Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell addresses timeline for J.J. McCarthy becoming starting QB

J.J. McCarthy is readying to report to his first NFL training camp. He and the other Vikings rookies will show up Sunday. That’s the only given for this quarterback.

He has no idea whether he’ll be the Vikings starter at the end of camp. And Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell isn’t dictating a timetable for when to choose McCarthy or Sam Darnold, an off-season signee.

O’Connell, an NFL quarterback turned head coach, told ESPN when McCarthy might be ready to start. He said it depends on when McCarthy’s “comfort level” with the Vikings offense and “his ability to then translate it to adverse situations and difficult aspects of playing quarterback in the NFL aren’t magnified by inexperience.”

O’Connell added: “But I want to be very clear that the expectation is for this player to not be perfect. … He’s going to have growing pains, he’s going to learn on the fly. I’m not trying to remove that aspect of it, either, but [deciding when he will play] is not something you can write up on a board. It’s a feeling.”

The Vikings head coach might get that feeling sometime in training camp, which starts next week. Or, it may not come until the Vikings are several games into their season. However, barring injury, it will come. Minnesota traded up with the Jets to land McCarthy, who led Michigan to a national title, with the 10th pick of the draft.

The Vikings are in a transition season. They decided to move on from Kirk Cousins rather than re-signing the 36-year-old veteran. Cousins, who ruptured his Achilles last October, then signed with the Falcons. Coincidentally, the Falcons choice of quarterbacks nearly threw a scare in the Vikings, but for a different reason. Atlanta, with pick No. 8 in the draft, selected Michael Penix Jr., although they had Cousins. Minnesota needed to figure out if it needed to trade up to nine and not 10 to secure McCarthy.

The rookie signed his NFL contract Friday. He agreed to a four-year deal worth $21.85 million. It’s fully guaranteed. Because McCarthy was a first-round pick, his contract comes with a fifth-year option.

By next week, he’ll be competing with Darnold. He’s the former USC star who was the third pick of the 2018 draft. Darnold has bounced around the NFL, going from the Jets to the Panthers and then to the 49ers. San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan liked Darnold, but the 49ers preferred Brock Purdy. That left the door open for Darnold to sign with the Vikings.

O’Connell told ESPN he’s not going to push for McCarthy to start before he’s ready.

“I don’t know if it’s the former quarterback in me or not,” O’Connell said. “But I do feel an obligation to have the best interests of not only J.J. but our entire team, at heart, when we make that decision.”