Vikings 'happy with both' QBs in open competition

Field Level Media|published: Thu 4th June, 16:47 2026

May 22, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray watches the game in the first half during game three of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell is no closer to making a call on his starting quarterback in the running competition between J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray.

Murray, signed after being released by the Arizona Cardinals, is trying to overtake the incumbent McCarthy, a first-round pick in 2024 who was elevated to the No. 1 job when Sam Darnold left to sign with the Seattle Seahawks as a free agent prior to last season.

O'Connell said a "transparent competition" between the quarterback is ongoing.

"I've been really happy with the way both of those guys, J.J. and Kyler, have kind of attacked it in their own individual kind of ways knowing that they're competing. It's a competition," O'Connell said. "These guys are working every day, they know that. But the greater good of the Minnesota Vikings and our team ceiling is the most important thing that's clear to both of those guys."

McCarthy said last week he and Murray are on "opposite sides" of the quarterback meeting room right now, implying he and the former No. 1 pick of the Cardinals are not best friends.

O'Connell said he doesn't need the quarterbacks to be tight, and isn't sweating any outside perceptions of the competition. The widely held presumption is the Vikings brought in Murray to start, whenever O'Connell makes that call.

"What actually matters is what I care about," O'Connell said. "Did we take the right footwork on a play? Did we have our eyes in the right spot? Did we make a protection call against one of (our practice) blitz looks? Did we do our jobs to manufacture the starting point and potential path to success for the offense? And there's enough that goes into that, that I don't have a ton of space left over for who says what and how they say it.

"... It's all a reflection of how people handle competitive situations and we're all going to handle them differently. What I care about is when they step between the white lines, that there's growth and development and that it really is a competition."

--Field Level Media

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