When the Minnesota Vikings made Kyler Murray their starting quarterback ahead of the preseason opener, it was both an expected and frustrating move. It also moved the 10th overall pick from the 2024 NFL Draft, J.J. McCarthy, to a backup role.

Once McCarthy was moved to the role of a backup, many pieces were dropped within 24 hours talking about the quarterback and the battle as a whole. Within those, there were elements that were slanted because of the result of the competition. However, the latest report had one element that stood out.

J.J. McCarthy’s process continues to come under fire

When we look at McCarthy overall, there are some difficult realities with his situation. The biggest one is how well he processes when he drops back to pass, as he is slow when reading defenses. However, the other element of process, preparing for games and putting in the work going into the season.

“Throughout last summer, there was enough concern around the Minnesota Vikings organization about J.J. McCarthy being the team’s starting quarterback that some players and staffers actually viewed Max Brosmer — an undrafted rookie — as being better prepared to be Minnesota’s Week 1 starter.

CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz highlighted how there were many questions about how he went about his process, even revealing a source who said Max Brosmer was more prepared to play.

It wasn’t because Brosmer was more talented. That clearly wasn’t the case. It was largely due to other important parts of being an NFL starting quarterback such as managing a team, commanding the huddle and — as one source shared with CBS Sports — McCarthy being “unpredictable” on a daily basis in addition to the obvious on-field growing pains with the No. 10 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.

“A franchise quarterback is supposed to be the stability piece of a franchise, like you know what you’re getting every day,” a source said. “But with J.J., you weren’t sure which version you were going to get. I think he’s just still so young and may not have understood yet what that position fully entails and things like the consistency and day-to-day commitment.”

“Then there’s the consistency piece: how McCarthy shows up to work every day and how his habits progress in his third season. The Vikings have a high standard at the position. They want the starting quarterback to lift the tide for the entire team in 2026. This requires a level of discipline, which was up and down last season for McCarthy.”

When you read something like “you weren’t sure which version [of McCarthy] you were going to get,” it’s pretty brutal and raises a lot of questions. It’s also eerily similar to something The Athletic’s Alec Lewis wrote about McCarthy this past May.

It gives Zenitz’s report a little more credence and highlights what could be the biggest roadblock for McCarthy being a starting quarterback in the NFL. Now, is this a disqualifier? Not particularly, but it’s not a great look either.