J.J. McCarthy knows he’s close to a breakthrough – he just needs to pop the cork.
“I kind of make the analogy of just a cork about to come off a bottle,” the Vikings rookie quarterback explained Wednesday. “It’s one to three little things that I need to change about my game that’s going to make a huge difference in the outcome of every single drive. I feel like it’s really close, but it all comes down to the consistency of the fundamentals.”
McCarthy will make his sixth NFL start Sunday against the Packers at Lambeau Field while still trying to shake off accuracy issues that have haunted his early career. The numbers don’t lie – he’s completed just 52.9% of his passes, dead last among all 48 quarterbacks who’ve started a game this season. His off-target throw rate of 22.1% ranks 47th.
It’s a mechanical issue, not a talent problem.
Coach Kevin O’Connell has been working to rebuild McCarthy’s mechanics throughout the season. The focus? Consistent posture at the top of his dropbacks and connecting his feet with his eyes. While O’Connell praised the rookie’s pre-snap work Monday, he emphasized the urgency of fixing what happens after the ball is snapped.
“We just have to find that when it comes to the post-snap,” O’Connell said. “Sometimes it’s not even reads and progressions, it’s simply just the fundamental foundation that we need to start seeing the concrete kind of dry a little bit on the work that’s put in.”
The journey hasn’t been easy for the former Michigan star. McCarthy’s development timeline took a major hit when a torn right meniscus wiped out his entire rookie season in 2024. Just as he was getting comfortable this year, a high ankle sprain sidelined him for another five games.
Those injuries have forced McCarthy to get creative with how he makes up for lost practice time.
“It was really just the injuries that I felt kind of took away all those reps,” McCarthy explained, “in the constant repetition to make those a habit and make them concrete like [O’Connell] talks about. 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 I just keep getting the reps.”
McCarthy acknowledged the Vikings’ approach is “very different” from what he experienced before the NFL, though he said this was “expected going into the league.”
Rewiring The Brain
The 23-year-old quarterback doesn’t shy away from admitting how challenging the mechanical rebuild has been.
“You’re rewiring neurological pathways,” McCarthy said, “and that’s not something that happens overnight. So just understanding in 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.”
McCarthy believes he’s inching closer to popping that cork, even if the stats haven’t caught up yet. With Green Bay’s defense waiting on Sunday, he’ll need to show progress quickly – especially at a venue where young quarterbacks have historically struggled.
The Vikings (5-5) need McCarthy to turn potential into production as they fight to stay in the playoff hunt. Whether that cork finally pops at Lambeau remains to be seen.