Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy to ‘hit the ground running’ in offseason workouts

After missing his rookie season due to a torn meniscus in his right knee, Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is all systems go for offseason workouts this month, according to his coach.

Kevin O'Connell told reporters Monday that McCarthy has no restrictions this spring. He said McCarthy is at an advantage from having learned the Vikings' systems "in a classroom setting" up to this point.

"That's the beauty of the year we've had with him, albeit without the physical reps since the injury," O'Connell said. "But there's been a lot of time on task and just once again want to credit J.J. for how he's handled these last two, 2 1/2, three months or so where I think he's ready to hit the ground running as of today."

Now that McCarthy is healthy and without limitations, the next step is to enter the more competitive environment of OTAs and minicamp, with live reps aplenty.

"All of it is going to kind of be systematically planned out for him," O'Connell said, "and I think he's ready to attack it."

The Vikings moved on from 2024 starting quarterback Sam Darnold, who signed with the Seattle Seahawks in free agency after a surprise season in Minnesota.

The only other quarterback besides the 22-year-old McCarthy on the roster is Brett Rypien, and although the Vikings had talks with Aaron Rodgers, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told reporters in late March that the team is "headed toward" dubbing McCarthy QB1.

That doesn't mean Minnesota won't add at least one more quarterback this offseason.

"We've been patient and really evaluated a lot of different ways we could potentially do that," O'Connell said. "There's potential trades and free agency and still the draft. We're going through a process of just figuring out who is the player that we want to solidify that room with knowing that J.J. and Brett are here working, starting today, and eventually we'll complete that room and still have a competitive situation in there, however you look at it."

The Vikings drafted McCarthy 10th overall in the 2024 draft after he won a national championship at Michigan. He underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in mid-August after paying in the Vikings' preseason opener.

--Field Level Media