Vikings Camp Journal: Day 7

JJ McCarthy talked with the media about his development and then the defense had another dominating game

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By Matthew Coller

EAGAN — The Minnesota Vikings were in full pads after a lighter day on Tuesday. Here’s everything to take away from the press conferences and practice…

What I heard

Coming off a tough showing on Tuesday, JJ McCarthy talked about his progress over the first week of camp. He said that he is trying to take lessons away from each time that he has a bad rep or miscue. Asked how he defined successful days, he said:

“Constant improvement,” McCarthy said. “Learning every single day and when the periods don't go your way, you're always asking why. It's never a loss. And you're always learning from a good or bad, but especially those periods where they really get you, I feel like that's where we can learn the most about ourselves and our offenses and identity.”

McCarthy is still very much in the learning phase in the opening days of camp. While he did practice running the offense during training camp last year, he wasn’t able to carry that over to physical reps during the regular season due to his injury. Running the offense in real time is a different beast from watching tape and using virtual reality.

“I would sum it up as just more and more comfortable in this system, just attacking the process of the pre snap, the cadences, knowing where everyone's at,” McCarthy said. “Something I really wanted to work on was just those layer balls and being able to find my touch again and I feel like I made some significant strides with that part of my game and at the end of the day I feel like we're getting two percent better every single day and that's all that matters.”

When we talk about quarterbacks having different superpowers, it usually refers to their size, arm, speed etc., but McCarthy has shown to have an exceptional ability to move past tough moments and grow from them. He will certainly need to do that in this camp as he faces one of the best defenses in the NFL.

One thing that he does have on his side is the ability to work with O’Connell after reps by looking over at the replay video boards the Vikings have on the sidelines at practice. He is getting instant feedback from his head coach as soon as the play is over.

“It's amazing because it eliminates any gray area,” McCarthy said. “I don't have any time to really think about and process why the outcome went the way it did, but just being able to get that live feedback and being able to understand it. ‘Okay, that's the why behind it,’ then move on to the next play. It's extremely, extremely huge.”

While real-time tape study is helping the young quarterback, having his No. 1 wide receiver sidelined at the start of camp has not been ideal. Justin Jefferson remains out with a hamstring strain and it is unclear exactly when he will return. Will his absence impact their chemistry?

“I feel like we are in a really great spot,” McCarthy said. “We spent a lot of time in the off season getting on the same page. He's a different receiver. He moves in different ways and just being able to really get reps and reps and reps with him is huge. And unfortunately, he's down with a little bit of soreness. But at the end of the day, we're gonna pick up right where we left off.”

McCarthy continued…

“We're still communicating off the field. And he's still communicating with me on the field on how he would run certain routes and where the ball placement would be.”

Vikings owner Mark Wilf was also in attendance on Wednesday and spoke with reporters inside TCO Performance Center.

This offseason, the Wilfs gave contract extensions to general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell. On Adofo-Mensah specifically, Wilf was asked what he’s like about the approach of the GM.

“He came out of the blocks with an incredibly great mindset, great mind and I think we've seen tremendous growth actually as well,” Wilf said. “People forget how young both Kevin and Kwesi and the way that they've grown together in this last three years has been super impressive…communication, collaboration, the kind of people that he's put around him. All in all, we worked very closely to build this thing. And the results will hopefully prove out.”

At the owner’s meetings earlier this year, when the Vikings were still at the center of Aaron Rodgers rumors, Wilf expressed that he wanted to go forward with JJ McCarthy because the team was impressed with how McCarthy handled 2024, from his improvements during camp to his injury rehab. On Wednesday, he was asked about how he feels with McCarthy going into this season.

“Very excited, I mean, from the day we've drafted him,” Wilf said. “I think coach O'Connell has spoken quite extensively but I can tell you that everyone around us, including the fans, I know, are excited to see his development….it's day to day and the way he goes about it, being a pro, bringing the spirit he brings to it, and working with a coach like coach O 'Connell is going to prove out well. So I know we're excited so far and can't wait to see where the future goes.”

Wilf also announced that the team will be wearing a patch this season to honor longtime captain and all-time great Jim Marshall, who passed away this offseason. He will be recognized during the Vikings’ matchup with the Bengals in Week 3 as well.

“No players in this team's history live the ideals of toughness, camaraderie, passion and leadership more than Jim,” Wilf said. “He was a quiet but effective leader. In our minds, he's the greatest captain in NFL history, and there is no question he also belongs in the Hall of Fame for what he accomplished over his 20 year career.”

To end the press conference, one fearless reporter stepped to the plate and asked the hard-hitting question that all Vikings fans want to know: When will the US Bank Stadium dragon breathe fire again? The NFL banned the use of pregame pyrotechnics a few years ago when the Tennessee Titans had an incident involving a speaker catching on fire. Since then, the dragon has been relegated to smoke coming from its nostrils rather than the incredible ball of flames that it shot out in the early days of the venue.

“We have one of the highest marks in terms of number of fans in the seats when we have kickoff because people want to come see our pre -game show, get all psyched up for the game and so our dragon's going strong and whether it's fire or smoke or whatever comes out, I know our players will be jumping out of air and our fans will be really cheering hard,” Wilf said.

It’s true that the Vikings pregame is second to none but the odds of the dragon breathing fire again don’t sound promising. Maybe someday.

Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels talked to the media as well. He hinted that he’s still trying to plead his case for Isaiah Rodgers to be the team’s kick returner. Daniels mentioned that there might be a “DeSean Jackson” type returning role, referring to the concept of using a star player in key situations but not regularly. It would seem pretty risky to use a starting outside corner on violent returns, particularly with the likely increase in returns this year.

As far as the punt return battle, Daniels talked about Rondale Moore’s progress.

“Rondale hasn't done it since 2021, but it's good to see, obviously he's coming back from a major, major, major injury with the dislocated kneecap and the explosion is still there, the confidence is there, the ability to track and catch it is still there,” Daniel said. “Talk about a guy who can really press the perimeter of defenses and cover teams. I think he's just gotta get back into the feel of things and we really gotta start trying to get him some live reps just in terms of the decision making.”

The other punt returners have been Silas Bolden and Myles Price, two undrafted free agents. It isn’t likely that we see the competition heat up until preseason.

What I saw

The first thing that stood out in Wednesday’s practice was that left tackle Christian Darrisaw was taking some 11-on-11 reps. The first time he got into the full-speed drill, he welcomed Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins to the NFL by moving him swiftly out of the way on a run play. Darrisaw didn’t take all the full-speed reps but he was out there for enough to be significant. This would seem to be a huge step toward being ready for Week 1, though we can expect the team to take it slowly with their very, very valuable tackle.

JJ McCarthy started out the practice well with a throw across the middle to Jalen Nailor. Those two have connected on crossers or in-breaking routes in every practice and seem to be developing chemistry during the absence of Jefferson.

It was noticeable from the jump, however, that Brian Flores’ defense was showing McCarthy a lot of different looks.