Cowherd and Russini accuse Vikings media of 'lifting up' J.J. McCarthy

Colin Cowherd's bizarre fixation with publicly doubting J.J. McCarthy continued on Tuesday. This time he invited The Athletic's Dianna Russini for an odd conversation about the state of the media surrounding the Vikings quarterback's training camp.

"What I hear about JJ McCarthy isn't what... is sometimes reported. There is almost this protective bubble, or elevation of what he's doing," Cowherd said to Russini during a conversation on his radio show on Tuesday. "And it's not what I'm hearing. That there are real concerns, from last year on."

Cowherd has been frequently public with his take this offseason that he doesn't believe in McCarthy. He's previously stated that the Vikings QB is a "C quarterback." Earlier in the offseason, he stated that McCarthy has "no great trait." The Fox Sports host also stated that the Vikings "may regret" letting Sam Darnold go in the offseason.

Wow, a bombshell back and forth between @colincowherd and @DMRussini on Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy and how the organization is propping him up when it’s not the reality 🤯

“Do I think J.J. McCarthy is wowing everyone at training camp? No, I don’t… [Vikings fans] are going to be… pic.twitter.com/XrQiPnxicY
— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) August 5, 2025

To put it mildly, Cowherd hasn't bought in to McCarthy. That's fair; he hasn't taken a single competitive snap after missing the entirety of his rookie season with a meniscus injury. It's OK to still have questions about whether McCarthy can cut it at the NFL level.

Where Cowherd's conversation and opinion this time takes an odd turn is when he mentions a "protective bubble" and an "elevation of what [McCarthy's] doing." McCarthy has had his ups and downs since the start of camp. Below is a list of links to our Vikings reporter Will Ragatz's practice recaps from the past couple days alone:

Just from the headlines alone, that appears to show that McCarthy hasn't always been great. Russini pushed back on the point initially, noting that she's heard from Athletic coworker Alec Lewis that McCarthy has been up and down, while there's been some good, some bad.

But Russini – who heavily pushed links between the Vikings and Aaron Rodgers during the offseason – then followed that up by agreeing with Cowherd's point that there appears to be some sort of artificial "lifting up" of McCarthy.

"It sounds like what you've noticed, and this is something I've noticed too, is that there is a lot of lifting up of JJ McCarthy," said Russini. She further questioned if there was a need from the organization to hype up McCarthy after spending the draft capital they did to get him.

The organization is always going to want to protect their biggest asset, there's just no way around that. But saying that, and Russini pointed this out as well, there have been calls to give McCarthy from within the locker room as well.

When asked about his new QB, star receiver Justin Jefferson said in late July, "You definitely have to have patience." He went on to add, "He's pretty much a rookie... So yes, you have to have that patience. You're not really expecting him to have the same mindset as a veteran. You can't really have that expectation from him."

"If you follow anything Vikings related, you would think this guy is the next biggest quarterback to play. And I think they're going to be disappointed because there's going to be a natural period of time where he's got to catch up and feel comfortable in this offense," continued Russini.

Anybody who has read or watched any local reporting on Vikings training camp knows that isn't the case. There has been broad reporting about McCarthy's good and bad moments at camp. Ultimately, talking heads like Cowherd will continue to spit out their talking points and double down on their own narratives. McCarthy will have his chance to prove those doubters wrong starting in 34 days in Chicago.

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