Kevin O’Connell keeping the status quo with J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz’s status says everything about Sunday vs. Eagles
Kevin O’Connell’s silence about who is the starter makes complete sense.
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell continues to play the middle when it comes to the quarterback situation going into Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Both J.J. McCarthy (high ankle sprain) and Carson Wentz (left shoulder) are coming off of injuries, which makes the entire situation a little more difficult. O’Connell stayed relatively mum about it.
“We’ve got to prepare to try to win a game on Sunday,” said O’Connell on Monday. “And Carson, you know, as well, working with, you know, his left shoulder, he’ll practice as well. But we really want to get our team ready to go, and in the process of doing that.”
Kevin O’Connell not revealing starter says everything
During his press conference on Wednesday, one of the first questions he got was about how the practice reps were going to be split and he gave a solid answer.
“They’re both gonna get work, both gonna get reps, and very much looking forward to our whole team getting back out there.”
A pretty simple answer from O’Connell, but it says everything. O’Connell’s been very adamant the entire time that McCarthy has been out that they won’t throw him out there until he’s 100% ready to go. That comes from making sure that McCarthy is both 100% healthy and getting a full week of practice
“I think first and foremost, he’s got to get healthy. And then, throughout that process, I don’t think it’s one of those things where it’s, ‘Hey, the day he’s healthy.’ And if he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re going to just throw him out there and say, ‘Hey, go figure it out’ type of thing,” said O’Connell about the idea of starting McCarthy right when he’s healthy after their Week 3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I think we saw as phenomenal as he was getting prepared for the Atlanta game, he did miss practice that week. And when you’re in the phase of building up the 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours of what it takes to play the position at a very high level, which we know J.J. McCarthy is going to do, you can’t cut corners on that. And that also doesn’t require an answer on that question today.”
This “non-answer” from O’Connell continues with that mantra. We don’t know right now if McCarthy is going to be the guy on Sunday against the Eagles. However, every day that O’Connell doesn’t say anything is means that McCarthy is closer to being the starter. Wednesday’s practice report is going to tell us a lot more, especially if McCarthy is a full participant. If he’s a full participant this week, then McCarthy will almost certainly be the starter on Sunday.
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