MIN 'can't shortchange' starting QB's preparation
After hearing from Justin Jefferson speak about the Vikings' QB competition, PFT examines which signal-caller the star WR might prefer before highlighting the importance of making the choice sooner rather than later.
Video Transcript
I feel like at the end of the day it's, it's more gonna be a coaches', a coaches' call just from, you know, what they see in training camp, the different plays that they're making, the adjustments, being a leader, being a vocal leader, all of those different things that goes into what we're looking for.
And, at the end of the day, somebody's gonna have that job, whether it's Kyler or whether it's JJ.
so it's just all about working with both of them to, to make sure that, whoever is the starter, you know, we're dialed in.
Justin Jefferson addressing the question of the year to date in Minnesota, who is going to be the starter, Kyler Murray or JJ McCarthy?
There, there has been kind of this back and forth and it looks like McCur- Mc- Mc- McMurray, McCarthy and Murray, McMurray.
It looks like Murray's gonna win it easily, and then it looks like McCarthy's gaining ground.
Some of the buzz coming out of the mandatory mini camp this week was that the, the competition is closer now, and McCarthy has looked good and Murray has struggled.
So, a It's gonna be one of them.
They're not gonna go two quarterbacks.
They're not gonna use Murray against one team or McCarthy against the other.
They're not gonna do something crazy or creative.
They're not gonna have two guys on the field.
At some point, one of them is gonna win it and the other one's gonna have to deal with it, and I think that's part of the reality here.
Once one guy wins it, the bigger challenge for Kevin O'Connell is making sure that the guy who didn't win it accepts it.
Now, Mike, I know you've talked with Justin Jefferson before, as have I.
He's a great guy.
I mean, he's really a fun guy to talk to.
A lot of insight, talking with him about playing the position.
I'd like to know, I'd like to say, "Hey, Justin, come over.
Let's just, let's just have a talk.
Let's, let's have some wings and one of, Mike Florio's Icee Lights.
You don't have to drink the Icee Lights.
I'll drink it.
I'll, I'll sacrifice for both of us."
Who do you want to win the quarterback spot?
That's, that's what I wanna know.
I wanna know when he's sitting there talking, I'm like, "Who does Justin Jefferson want to be the quarterback?"
Because I know he has opinions on it.
I mean, his, his job depends on it.
When we talk about A couple of years ago when we talked about best receivers in the league, Justin Jefferson's name always came up.
It was always first or second.
Now it's kind of down a little bit because he's had some shaky quarterback play the last couple of years.
I wonder who he looks at and says, "This guy's gonna help me.
This guy's gonna help me get back to where I know I belong."
I'm guessing it's Kyler Murray, but I don't know.
What do you think?
He's been very loyal to JJ McCarthy.
He's said all the right things publicly.
He has always been a guy who says all the right things, and then you're left to wonder what is he really thinking?
What does he really want?
And I would suspect that at some point he and Kevin O'Connell are gonna have those wings, and I can send up a 12-pack of Icee Light for the two of them to enjoy responsibly.
And Kevin O'Connell will, will know.
He'll just know.
He knows this guy well enough to know.
He'll, he'll know from his body language.
He'll know from how he, how he responds to, "Good morning, how are you today?"
He'll, he'll know where Justin Jefferson's mind is on this.
He'll know which guy he prefers, but if there's any doubt, all he's gotta do is ask him.
For now, there is doubt as to who it's going to be.
Here is O'Connell from yesterday on when he expects to make a decision on the team starting quarterback for 2026.
To give a, an actual date would be, not necessarily accurate from a portrayal of how we see it, but there is a timeline to make sure that we can allow the competition to, to continue and advance and, and really lay out a training camp that will allow us to do that, but also make a, a timely decision.
So it is very competitive.
it is, like I said, making our team better.
I think our players are, are seeing that every single day, with how even these days went, and I'm sure they'll feel that early on.
But ultimately, what's best for the Minnesota Vikings is gonna be the direction we go, to win football games and, and move the ball and score points.
The balance is you wanna have a fair competition.
You want the best player to win.
You also wanna make sure that the starter has enough time to get ready for week one when Green Bay comes to town.
You can't shortchange the preparation of the starter- Right especially if it's Murray.
Murray's already expressed consternation about having to split reps as he's learning this new offense.
Now it wasn't stated as a complaint.
He was asked the question, "What's been difficult about this process?"
And he answered it, and he didn't seem upset.
He just said, you know, "I, I Seven years in Arizona, two different offenses, and I had all the reps. Now I'm trying to learn this new offense with half the reps." And, and that's true of any quarterback competition.
This year the big ones are in Minnesota and Cleveland.
The sooner you pick a winner, the sooner the winner can help you win.
And there, there's a lot to learn in these, in these quarterback competitions.
with, with Minnesota, Mike, I'm sure Kevin O'Connell is not just looking at how these guys look in drills or how they are in meetings.
It's, it's, it's some things, it's some intangibles and how is your quarterback gonna respond to the intangibles and some unknown things.
For example, part of I'm just guessing, part of JJ McCarthy's evaluation is how are you dealing with the presence of Kyler Murray before you even take a, a rep?
What's your attitude to the, the team bringing in an established starter to challenge you for your job?
That's what happened.
They didn't hand you the job.
They didn't say, "Hey, you're a young quarterback.
You're our franchise guy."
They said that to you maybe the night you were drafted, but now they don't feel that way anymore.
How do you respond to that?
And Kyler Murray, how do you feel?
You're the veteran quarterback.
You were in Arizona.
It was all about you.
You got to set policy and set culture.
That's not happening here.
You're not getting all the reps. And then how do you What do you do with it?
So if, if, if I'm a coach looking at it, say, yeah, Kyler Murray's upset by it, but what I've noticed is he's done these He put on that virtual He's gone into that virtual reality t- room that all these teams have, and you can take these virtual reps that can kind of get you up to speed.
That's what some injured players do when they can't be out on the field.
They'll take virtual reps.
It's not the same, but it's something.
Like, who's putting in that extra work?
Who's really thinking it through?
Who's responding well to the competition throughout the facility?
I think that's gonna I, I think that's under evaluation, too, for the Vikings.
