J.J. McCarthy talks change in mentality for final month of this season

In his first press conference since coming out of the NFL's concussion protocols, J.J. McCarthy confirmed that he'll be following the directive Kevin O'Connell laid out for him this week and beyond. In short, the instructions are to stop overthinking and worrying about mechanics, and to just go play football the way he knows how.

"A lot of the mentality has changed, for sure," McCarthy said. "I was just so focused on doing every rep perfect and making sure every little detail was crossed and checked off. I feel like coach O'Connell and coach (Josh) McCown, them talking to me about 'Hey, let's worry about that stuff in the offseason. Go out there, play your ball, just execute the play.' That just frees up a lot of space mentally to be instinctual, react, and respond to what the defense is giving me. Very excited to play."

Six games into his NFL career, McCarthy has struggled immensely. He's thrown ten interceptions to six touchdown passes and ranks near the bottom of the league in every quarterback efficiency metric. His rough debut season reached a low point a couple weeks ago in Green Bay.

McCarthy acknowledged on Thursday that having too much on his mind during games may have contributed to his ineffectiveness. Throughout this season, he's tried to change his fundamentals on the fly, which is difficult to do while also balancing everything else a quarterback has to think about in the moment.

"I'm definitely a natural overthinker," McCarthy said. "And it's not against them (coaches). I need to do a better job compartmentalizing those coaching points and realizing when it's game time, it's time to let it loose and not focus on that.

"I am such a perfectionist and I really want to please the coaches and do everything right, but at the end of the day, it happens so fast. This game moves too quick, you have to be super witty and think on the fly and react. Paralysis by analysis shows up sometimes."

J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings — Image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

While the numbers are what they are, it's not as if McCarthy hasn't shown flashes this season. It's not as if he isn't talented; this is a guy who won a national championship at Michigan and was drafted tenth overall a couple years ago. The hope is that a focus on playing freely and instinctually will help him shake off his early struggles and start to find a rhythm in an advantageous matchup this week.

There's already existing evidence that such an approach can work for McCarthy. Look no further than a two-minute drill a few weeks back against the Bears, when he led an 85-yard drive while playing with tempo and presumably thinking less.

"You only have so much brain space and so much intention and attention going into every play," McCarthy said. "(This approach) just opens it up for a lot more things that I feel like will help my game improve.

"It's not like I'm totally disregarding all the coaching points and all that. Definitely not. But it's just picking and choosing which ones you carry into game day and what's gonna be the most effective way of completing that play."

With five games left in this season, there's a lot on the line for McCarthy. He likely needs to show some tangible signs of progress if he's going to enter the offseason as the favorite to be the Vikings' starting quarterback in Week 1 of 2026. The best way he can do that is by avoiding turnovers and making plays that leads to wins.

"I feel like the No. 1 quality for a quarterback, for a franchise quarterback, is protecting the football and making sure we win football games," he said. "So that's what it comes down to."

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