Kevin O’Connell Not Budging On Starter Darnold For Now
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell reiterated that Sam Darnold will start Week 1, while expressing his excitement over J.J McCarthy.
First round rookie J.J McCarthy is thought to be the potential future of the franchise. For now, though, he’ll learn from Darnold.
While MCarthy will get some reps in the No.1 position, Kevin O’Connell is proceeding cautiously with the rookie.
Want $250 to bet on NFL futures?
“Listen, I’m so excited about J.J. McCarthy,” Kevin O’Connell said.
“He’s confirmed in every possible way what we had hoped and really proven in a lot of ways early on to be even more than we hoped from the standpoint of the type of person and player we brought in. That leads to the practice field where he gets to play against Brian Flores’ defense every day and have a true learning environment right in front of our very eyes.
“He’s been on a journey from the time he was the third overall pick in the draft. Different spots, different offenses and systems along the way. I think Sam’s in a great spot in his career to have a chance to be the best version of himself with guys like Justin (Jefferson), Jordan (Addison) and T.J. (Hockenson) around him, our offensive line, continuity up front and just our entire team, the way it comes together, hopefully playing good football, staying true to who we want to be and how we want to win games.”
Read: Veteran PG Tyus Jones Agrees To Deal With Suns
“I’m always going to do whatever I think is best for the team to give us the best chance to win, while also understanding that the journey for a young quarterback in this league — and I’m really talking about both Sam and J.J. McCarthy — is really defined in a lot of ways by things outside of their control.
“I think we set up a plan to give both those guys a ton of reps throughout training camp. I did feel like Sam, through his work in the spring and where he’s at in his career, earned the right to have the bulk of the first-team reps early on, but we’ve got a plan to get J.J. some reps as well.”
