The Minnesota Vikings are kicking off the J.J. McCarthy era this season, after a knee injury suffered in last year’s preseason cost the former Michigan Wolverine what should’ve been his rookie season.
McCarthy has the requisite weapons around him to be successful, with receivers such as Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson. One of those weapons just wants McCarthy to be confident in himself as he steps into the role of being a starter in the NFL for the first time.
Jason Fitz of Yahoo Sports interviewed Jefferson recently and asked about the adjustment of working with McCarthy for the first time.
“Last year he got hurt and I just wasn’t able to really, you know, be, you know, hands on, uh, and being locked in and, you know, the play calls connecting with the receivers and uh everything else that that goes on with being a quarterback,” Jefferson responded.
“So uh I think now he’s just, you know, becoming more confident, more uh settled in, I would like to say, you know, as his teammate and, you know, just as a captain of the team, uh, just trying to, you know, just make him dial in every chance that I can and uh our lockers are right next to each other.
“So, uh, every chance that I get to talk to him about, you know, football, about any, anything, uh, that goes on.
“Outside of football, uh, just try to get to know him as much as I can cause, you know, when the season comes and, uh, whenever we’re locked in, um, I want him to be just as confident as I am of him, uh, to, to make the plays out there.”
It’ll be interesting to see if McCarthy can keep the Vikings rolling after Sam Darnold led them to 14 wins last season.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.