J.J. McCarthy's enhanced comfort level: 'Feel like I've been here for a year'

McCarthy feels much more at ease than he did in the spring.

Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy addresses the media after practice on Friday July 26. / Will Ragatz

This spring, J.J. McCarthy's head was spinning a bit. The No. 10 overall pick out of Michigan was learning and adjusting to Kevin O'Connell's complex Vikings offense, and the amount of information he was trying to process was difficult at times.

"I'd say in OTAs, it was very hard for me to get out of play-call," McCarthy said on Friday. "Everyone thinks that they can play quarterback (in the NFL), but try getting out of the huddle."

A couple months later, the Vikings' rookie quarterback feels far more comfortable with everything that's going on around him. Through three practices in his first training camp, he's been playing with confidence because he has a much greater understanding of the playbook and the things he's being coached to do.

One of the main reasons for that comfort level is that McCarthy never really left or took any time off. From the time OTAs ended in June to the time he reported to training camp, he was still in Minnesota working out constantly and doing everything he could to prepare for his first NFL camp. Twice a week, he was throwing to former Vikings receiver Adam Thielen, whose knowledge of O'Connell's offense was extremely helpful for the 21-year-old QB.

"I honestly feel like I've been here for a year already," McCarthy said. "I stayed back this entire summer to just not take my head away from it, and just continued to dive into the playbook and focus on the little things like drops, like progressions, like the different defenses that Coach Flo (Brian Flores) throws at us. I feel like being around this building, every single day, my comfortability in this offense is growing exponentially."

These days, he's no longer having any trouble going into the huddle and calling a play.

"That was my biggest goal going into this training camp, was to be able to hear it one time and execute it and regurgitate it to the guys with confidence," McCarthy said. "I've been doing that so far."

Back in the spring, the Vikings started working on a mechanical tweak with the way McCarthy stands in shotgun. A lot of his focus has been on mechanics, footwork, and tying his feet together with his eyes so he can operate with the rhythm and timing that are key to playing quarterback in O'Connell's offense. Being a QB at this level is about matching the physical elements to the mental side of the game: knowing your progressions and reads on various concepts against all kinds of defensive looks.

"He's come a really long way," offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. "When you change something, it's not necessarily that it looked bad or he wasn't doing it right, it's the comfort level. It's not thinking about it anymore, doing it enough times — and the work that he put in over the summer, you can tell there's just a comfort level with some of the things we're asking him to do.

"Not just with footwork, (but) about where his eyes are at the acceptance of the snap, about getting a hip open to his left potentially on certain reads, throwing off a plant (foot), throwing off a hitch on certain concepts. There's a lot of little details that he's much more comfortable with, and the less you're thinking about footwork and technique, all those types of things, the more you can just see his arm talent show up."

McCarthy's gotten off to a strong start to camp. He put together an impressive practice on Thursday, showing off the arm talent that made him a top-ten pick, and he's looking to keep building on that moving forward.

From a big-picture perspective, McCarthy is competing with Sam Darnold for the Vikings' starting job. However, he isn't thinking that far ahead just yet. There's a lot more growing to do.

"My ultimate goal is to get the most out of every single day," McCarthy said. "Understanding that trusting the process, especially when you have someone like Kevin O'Connell handling the process, is huge to my development. Focusing on that meeting, that practice, that workout, whatever it is in the moment, I'm gonna try to attack that. When the time comes, the time comes. I'm just training every single day so when that time does come, I'm gonna be ready."