Vikings training camp recap, Day 8: J.J. McCarthy takes first-ever reps with starters

McCarthy got his first reps with the ones, but it was Sam Darnold who had a better day on Friday.

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and QBs coach Josh McCown. / Images Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

At 4:30 p.m. central time on Friday, August 2, Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy took his first-ever reps with the first-team offense. Two of them, to be exact, in an 11-on-11 red zone period.

The result: An end-around toss to Jordan Addison that might have gone for a touchdown (it's hard to tell when defenders aren't tackling), followed by a pass that was nearly intercepted by Theo Jackson. Maybe not exactly how McCarthy drew it up, but it's a milestone in his first training camp regardless.

To be clear, this doesn't mean anything has changed in regards to the depth chart or McCarthy's odds to break camp as the Vikings' Week 1 starter. There's still a long way to go to determine that, and the rookie remains the clear-cut QB2 behind Sam Darnold for the time being. But now we know Kevin O'Connell wasn't lying when he said earlier this week that McCarthy would eventually be mixing in with the starting offense. It's something we'll probably continue to see happen from time to time as camp moves forward.

Let's go over some other observations from another sweltering afternoon at TCO Performance Center.

This practice, which was the Vikings' third of training camp with pads on, was dominated by the defense early on. Whether it was Darnold, McCarthy, or Nick Mullens at QB, Minnesota's offense really struggled to get anything going during the first 11-on-11 period of the day. The quarterbacks had little time in the pocket before one or more of Brian Flores' blitzers arrived with pressure.

There was a sack on Darnold. Then a sack on McCarthy. Then a completion to Johnny Mundt — which was negated by a false start. At one point, the defense blew up two consecutive screens to Aaron Jones; Dwight McGlothern and Brian Asamoah II were there to greet Jones as soon as he caught the ball on consecutive plays. It was constant pressure, and the period fittingly ended with Mullens tripping over an offensive lineman's foot and falling over right after taking a snap.

It was a particularly rough day for McCarthy — probably his worst of camp so far. The rookie really struggled to get the ball out quickly, which led to sacks and scrambles and rushed throws. The offensive line didn't seem to be doing him any favors, but he didn't look very decisive either. McCarthy did throw a couple touchdowns in the red zone period, including a nice pass to Trent Sherfield.

Darnold was clearly the better of the two quarterbacks today, which hasn't always been the case. He hit Addison and Justin Jefferson for chunk gains in the first period of practice, then had a pretty touchdown pass to a leaping Johnny Mundt in red zone action.

To end the day, the Vikings did a situational one-minute drill where the offense trailed 27-21 and had one timeout. Darnold marched the first-team offense down the field against the first-team defense, hitting Jefferson for a big gain on a crossing route before finding Addison for a touchdown. Both throws came with Akayleb Evans a half-step behind in coverage.

McCarthy and the second-team offense were unsuccessful in the same drill. After a few short completions, McCarthy took a sack from Gabriel Murphy in a spot where you can't take a sack (the Vikings had already used their timeout). On the next play, his pass was tipped at the line by Murphy for an incompletion to end the session. It's been a strong camp for the undrafted rookie OLB out of UCLA, who drew a shoutout from O'Connell earlier this week.

Bonus notes

* Pat Jones II continues to stand out in 1-on-1 drills. He beat Brian O’Neill with a nasty spin and then blew by Henry Byrd on the interior.
* Christian Darrisaw got the better of Jonathan Greenard on a couple 1-on-1 reps. Same with Walter Rouse against Dallas Turner.
* Harrison Smith got the day off, which meant Theo Jackson got a ton of work with the first-team defense. He continues to make plays every single day, recording multiple pass breakups against McCarthy in the red zone.
* Jonathan Bullard wasn’t practicing, so rookie Levi Drake Rodriguez got some reps with the first-team defense. So did veteran Jonah Williams, who has stood out so far since pads came on.