Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy enters training camp with plenty to prove as he battles for the starting job next season. The Vikings also added former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray on a one-year deal, giving McCarthy serious competition before the season begins.
That decision followed a difficult 2025 season for McCarthy and the Vikings. Now, Justin Jefferson has opened up about the struggles during a recent sit-down on the “Bent Outta Shape Show.”
Justin Jefferson Opens Up On J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings’ Struggles in 2025
The star wide receiver admitted the situation was never easy, especially with McCarthy still adjusting to the NFL.
“It’s difficult; it’s hard, but also knowing the circumstances,” he said. “Knowing that I have pretty much a rookie quarterback, listening to anything that goes on, anything that I say is gonna hit the media. It’s just all about staying in the building.”
Jefferson also explained how he tried to support McCarthy when the pressure started to build. Rather than allow one poor performance to define the quarterback, he kept pushing him toward the next opportunity.
“Obviously talking to him about the difficulty and the negativity that was going throughout the whole entire season,” he said. “Checking on him after the game, hey, look, you’re good, you’re straight. Don’t worry about this past game; lean more towards the future. Lean more towards this next weekend and getting better next week.
“Those talks that we had together, that’s something that didn’t need to be said in the media, didn’t need to be communicated through the entire world.”
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McCarthy arrived in Minnesota with major expectations after helping Michigan win a national championship. However, his NFL transition has not been smooth.
Injuries restricted him over the past two seasons, while Minnesota’s offense struggled to find consistency. He posted a PFN QB Impact score of 67.0, which placed him No. 34 among quarterbacks.
McCarthy completed 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also contributed 181 rushing yards and four scores.
Still, Minnesota managed to finish 9-8 despite the instability behind center. Jefferson, however, had the least productive season of his career.
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Now, the pressure on McCarthy has only grown with Murray entering the competition. During a recent appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show,” Kevin O’Connell challenged both quarterbacks while explaining what winning the competition could mean for Minnesota.
“Kyler has come in and done a great job. J.J., I think, has benefited from it; he had a really good spring,” O’Connell said.
“We wanna get back to the standard of having the quarterback position be a driving force behind us winning by doing their job and hopefully activating the great players they get to play with. We got a great defense. If we can limit giving the football away and generate some explosives and get our run game going, I’m excited about where we are at.”
However, O’Connell refused to identify a favorite. Instead, he emphasized the value of keeping the competition open. He wants the quarterback battle to raise Minnesota’s overall level.
“The goal going into this offseason was to elevate the quarterback position because when we have a certain standard of play that we feel like we have multiple guys in that room that we feel are capable of reaching that standard, the Minnesota Vikings win football games.”
For now, McCarthy and Murray are splitting first-team reps throughout OTAs and minicamps.
