Kevin O'Connell: J.J. McCarthy is owning it

Sam Darnold is gone, and J.J. McCarthy is healthy.

The Vikings will be McCarthy's team this season, even if Kevin O'Connell doesn't come right out and say it.

In an interview with Rich Eisen on Wednesday, O'Connell danced around whether the Vikings would have a competition for the job.

"J.J. is going to be in a great position to assume and ascend in our organization," O'Connell said on The Rich Eisen Show. "But right now, we really don't have any feelings on competition as much as we've got an obligation as coaches to put our players in position to attack that competition phase. Sam [Howell] will be a part of it. But we've got to get Sam ready to play. We've got to get Brett Rypien ready to play. . . . Excited about our quarterback room, but now it's our job to go coach them."

O'Connell, though, finally admitted to Eisen that McCarthy is "owning it" this offseason.

"When he is taking snaps, he's taking plenty of snaps from [starter] Ryan Kelly, who happens to be a 10-year starting center in this league. Take that for what it's worth," O'Connell said. "I don't think Vikings fans or any wildly successful nationally renowned broadcasters like yourself should be worried about the amount of reps J.J. is going to get with the ones. We're going to have him ready to go."

The team's first-round pick in 2024 was competing with Darnold for the starting job in training camp when McCarthy tore the meniscus in his right knee. He underwent surgery Aug. 14 and required a second procedure in November.

O'Connell said he has seen a difference in McCarthy from a season ago in the quarterback's footwork, rhythm, timing, cadence, leadership and in identifying defensive structures.

"Yeah, he's having a great start to his offseason program," O'Connell said. "The journey he's been on really before the injury. This guy comes in here with an incredible amount of energy and excitement for him coming here last year. He was getting better every single day. The growth from Day 1 of rookie minicamp this time last year all the way through his first performance in the preseason game, his growth in practice playing against a really good defense every day. There was a lot to be excited about. As Sam was having a great camp, so was J.J., and that was a really good thing for the Minnesota Vikings at the time.

"He had the injury, as you know, and nobody was more crushed about that than me — probably second to J.J. He really had to deal with what that was like to have the game taken away. 'I've got to focus solely on my rehab. I want to be out there with my guys. There's nothing I want more.' He had to really laser his focus and center on getting healthy, and he did that. He was able to attack the offseason once the season kind of ended, and kind of be in this building every day. He's bigger. He's stronger. I can see it in his arm. I can see it in his movements. I can see just the ownership of playing quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. He gained a lot from last year, albeit not how we drew it up. . . . Now can we just build and build and build and progress?"