J.J. McCarthy dishes on relationship with Cade McNamara amid competition

Jim Harbaugh’s decision to turn Michigan’s first two games into something of a quarterback derby between Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy is assuredly unorthodox. And as the competition ramps up with McCarthy on deck to start in Week 2 following McNamara’s Week 1 benchmark, there’s been speculation about how the personal relationship of the two quarterbacks has been affected.

While there’s no doubt each quarterback wants to beat out of the other and be named the starter — badly — McCarthy sought to offer a little insight into how they get along. Speaking to the media on Tuesday evening, McCarthy said they’re aware of the outside voices pitting them against each with more vitriol than is really there, but they don’t seem to mind.

“There’s so many outside voices that try to make us dislike each other in a way, and we’ve kind of taken that to heart,” McCarthy said. “There was a couple practices we’re like, man, the media really doesn’t want us to like each other.”

JJ asked his relationship w Cade during camp: "There’s so many outside voices that try to make us dislike each other in a way, and we've kind of taken that to heart. There was a couple practices were like, man, the media really doesn't want us to like each other."

— angelique (@chengelis) September 6, 2022

There’s no hiding that McNamara was upset with his performance on Saturday, something Harbaugh intimated in his comments after the game. And McNamara himself didn’t seem overly pleased with the plan to play him, then McCarthy, then make a decision.

“I would definitely say it’s pretty unusual,” McNamara said postgame. “It was kind of a thing that I wasn’t expecting. By the end of camp, I thought I had my best camp. I thought I’d put myself in a good position. That was just the decision coach went with.”

But McNamara’s apparent ire at the situation and not being named the starter going in to the season don’t seem to be pointed at McCarthy. And McCarthy, for his part, noted on Tuesday that the decision isn’t his to make. It’s out of either of their hands, ultimately, and all they can do is make the best impression to Harbaugh, who will make the final call.