Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy isn’t technically a rookie because he was drafted in 2024, but he’s effectively one after missing his rookie season with a knee injury.
McCarthy had surgery on his knee last August and he was competing with Sam Darnold prior to his injury, so this camp is McCarthy’s first as the clear leader of the offense. Quarterbacks in that position often struggle when facing starting defenses and McCarthy has done his share of that since camp opened last week.
On Wednesday, McCarthy said he’s welcoming those tough moments as a chance to make up for the time he lost last year.
“Not having those reps last year, that’s something you miss out on when you take a substantial amount of time off from throwing the football,” McCarthy said, via Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “You got to find that touch again. There was a lot of throws in OTAs where I felt I could’ve had a better outcome if I had that touch. Just learning from failures and trying to get better. . . . Those periods where they really get you, I feel like that’s where we learn the most about ourselves and our offense.”
Training camp practices are the time for growing pains that pay off when other teams are on the other side of the ball. The Vikings get their first chance to play a game next week and McCarthy’s progress will be a major storyline if he’s on the field for the preseason opener.
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw took an important step toward his return to action on Wednesday.
Via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com, Darrisaw participated in team drills for the first time since Minnesota training camp opened.
He had previously been taking part in individual drills only, following a torn ACL and MCL suffered during a Week 8 Thursday night game against the Rams. The injury happened just before halftime.
Per Seifert, Darrisaw participated in roughly half of the first-team snaps. Veteran Justin Skule took the remaining first-team reps at left tackle.
The broader question is whether Darrisaw will be ready to go when Week 1 rolls around, in only 40 days. The Vikings open the 2025 season with a Monday night game at the Bears.
The Vikings will be honoring the late Jim Marshall this season.
Marshall died in June at the age of 87 and team president Mark Wilf said at a Wednesday press conference that the team will recognize his passing with a decal on their helmets.
“In our minds, he’s the greatest captain in NFL history and there is no question he also belongs in the Hall of Fame for what he accomplished in his 20-year career,” Wilf said. “We plan to honor Jim with a helmet decal throughout the 2025 season and are working on plans to recognize him and his family during Legends weekend when we face the Bengals in September.”
Marshall joined the Vikings in their inaugural season in 1961 and spent the next 19 years with the team. He helped them to four Super Bowl appearances and holds the NFL record for most consecutive games played for a single team. The Vikings have also inducted him into their Ring of Honor and retired his No. 70 since he retired after the 1979 season.
The Vikings signed safety Gervarrius Owens on Wednesday, the team announced.
Owens, 25, was a seventh-round pick of the Giants in 2023, the 254th overall selection. He joins Minnesota after spending time with the Giants and Titans.
He has appeared in five games the past two seasons, including three his rookie season with the Giants.
In two games with the Titans in 2024, Owens saw action on one defensive snap and four on special teams. He had no stats.
Owens began his collegiate career at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M before transferring to Houston where he posted 208 total tackles, including 7.5 for loss, four interceptions, 22 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two blocked kicks in 46 career games with the Cougars.
In a corresponding move, the Vikings waived linebacker Max Tooley.
Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson has been sidelined by a hamstring strain for the last few days.
While head coach Kevin O’Connell still feels like Jefferson will be able to play Week 1 when Minnesota opens the season against Chicago, he would like to see Jefferson on the field in fairly short order.
"[There’s a] finite amount of time we’re talking about to get him right and get him totally ready to roll for the grind,” O’Connell said Tuesday, via Tony Liebert of SI.com. “The guy plays 70-plus snaps a week, and what we ask him to do is just flat-out remarkable, but he’s able to consistently do that.
“But you still want to have him back sooner rather than later,” O’Connell added. “Like I said, zero worry about the opener, but there’s a lot of time in between now and then. What that looks like, we’re gonna be smart, but at the same time, he wants to get back out there. He does not want to stay wearing what I wear to practice for much longer.”
Jefferson, 26, caught 103 passes for 1,533 yards with 10 touchdowns in 17 games last season. While the Vikings certainly want to have Jefferson healthy for 2025, they also likely would like to have Jefferson establish as much chemistry as possible with quarterback J.J. McCarthy, as the 2024 No. 10 overall pick enters his first year as a starter.
