January 5, 2026 • 7 mins
The Minnesota Vikings closed the season with a victory over the Green Bay Packers but JJ McCarthy left the game with another injury. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell spoke postgame about his young quarterback and Tim explains why it's not good for the future of JJ McCarth
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Vikings season is over and the JJ McCarthy drama begins,
especially after Kevin O'Connell's answer yesterday. We're going to talk
about all of that today and more. But first I
need to tell you about zero Res carpet cleaning because
we're a few days into twenty twenty six and there's
(00:22):
no better time to get your carpet cleaned. Go to
zero Resminnesota dot com and take advantage of their special deals.
To get these special deals, tell them you heard about
it from the brawl with Tim Paul. Zero Res spell
that forge or backwards, it spells the same. Kevin O'Connell
(00:44):
had a very interesting answer after the Vikings beat the
Packers about the future of JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Comfortable with going to next year with him as your starter.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I think every year, uh, you're coming back to build
a team throughout the offseason, throughout the draft, throughout the
you know, leading into training camp. I think he's improved
throughout the season. I think he's grown like a lot
of young quarterbacks do throughout the season. Today was his
tenth start. I can't wait to work with him in
the off season and absolutely look forward to the continued
(01:20):
development improvement, and uh, you know, I'm excited about where
he's ending the season and know that there's some things
we can really dive into as a as a group,
and and JJ and myself, and you know, I look
forward to the challenge of being the best version of
myself for not only JJ, but this entire team.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
First, that's as uncommitted a head coach to a quarterback
that you will ever see. And the fact that the
question needed to be asked by reporters is all you
need to know about the situation with McCarthy. The reporters
(01:57):
needed to ask that question because of McCarthy and his
inconsistency and his unavailability, But because the question was asked,
there deserves to be skepticism about McCarthy moving forward. No
one's asking the Banals of Burrows their guy next season,
the Ravens if Lamar Jackson is their guy, the Lions
(02:21):
if Jared Goff is their guy. The question was asked
about McCarthy because McCarthy presents doubt and skepticism because of
his play and because of his injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Do you feel like you earned the right to be
the starter going next year? Where do you think you
stand with the organization of this morning, after today, maybe tomorrow,
there's nothing promised. The next day, there's nothing promised.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
That's something I take very seriously. It's not something that
you buy and you get for the rest of your life.
You rent it, you lease it every single day, and
I'm just, you know, trying to make daily deposits and
make sure you know I'm in this house for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Kevin O'Connell just admitted, without saying it out loud, that
the Vikings are quarterback hunting this offseason because they aren't
comfortable with Ja Ja McCarthy. And the last thing that
you want as a head coach is uncertainty at the
(03:23):
most important position, and that's what the Vikings have. The
Vikings have the perfect storm with McCarthy. One you have
this inconsistent play. Two, you have his injuries. But three,
this wasn't Kevin O'Connell's first year as head coach. If
this was his first year as head coach, it's like, oh,
(03:45):
let's develop the guy. We have time, we have patients,
we have a whole another year or two at least
before we're fired. But this situation needs to get resolved now.
There is no all, let's wait and see there is
no well, we got another year to kind of figure
this out. Next season needs to be figured out, or
(04:08):
they're on the hot seat. So you don't have the
convenience of waiting for things to click with McCarthy because
the longer you wait, the hotter that seat gets. And
there are going to be so many people that gobble
up this quarterback competition this offseason. And a huge fallacy
(04:31):
in sports is the word competition. Everyone loves that word, Oh,
we got a competition because it brings out the best
in people. To some degree, that's true, but I despise
that word with a passion. The word competition, which McCarthy
(04:52):
will be in this offseason unless they trade him, which
you cannot rule out. The word competition only means that
you have a guy that's not good enough. You have
a quarterback that you're not confident in. You have a
guy that you cannot put your belief in because he's
not good enough. And Harrison Smith's fourteen year NFL career
(05:17):
with the Vikings, how many competition battles did he have?
So the only thing that a quarterback competition tells me
is that you don't have one good quarterback. The quarterback
competition conversation is a lie, and a quarterback competition with
McCarthy this offseason only tells us that the Vikings aren't
(05:40):
confident in him, and that's why they are searching for
another starting quarterback next season. And sometimes McCarthy makes these
laser throws like he had to Ben Simms that arm,
that laser, the accuracy, that was one of the best
throws in the NFL on Sunday, and then he hits
the with these bizarre moments of inaccuracy or lack of touch,
(06:05):
and to some degree its he's a first year starter.
But then from the Vikings perspective, they don't have time
to wait this out. So that's unfortunate from McCarthy's perspective,
but it's just the harsh reality. Kevin O'Connell's on commitment
to James McCarthy in his postgame press conference spoke volumes
(06:26):
and only created more quarterback drama because he could have
said McCarthy's our guy. He said everything but that, and
now we have an off season filled yet again with
quarterback drama. If you need a bathroom ra model, let
(06:47):
me tell you about five star bath solutions of Minneapolis,
because they transformed our bathroom in only forty eight hours,
and that's what they'll do for you as well. They
took our old, disgusting, outdated, and moldy bathroom and made
it into a masterpiece in only forty eight hours. New flooring, bathtub, shower,
(07:07):
had surrounded, vanity countertops. We went from a single to
a double sing new mirror, all done in forty eight
hours by five star bath Solutions of Minneapolis. Contact them
today for your bathroom renovation. Affordable transformations beautiful solutions
The Vikings season is over and the JJ McCarthy drama begins,
especially after Kevin O'Connell's answer yesterday. We're going to talk
about all of that today and more. But first I
need to tell you about zero Res carpet cleaning because
we're a few days into twenty twenty six and there's
(00:22):
no better time to get your carpet cleaned. Go to
zero Resminnesota dot com and take advantage of their special deals.
To get these special deals, tell them you heard about
it from the brawl with Tim Paul. Zero Res spell
that forge or backwards, it spells the same. Kevin O'Connell
(00:44):
had a very interesting answer after the Vikings beat the
Packers about the future of JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Comfortable with going to next year with him as your starter.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I think every year, uh, you're coming back to build
a team throughout the offseason, throughout the draft, throughout the
you know, leading into training camp. I think he's improved
throughout the season. I think he's grown like a lot
of young quarterbacks do throughout the season. Today was his
tenth start. I can't wait to work with him in
the off season and absolutely look forward to the continued
(01:20):
development improvement, and uh, you know, I'm excited about where
he's ending the season and know that there's some things
we can really dive into as a as a group,
and and JJ and myself, and you know, I look
forward to the challenge of being the best version of
myself for not only JJ, but this entire team.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
First, that's as uncommitted a head coach to a quarterback
that you will ever see. And the fact that the
question needed to be asked by reporters is all you
need to know about the situation with McCarthy. The reporters
(01:57):
needed to ask that question because of McCarthy and his
inconsistency and his unavailability, But because the question was asked,
there deserves to be skepticism about McCarthy moving forward. No
one's asking the Banals of Burrows their guy next season,
the Ravens if Lamar Jackson is their guy, the Lions
(02:21):
if Jared Goff is their guy. The question was asked
about McCarthy because McCarthy presents doubt and skepticism because of
his play and because of his injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Do you feel like you earned the right to be
the starter going next year? Where do you think you
stand with the organization of this morning, after today, maybe tomorrow,
there's nothing promised. The next day, there's nothing promised.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
That's something I take very seriously. It's not something that
you buy and you get for the rest of your life.
You rent it, you lease it every single day, and
I'm just, you know, trying to make daily deposits and
make sure you know I'm in this house for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Kevin O'Connell just admitted, without saying it out loud, that
the Vikings are quarterback hunting this offseason because they aren't
comfortable with Ja Ja McCarthy. And the last thing that
you want as a head coach is uncertainty at the
(03:23):
most important position, and that's what the Vikings have. The
Vikings have the perfect storm with McCarthy. One you have
this inconsistent play. Two, you have his injuries. But three,
this wasn't Kevin O'Connell's first year as head coach. If
this was his first year as head coach, it's like, oh,
(03:45):
let's develop the guy. We have time, we have patients,
we have a whole another year or two at least
before we're fired. But this situation needs to get resolved now.
There is no all, let's wait and see there is
no well, we got another year to kind of figure
this out. Next season needs to be figured out, or
(04:08):
they're on the hot seat. So you don't have the
convenience of waiting for things to click with McCarthy because
the longer you wait, the hotter that seat gets. And
there are going to be so many people that gobble
up this quarterback competition this offseason. And a huge fallacy
(04:31):
in sports is the word competition. Everyone loves that word, Oh,
we got a competition because it brings out the best
in people. To some degree, that's true, but I despise
that word with a passion. The word competition, which McCarthy
(04:52):
will be in this offseason unless they trade him, which
you cannot rule out. The word competition only means that
you have a guy that's not good enough. You have
a quarterback that you're not confident in. You have a
guy that you cannot put your belief in because he's
not good enough. And Harrison Smith's fourteen year NFL career
(05:17):
with the Vikings, how many competition battles did he have?
So the only thing that a quarterback competition tells me
is that you don't have one good quarterback. The quarterback
competition conversation is a lie, and a quarterback competition with
McCarthy this offseason only tells us that the Vikings aren't
(05:40):
confident in him, and that's why they are searching for
another starting quarterback next season. And sometimes McCarthy makes these
laser throws like he had to Ben Simms that arm,
that laser, the accuracy, that was one of the best
throws in the NFL on Sunday, and then he hits
the with these bizarre moments of inaccuracy or lack of touch,
(06:05):
and to some degree its he's a first year starter.
But then from the Vikings perspective, they don't have time
to wait this out. So that's unfortunate from McCarthy's perspective,
but it's just the harsh reality. Kevin O'Connell's on commitment
to James McCarthy in his postgame press conference spoke volumes
(06:26):
and only created more quarterback drama because he could have
said McCarthy's our guy. He said everything but that, and
now we have an off season filled yet again with
quarterback drama. If you need a bathroom ra model, let
(06:47):
me tell you about five star bath solutions of Minneapolis,
because they transformed our bathroom in only forty eight hours,
and that's what they'll do for you as well. They
took our old, disgusting, outdated, and moldy bathroom and made
it into a masterpiece in only forty eight hours. New flooring, bathtub, shower,
(07:07):
had surrounded, vanity countertops. We went from a single to
a double sing new mirror, all done in forty eight
hours by five star bath Solutions of Minneapolis. Contact them
today for your bathroom renovation. Affordable transformations beautiful solutions
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