J.J. McCarthy Had Epic Five-Word Message to Teammates Before Vikings' Comeback Win

J.J. McCarthy had a message to his teammates before leading a clutch comeback victory.

J.J. McCarthy had a cool message to his teammates in the huddle before leading the Vikings to a comeback win over the Bears. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

There were a number of highlights from J.J. McCarthy's historic fourth quarter performance in the Vikings' comeback win over the Bears on Monday Night Football, but his leadership and response to adversity perhaps stood out the most in the gritty 27-24 victory.

When the Vikings were trailing Chicago 17-6 in the third quarter, McCarthy simply said to his teammates in the huddle, "Where would you rather be?"

McCarthy told reporters after the game that he's never said that to teammates before, but it felt right in the moment. "I feel like it was at the perfect time," McCarthy told reporters. "Guys were kind of in their head a little bit. A smile goes a long way, so there was a lot of smiles after I said that. Just a little big of a perspective shift. Yeah things weren't going our way, but we're here doing this together. The boys, they responded perfectly."

.@jjmccarthy09 on asking "Where would you rather be?" during the huddle. pic.twitter.com/O65uEIEJEy

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 9, 2025

After a rough first three quarters which saw McCarthy throw a pick-six as the Vikings offense generated just two field goals, McCarthy both managed to lift up his teammates and engineer a comeback win like a seasoned veteran, not a quarterback making his first NFL start.

“It juiced us up,” wide receiver Justin Jefferson said, via Ben Goessling of The Minnesota Star Tribune. “He never gave up. That was the big thing about it.”

Not long after that comment in the huddle, McCarthy led the Vikings on three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to pull off the comeback and win 27-24. He threw two touchdown passes—to Jefferson and running back Aaron Jones—before running in for a 14-yard touchdown to take a two possession lead and ultimately win the game.

Thanks to the clutch leadership and efforts of McCarthy, the Vikings move to 1-0 on the season with great confidence in their young quarterback.

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