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The Minnesota Vikings have a difficult decision to make at the quarterback position this offseason. Minnesota’s plan for the 2024 season was to play rookie QB JJ McCarthy with veteran Sam Darnold as his backup. Instead, McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury and paved the way for Darnold to have the best season of his professional career. Now the Vikings must choose between the two quarterbacks.
McCarthy is hopeful that his time has finally come in Minnesota. He shared his biggest request for the Vikings ahead of his return from injury later this year.
“All I can ask for is a fair opportunity,” McCarthy said Tuesday on the Rich Eisen Show via NFL.com. “That’s the one that I feel like everybody’s given and it’s fundamental. When money gets involved, things get complicated, and reps get skewed and there’s different things that come into the whole ‘political’ world that everyone talks about. But I really just have to focus on controlling what I can control. My feelings don’t matter.”
McCarthy clearly understands the reality behind why certain decisions are made in the NFL. This is a great intangible trait for any quarterback to have.
“I’m not getting any grace,” he said. “There’s no sympathy. This is the big leagues.”
The financial side of the game could end up helping McCarthy in 2025. Darnold is due a monster contract after his strong 2024 season, which could cause him to leave Minnesota this offseason.
If that happens, the future will be clear for McCarthy to take over.
McCarthy wants to lean on head coach Kevin O’Connell for advice as he navigates this murky situation.
“Our conversations have just been [about nothing but] the greatest thing for the Minnesota Vikings,” McCarthy said. “At the end of the day, there’s a lot of things that are certainly above my pay grade and some things above his pay grade. He’s the one that has the pen last on the field, and that’s about all I know. So, just be in the moment with him every chance I get to interact with him and really pick his brain, because those are a lot of moments I could mess up thinking about the future, thinking about the uncertainties I can’t do anything about. It’s really just optimizing each moment and each time I have with that great mind of the game.”
McCarthy still has that University of Michigan optimism that former head coach Jim Harbaugh instilled in him. It is serving him well in these uncertain times.
“I’m just gonna control what I can control,” he said, “and attack each day with an enthusiasm [unknown] to mankind.”
McCarthy understands that most of the factors behind Minnesota’s decision are outside of his control. He plans on simply trying to get better every single day.
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