August 8, 2025 • 13 mins
Tim discusses the Minnesota Vikings' preseason expectations, focusing on quarterback JJ McCarthy's performance and the team's wide receiver depth, particularly in light of Jordan Addison's suspension. Tim expresses concerns about McCarthy's playing time in the preseason and the implications of Jalen Naylor's performance as the team navigates injuries and roster changes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Grind of Minnesota Sports Podcast. Do the Minnesota Vikings
have a wide receiver two problem? As their first NFL
preseason game is roughly twenty four hours away and the
Minnesota Vikings tenth overall pick of the twenty twenty four
(00:24):
NFL draft. As zooms his playing career tomorrow as the
starting quarterback for the Vikings, there ain't no QB competition.
He is QB one. J J McCarthy expectations. As the Vikings'
first preseason game is about to kick off in roughly
(00:45):
one day. We're gonna talk about all that on today's show.
But first I needed to check out five Star Bass
Solutions of Minneapolis because they transformed our bathroom in forty
eight hours, and that's their promise. From new floors to
a new bathtub, new shower surround that got rid of
(01:05):
our mold. We got new countertops, vanity mirror, and our
favorite feature, we went from a single sink to a
double sink. All of this was done in forty eight
hours by five Star Bath Solutions of Minneapolis. Contact them
today if you want your bathroom modeled, affordable payment plans,
(01:26):
free consultation, so you've got nothing to lose, contact five
Star bath Solutions of Minneapolis and get your bathroom remodeled today.
All right, let's start with JJ McCarthy because I've been
vocal about the fact that I think it is the
(01:47):
wrong decision to play McCarthy in the preseason. I believe
with my entire heart that the risk of him playing
two series is not worth the reward of McCarthy playing
in two series. He understand the idea about in game
(02:10):
reps and getting him as many reps as possible since
he missed an entire season last year, not of only
in game reps, but practice reps as well, being the
backup quarterback to Sam Darnold. But where I have an
issue with him playing in the preseason is, let's say
he gets two series in the first preseason game against
(02:33):
the Houston Texans. You don't think he could make up
two series on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears.
You're gonna risk McCarthy getting injured in a preseason game.
Take a look at what happened to Anthony Richardson last night.
It appears that Richardson will be fine, and he will
be okay, and he's listed as day to day, But
(02:55):
that injury could have been a lot worse than what
the result ended up being. So I don't understand why
the Vikings are putting McCarthy in a spot to potentially
get injured. And you've done so much to build this
roster and now you're gonna throw him out there against backups,
(03:18):
Houston Texans' backups that actually have more to play for
than starters. A backup playing preseason is most likely going
to play harder than a starter playing in the preseason
(03:39):
because they have more to play for, their fighting for positions,
they're fighting for spots, and now you're risking McCarthy to injury.
But as far as expectations go, with McCarthy playing against
backups and with them playing harder than the starters, it
does not mean they're better than the starter. Let's make
(04:01):
that clear. Just because they're playing harder than the starters,
that does not mean they are still better than the starters,
because they're not. They're backups for a reason, and the
Houston Texans have been very clear that they are not
playing anybody of significance in this preseason game, which means
if McCarthy goes out there and performs poorly, then there
(04:24):
will be some things to be concerned about. There will
be some things that leave us scratching our head. And
last year McCarthy played well against the Raiders in his
first preseason game. He hit that bomb, He threw some
nice balls to Jalen Naylor, he threw a nice cross route.
He did have an interception, but that interception was not
(04:49):
a big deal. So many people make things much bigger
about interceptions than they need to be. It was a
third in sec and if it was an incomplete path,
the Vikings were punting the ball regardless, and he did
not turn the ball over in the red zone. He
did not turn the ball over in his own territory.
(05:09):
It was as good an interception as you could ever have.
A third and seven, he threw it guy picked it
off at about the forty yard line. Big deal, it's
almost a punt. An interception doesn't really matter. That kind
of interception doesn't really matter. But as far as expectations go,
McCarthy should play well because they are playing against backup
(05:34):
players for the most part, and if he doesn't play well,
then there should be room to have some concern there.
And he's kind of gonna lose lose situation. It's kind
of like playing one on one or five on five
(05:57):
in you're matched up against a girl, you block her
shot and people question your integrity why you're blocking her shot.
You let her score, and people question your ability. While
you're letting her score, she's taken over the game. That's
kind of the position that Ja J. McCarthy is in
for the Viking first preseason game. If he plays well, well,
(06:19):
you should have. And if he doesn't play well, it's like, well,
you're playing against backup players against the Houston Texans. What's
wrong with you? So it's kind of like a man
matching up with a woman in five on five basketball.
She shouldn't score, but if she does, what's wrong with you?
If you stop her from scoring, what's wrong with you?
(06:41):
So it's really not that much of a win win
for McCarthy. If he plays great, awesome I he did
against backups, he should If he plays poorly, you're against backups.
What's going on here? So it'll be interesting and fascinating
to watch because he is the Vikings QB one for
(07:04):
the rest of the season and there really is no debate,
and he is the franchise quarterback for the Vikings that
they believe in and pass over. Daniel Jones is in
the Sam Donald's and Aaron Rodgers. For the Vikings picked
(07:24):
McCarthy over Donald, Rogers and Jones. And if he doesn't
go out there and prove that he is worthy of
being better than all three of those other options, then
the Minnesota Vikings organization might live in regret. All right,
let's talk about Jalen Naylor in the Vikings wide receiver
(07:46):
two problem. The Vikings are going to be without Jordan
and Addison for the first three games of the regular season.
And before I do this, let me tell you about
Oakland Farms. They have the best beef around per rotationally grazed,
rotationally grazed on grass fed beef. Hoakland Farm beef is
(08:09):
the best. You go to Walmart and you try to
pick out a steak, it's like nine ten dollars a pound.
I just got my Hoakland Farms beef for just over
four dollars a pound. Chuck Roast Beef's briskets, Hamburger steaks
offer right around four dollars a pound at Hokland Farms.
Beef nine five two four nine one one five four
one Contact Jared at nine five two four nine one
(08:32):
one five four one. Tell Jared tim sent you, and
he'll give you a little discount on your first order
nine five two four nine one five four one. The
Purple Persuasion took this screen grab from Will Raggitts and
Will Raggitts had this report says two of McCarthy's first
(08:52):
three passes and seven on seven action fell incomplete. The
first was a drop by Jaalen Naylor, which is starting
to become a concern. Notably, Nailer was wearing a red
no contact jersey, which you typically only see quarterbacks wearing.
The next was a near interception by Blake Cashman, who
jumped in front of Josh Oliver and almost picked off
McCarthy for the second straight day. The story that is
(09:15):
a story because of Jordan Addison's suspension has been the
notable drops and the amount of them from Jalen Naylor
in Vikings training camp. And I'm not concerned about it.
And here's why. Yes, he is wide receiver too, but
(09:38):
he is an option two. Yes he will run the
routes as a wide receiver too, but not really. TJ.
Hoginson will be healthy by week one and last year TJ.
Hockinson wasn't playing until like week six or week seven,
so the Minnesota Vikings have another option other than Justin
(10:02):
Jefferson and Jalen neither, which they really only had for
the first three weeks of last season because Jordan and
Aison was hurt last year. So yes, Jalen Naylor's drops
have been notable, and he did have a drop last
year against the Los Angeles Rams in a big spot
third and four with the Vikings down by four in
the fourth quarter, wide open, no defense near him, drop pass,
(10:28):
But he doesn't have the responsibility to be wide receiver
two because the Vikings have tj Hoginson healthy or will
be healthy by week one, and he will be the
second target. There might be some concern that without Jordan
and Adison that people are gonna throw another defender towards
(10:50):
Justin Jefferson's sign there's already two or three guys towards
his side, so they're not gonna throw another one in
his direction. And I still have belief in Jalen Naylor
because you look at his first few games of the
season last year and he was spectacular for the Vikings
(11:15):
versus the Giants. He had one catch for twenty one
yards and a touchdown. Versus San fran he had three
catches for fifty four yards and a touchdown. Versus the
Houston Texans, he had three catches for thirty one yards
and a touchdown. You don't need Naylor to catch for
one hundred yards per game. You need him to have
(11:37):
an occasional catch on second or third down to move
the chains. He doesn't need to fill the shoes of
Jordan Addison because the Vikings have Justin Jefferson and they
have TJ. Hawkinson, and they have a running game that's
going to be more effective because of the players and
(11:59):
because of the o's the line that they added to
this season. So although the Vikings are without Addison and
are much better with Addison, scoring points and moving the
ball should be no issue because of the depth that
they have offensively and because of the health of TG Howkinson,
(12:19):
which they did not have at the beginning of the
season last year. And Kevin Severt also mentioned a tweet
about the Jelan Naylor red shirt thing, says Vikings receiver
Jaalen Naylor wore a red no contact jersey Thursday during
practice at Rare for a non QB my understanding there
is no specific injury, just preserving depth at a position
(12:42):
where Justin Jefferson hamstring has been out and Jordan Addison
has a three game suspension. It seems like the Vikings
are taking all protocol to make sure that another receiver
doesn't go down, because if that does happen, then you
are very thin at that position. Taylor goes down, I
don't know who steps up after that, but right now
(13:04):
the Vikings have Jefferson, Naylor Hawkinson, and if someone went
down again, then the Vikings would be forced to trade
for an Adam Thielen or sign a guy via free agency.
But right now there's no concern offensively, and if the
Vikings don't score, it's not because of Jordan and Aison
(13:28):
not being on the field. It's for many other reasons,
maybe even including JJ McCarthy. Think if you're joining the
show today, hit that subscribe button on YouTube, d that
like button, and remember to check out five Star Bath
Solutions of Minneapolis and Hoakeland farmas beef nine five two
four one
The Grind of Minnesota Sports Podcast. Do the Minnesota Vikings
have a wide receiver two problem? As their first NFL
preseason game is roughly twenty four hours away and the
Minnesota Vikings tenth overall pick of the twenty twenty four
(00:24):
NFL draft. As zooms his playing career tomorrow as the
starting quarterback for the Vikings, there ain't no QB competition.
He is QB one. J J McCarthy expectations. As the Vikings'
first preseason game is about to kick off in roughly
(00:45):
one day. We're gonna talk about all that on today's show.
But first I needed to check out five Star Bass
Solutions of Minneapolis because they transformed our bathroom in forty
eight hours, and that's their promise. From new floors to
a new bathtub, new shower surround that got rid of
(01:05):
our mold. We got new countertops, vanity mirror, and our
favorite feature, we went from a single sink to a
double sink. All of this was done in forty eight
hours by five Star Bath Solutions of Minneapolis. Contact them
today if you want your bathroom modeled, affordable payment plans,
(01:26):
free consultation, so you've got nothing to lose, contact five
Star bath Solutions of Minneapolis and get your bathroom remodeled today.
All right, let's start with JJ McCarthy because I've been
vocal about the fact that I think it is the
(01:47):
wrong decision to play McCarthy in the preseason. I believe
with my entire heart that the risk of him playing
two series is not worth the reward of McCarthy playing
in two series. He understand the idea about in game
(02:10):
reps and getting him as many reps as possible since
he missed an entire season last year, not of only
in game reps, but practice reps as well, being the
backup quarterback to Sam Darnold. But where I have an
issue with him playing in the preseason is, let's say
he gets two series in the first preseason game against
(02:33):
the Houston Texans. You don't think he could make up
two series on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears.
You're gonna risk McCarthy getting injured in a preseason game.
Take a look at what happened to Anthony Richardson last night.
It appears that Richardson will be fine, and he will
be okay, and he's listed as day to day, But
(02:55):
that injury could have been a lot worse than what
the result ended up being. So I don't understand why
the Vikings are putting McCarthy in a spot to potentially
get injured. And you've done so much to build this
roster and now you're gonna throw him out there against backups,
(03:18):
Houston Texans' backups that actually have more to play for
than starters. A backup playing preseason is most likely going
to play harder than a starter playing in the preseason
(03:39):
because they have more to play for, their fighting for positions,
they're fighting for spots, and now you're risking McCarthy to injury.
But as far as expectations go, with McCarthy playing against
backups and with them playing harder than the starters, it
does not mean they're better than the starter. Let's make
(04:01):
that clear. Just because they're playing harder than the starters,
that does not mean they are still better than the starters,
because they're not. They're backups for a reason, and the
Houston Texans have been very clear that they are not
playing anybody of significance in this preseason game, which means
if McCarthy goes out there and performs poorly, then there
(04:24):
will be some things to be concerned about. There will
be some things that leave us scratching our head. And
last year McCarthy played well against the Raiders in his
first preseason game. He hit that bomb, He threw some
nice balls to Jalen Naylor, he threw a nice cross route.
He did have an interception, but that interception was not
(04:49):
a big deal. So many people make things much bigger
about interceptions than they need to be. It was a
third in sec and if it was an incomplete path,
the Vikings were punting the ball regardless, and he did
not turn the ball over in the red zone. He
did not turn the ball over in his own territory.
(05:09):
It was as good an interception as you could ever have.
A third and seven, he threw it guy picked it
off at about the forty yard line. Big deal, it's
almost a punt. An interception doesn't really matter. That kind
of interception doesn't really matter. But as far as expectations go,
McCarthy should play well because they are playing against backup
(05:34):
players for the most part, and if he doesn't play well,
then there should be room to have some concern there.
And he's kind of gonna lose lose situation. It's kind
of like playing one on one or five on five
(05:57):
in you're matched up against a girl, you block her
shot and people question your integrity why you're blocking her shot.
You let her score, and people question your ability. While
you're letting her score, she's taken over the game. That's
kind of the position that Ja J. McCarthy is in
for the Viking first preseason game. If he plays well, well,
(06:19):
you should have. And if he doesn't play well, it's like, well,
you're playing against backup players against the Houston Texans. What's
wrong with you? So it's kind of like a man
matching up with a woman in five on five basketball.
She shouldn't score, but if she does, what's wrong with you?
If you stop her from scoring, what's wrong with you?
(06:41):
So it's really not that much of a win win
for McCarthy. If he plays great, awesome I he did
against backups, he should If he plays poorly, you're against backups.
What's going on here? So it'll be interesting and fascinating
to watch because he is the Vikings QB one for
(07:04):
the rest of the season and there really is no debate,
and he is the franchise quarterback for the Vikings that
they believe in and pass over. Daniel Jones is in
the Sam Donald's and Aaron Rodgers. For the Vikings picked
(07:24):
McCarthy over Donald, Rogers and Jones. And if he doesn't
go out there and prove that he is worthy of
being better than all three of those other options, then
the Minnesota Vikings organization might live in regret. All right,
let's talk about Jalen Naylor in the Vikings wide receiver
(07:46):
two problem. The Vikings are going to be without Jordan
and Addison for the first three games of the regular season.
And before I do this, let me tell you about
Oakland Farms. They have the best beef around per rotationally grazed,
rotationally grazed on grass fed beef. Hoakland Farm beef is
(08:09):
the best. You go to Walmart and you try to
pick out a steak, it's like nine ten dollars a pound.
I just got my Hoakland Farms beef for just over
four dollars a pound. Chuck Roast Beef's briskets, Hamburger steaks
offer right around four dollars a pound at Hokland Farms.
Beef nine five two four nine one one five four
one Contact Jared at nine five two four nine one
(08:32):
one five four one. Tell Jared tim sent you, and
he'll give you a little discount on your first order
nine five two four nine one five four one. The
Purple Persuasion took this screen grab from Will Raggitts and
Will Raggitts had this report says two of McCarthy's first
(08:52):
three passes and seven on seven action fell incomplete. The
first was a drop by Jaalen Naylor, which is starting
to become a concern. Notably, Nailer was wearing a red
no contact jersey, which you typically only see quarterbacks wearing.
The next was a near interception by Blake Cashman, who
jumped in front of Josh Oliver and almost picked off
McCarthy for the second straight day. The story that is
(09:15):
a story because of Jordan Addison's suspension has been the
notable drops and the amount of them from Jalen Naylor
in Vikings training camp. And I'm not concerned about it.
And here's why. Yes, he is wide receiver too, but
(09:38):
he is an option two. Yes he will run the
routes as a wide receiver too, but not really. TJ.
Hoginson will be healthy by week one and last year TJ.
Hockinson wasn't playing until like week six or week seven,
so the Minnesota Vikings have another option other than Justin
(10:02):
Jefferson and Jalen neither, which they really only had for
the first three weeks of last season because Jordan and
Aison was hurt last year. So yes, Jalen Naylor's drops
have been notable, and he did have a drop last
year against the Los Angeles Rams in a big spot
third and four with the Vikings down by four in
the fourth quarter, wide open, no defense near him, drop pass,
(10:28):
But he doesn't have the responsibility to be wide receiver
two because the Vikings have tj Hoginson healthy or will
be healthy by week one, and he will be the
second target. There might be some concern that without Jordan
and Adison that people are gonna throw another defender towards
(10:50):
Justin Jefferson's sign there's already two or three guys towards
his side, so they're not gonna throw another one in
his direction. And I still have belief in Jalen Naylor
because you look at his first few games of the
season last year and he was spectacular for the Vikings
(11:15):
versus the Giants. He had one catch for twenty one
yards and a touchdown. Versus San fran he had three
catches for fifty four yards and a touchdown. Versus the
Houston Texans, he had three catches for thirty one yards
and a touchdown. You don't need Naylor to catch for
one hundred yards per game. You need him to have
(11:37):
an occasional catch on second or third down to move
the chains. He doesn't need to fill the shoes of
Jordan Addison because the Vikings have Justin Jefferson and they
have TJ. Hawkinson, and they have a running game that's
going to be more effective because of the players and
(11:59):
because of the o's the line that they added to
this season. So although the Vikings are without Addison and
are much better with Addison, scoring points and moving the
ball should be no issue because of the depth that
they have offensively and because of the health of TG Howkinson,
(12:19):
which they did not have at the beginning of the
season last year. And Kevin Severt also mentioned a tweet
about the Jelan Naylor red shirt thing, says Vikings receiver
Jaalen Naylor wore a red no contact jersey Thursday during
practice at Rare for a non QB my understanding there
is no specific injury, just preserving depth at a position
(12:42):
where Justin Jefferson hamstring has been out and Jordan Addison
has a three game suspension. It seems like the Vikings
are taking all protocol to make sure that another receiver
doesn't go down, because if that does happen, then you
are very thin at that position. Taylor goes down, I
don't know who steps up after that, but right now
(13:04):
the Vikings have Jefferson, Naylor Hawkinson, and if someone went
down again, then the Vikings would be forced to trade
for an Adam Thielen or sign a guy via free agency.
But right now there's no concern offensively, and if the
Vikings don't score, it's not because of Jordan and Aison
(13:28):
not being on the field. It's for many other reasons,
maybe even including JJ McCarthy. Think if you're joining the
show today, hit that subscribe button on YouTube, d that
like button, and remember to check out five Star Bath
Solutions of Minneapolis and Hoakeland farmas beef nine five two
four one
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