10 takeaways from the Vikings preseason opener
JJ McCarthy talked about his emotions, the 'operation' and the throw he wanted back
By Matthew Coller
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings won their preseason opener 20-10 over the Houston Texans on Saturday. After the game, head coach Kevin O’Connell and quarterback JJ McCarthy talked about the victory. Here’s takeaways from their comments and more…
JJ McCarthy was proud of one throw and wanted one back
In his lone drive, McCarthy completed 4-of-7 passes for 30 yards and scrambled for eight yards to convert a fourth down, which ended in a field goal.
The throw that he seemed to be most happy with was an 18-yard completion to receiver Jordan Addison. The pocket was a little messy at his feet, yet he was still able to time his throw correctly and release the ball prior to Addison coming out of his break. While the receiver had to dive to make the catch, it was a high-difficulty explosive play nonetheless.
“Just all the work we built up up to this point…that's a 25-yard out cut and just being able to trust that timing in real time,” McCarthy said. “And to trust the protection. It was a huge kind of growing rep that I felt like just injects confidence in my beings going to the next one.”
Later in the drive, he had an opportunity to hit Lucky Jackson streaking across the middle for a big play and the ball sailed a touch high over the receiver’s head. McCarthy walked off the field wishing that his timing had been slightly better.
“When you go against Flo’s [Brian Flores] defense, your timing is always like one hitch and it's got to be out,” McCarthy said. “I feel like there were a couple occasions where I could have sat in there and trusted the pocket and made a better decision in that time frame. The one to Luck [Lucky Jackson] across the middle, if I would have just waited a click longer, I would have found him in that window.”
Both McCarthy and O’Connell were pleased with his first-down scramble as well. The Texans got into the backfield on an empty set and McCarthy made them pay.
The ‘operation’ was key for O’Connell, McCarthy
More than a stat line or deep analysis of every throw, QB and HC wanted to have the operation be correct. That means getting the play call into the head set and relayed to the other 10 players, make the adjustments at the line of scrimmage and keep things moving along during the drive.
“I think there's just a level of composure and poise to how he ran the show that was exactly what I was looking for,” O’Connell said. “Now we go back to work. It's obviously a checkpoint for our whole team, but clearly for JJ, as we got a chance to kind of have our first chance since last year, headset communication in real time, play clock and all of us coaches on the sideline with him running the show. I thought he did a really, really nice job with that.”
The operational part felt on point to McCarthy as well.
“Felt super clean,” he said. “Preseason defenses, you're not going to get a whole lot of trickery, but I felt like we did a great job of just getting to the ball with the ample amount of time to really see the defense go through cadence.”
McCarthy felt the emotional part
The Vikings’ QB admitted that it may have been a little dusty inside US Bank Stadium right before kickoff and that he felt emotional the night before his first start since last year’s preseason. He said that the emotions caught him off guard because he had compartmentalized the day-to-day of his rehab and the learning process throughout the spring and summer leading up to this point.
“It just shows how much I care for this game,” McCarthy said. “Just being out there with my teammates again, it was truly awesome.”
Rondale Moore’s injury is serious
The Vikings were excited about the possibility of speedster Rondale Moore bringing something unique to the offense and some juice to the punt return game. But on his first return of the preseason, Moore was brought down from behind and remained down with a leg injury. After the game, O’Connell called it “serious.” It’s especially difficult for Moore because he missed all of 2024 with an injury as well.
“Heartbreaking, I think the anybody in the ballpark could feel the emotion,” O’Connell said. “It's one of the most painful things for me as a head coach, when I feel the emotion. I make a life out of trying to leave others better than I found them, and in that situation, there's really nothing to do or nothing I can do, which is the worst feeling as a head coach, so you just console them and make sure that he knows he's not going to be alone.”
Gabe Murphy arrived
There might not have been a more impressive player on the field on Saturday afternoon than outside linebacker Gabe Murphy. He was repeatedly in the backfield pressuring the quarterback, looking much more like a starter than a former undrafted player with very little experience.
“I think he had five (QB) hits or whatever, wherever it was, and Gabe’s been a guy that has shown up daily at camp, highlighted in front of the team,” O’Connell said. “Gabe, it feels like a man on a mission right now, in a lot of ways. And I'm just proud of him, proud of where he's at in camp right now. Now he's just got to set his sights on continuing to compete.”
Murphy should have a chance to carve out a role for himself on a defense that likes to rotate the front seven. Another 2024 UDFA OLB Bo Richter also had a strong game.
Max Brosmer keeps impressing
The fourth quarter belonged to Max Brosmer, who completed 5-of-8 passes for 47 yards and threw a touchdown. He looked the part, running the offense effectively and scoring the TD on a fourth down after his third-down TD throw was overturned via replay review.
“I thought Max (Brosmer) did a pretty darn good job coming in there and putting the ball in the end zone there,” O’Connell said.
While it’s unlikely that Brosmer could ascend quickly enough to take away the No. 2 QB job from Sam Howell, who had a good day completing 11-of-13 passes for 105 yards, he may have a chance to make the 53-man roster if the Vikings are concerned about another team picking him up off waivers. The former Gopher QB has shown high-level decision making and thrown the ball accurately in practice. Carrying that over to actual game action was significant for him.
Lucky Jackson keeps looking like he belongs
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