue is and believes he’s really close to a breakthrough.

“I feel like, for me, I make the analogy of a cork about to come off a bottle, just understanding that it’s one, two, three little things that I need to change about my game that is going to make a huge difference in the outcome of every single drive,” said McCarthy. “I feel like it’s really close, but it all comes down to the consistency of the fundamentals and the little details.”

Consistency is the key. There are times when he has it together. It’s one reason why I believe that running a more up-tempo offense for the time being could be exactly what they need. Get him playing and not thinking about things, and his mechanics could be less inconsistent because of that.

The one thing that we haven’t broken down was how much the Vikings were doing to change McCarthy’s footwork, which he said was substantial.

“It’s very new coming in here. I was taught how to play quarterback in a very different way. And that’s, you know, expected going into the league, going into any new team, any new system,” said McCarthy.

What McCarthy learned wasn’t just a new system and playing with the speed of the NFL, but also his mechanics. They worked on things like changing how he stands in the shotgun to maximize his drop-back efficiency

“At the end of the day, it was the injuries that I felt like it took away all those reps in the constant repetition to make those a habit and make them concrete, like KO [Kevin O’Connell] talks about,” McCarthy added. “I feel like it’s just the repetitions, how many times could I go home, and every time I take the dogs out, I’m getting 10 drops each time, little things like that, where you just keep building the reps.”

We don’t talk enough about McCarthy not being able to work on these things while he was rehabbing. It takes thousands of repetitions to make it muscle memory. He hasn’t gotten that, and what we are seeing is a result of his lack of repetition with his footwork.

Will we get that soon with McCarthy? Probably, but it’s not going to be easy.

“It’s really hard. You’re rewiring neurological pathways, and that’s not something that happens overnight. So just understanding and giving myself that grace, that patience, that I might not have it today, but it’s something I’m going to continue to strive after, day after day, rep after rep, and get to the place where we all want me to be,” said McCarthy. And yeah, it just comes with all those reps. Anything new takes time, and especially playing at the level of the National Football League, the urgency to it is very important. But no matter what it is, it’s going to take time.”

It’s important to give him some grace, even if it’s a little painful at times. The Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell are going to do everything they can to get him right.

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