Kevin O'Connell on J.J. McCarthy's health, facing Malik Nabers and what matters entering the regular season

KOC's message to the Vikings: Protect. The. Football.

Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell after the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports / brad rempel-usa today sports

"We've got some good stuff brewing upstairs," Kevin O'Connell said Tuesday in an interview on KFAN-FM 100.3. Whether he was talking about the coffee or the game plan for the Giants, it certainly offered a reassuring vibe from the confident head coach entering his third season in charge of the Minnesota Vikings. Let's dive into some of the key takeaways from the interview...

How is J.J. McCarthy coming along a month after meniscus surgery?

"He's doing great. He's kind of through the early part of that rehab," O'Connell said. "Now he's kind of to the point where he's back in meetings, right alongside [Sam Darnold] and the other quarterbacks every single day. He's motoring around the building and he's got a little cart to get him around the building here and there. He did crash it into my office wall yesterday. No injuries to report but maybe a little damage from the motorized cart."

McCarthy is out for the season due to the surgery that repaired the torn meniscus in his right knee.

What matters most? Ball security and takeaways.

"Everything we do, everything we say, everything we emphasize matters," O'Connell said. "We didn't start out very fast (last season). There was some execution errors, there was some mental errors."

Minnesota finished 31st in the NFL with 34 turnovers last season. It included an astonishing number of fumbles in the first handful of games and those miscues put Minnesota in a 1-4 hole that they weren't able to climb out of after injuries to Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson.

"I think we had 11 fumbles in the first five, six, seven games," O'Connell said. "We've gotta truly be all about the football. It's gotta matter. We've gotta take it away on defense when we can, we gotta catch it when they throw it to us, we gotta strip the ball from ball carriers and take it away however we can to generate some positive numbers in the defensive takeaway category. I have a ton of confidence in the group we'll put out there to do that."

O'Connell said the coaching staff will be watching like hawks to make sure players "show and demonstrate the principles and techniques that we coach" when it comes to ball security.

"What we've done basically every waking moment we've had on the field, and off for that matter, is coach it and demand it," the coach explained. "We've gotta have guys that go in the games that show those things because we've learned no matter what you scheme up, no matter how many yards you throw for, no matter what you do from a chalkboard standpoint, if you don't do the simple things that just make good football teams good — holding onto the football, limit your penalties, converting third downs, protecting the quarterback — the little things that end up being huge things when you're at a podium after the game talking about why you weren't successful."

Jalen Nailor is the clear WR3

"What Jalen really gives us at that third receiver spot is really two things. He can get open, he can get open versus one-on-one coverage," O'Connell said, " and then the other thing is he's really versatile. So we move [Justin Jefferson] all over the formation, we move [Jordan Addison] all over the formation. The days of 'he's just a slot receiver' as that third player, those really don't exist anymore."

O'Connell indicated that Nailor will play a big role is making it difficult for defenses to double and triple team Jefferson and Addison. "That's where we feel Jalen's ability to help us will really show up," O'Connell said.

Preparing for the real deal in Malik Nabers

"Oh, he's going to be a really good player and we're expecting him to be a very good player on Sunday. You've gotta treat him really what he is which is a bonafide No. 1 guy that they're going to scheme plays for," O'Connell said of the rookie receiver. "Just understanding what he was coming out of LSU and what he was for Jayden Daniels and that offense, one-on-one situations the expectation was that he would go in and he would win pretty consistently. We're going to have to have a plan for him. We're going to have to understand where he is in the formation."