Day 12 recap of J.J. McCarthy's performance at Vikings' training camp
The good, the bad and the in-between of McCarthy's day.
In their final practice before facing Houston on Saturday afternoon in their preseason opener at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings practiced in shorts and shells on a hot and muggy afternoon Thursday at TCO Performance Center. Here’s a look at how J.J. McCarthy fared in his last practice before getting the start against the Texans.
The unofficial stats: McCarthy was 3-for-6 in 11-on-11 drills and is 84-for-118 (71.2 completion percentage) in camp. He was 2-for-4 in seven-on-seven and is 37-for-55 (67.3 percent) overall.
Mixed results: McCarthy got two opportunities in the red zone during 11-on-11 work. His first possession started at the defense’s 20-yard line and featured a completion to tight end T.J. Hockenson, a read option in which McCarthy kept the ball and then a nice pass to wide receiver Jordan Addison from the defense’s 15-yard line. The next possession started around the 10-yard line and featured two Jordan Mason runs, two penalties on the defense and then an incompletion on which safety Harrison Smith made a diving play in the end zone to break up a McCarthy pass for Jalen Nailor.
There’s that zip: McCarthy’s arm strength has been discussed plenty in camp and we saw another example on the red zone connection with Addison. It was a short throw but cornerback Jeff Okudah was all over Addison, who still managed to catch the ball in part because of the zip McCarthy put on the throw.
The heat is on: The Vikings ended practice with a two-minute drill. The situation: Score tied at 10; 1 minute, 5 seconds left; and one timeout. After backup Sam Howell led the second-team offense within field-goal range with four seconds left, the McCarthy-led first-team offense started at its own 35-yard line. McCarthy, going against the first-team defense, completed a 5-yard pass to Hockenson, but the drive stalled after that. McCarthy threw an incompletion on second down — it appeared he threw the ball away after going through his progressions — and his final pass of the day was an incompletion for Nailor. Linebacker Blake Cashman might have sacked McCarthy on the play, if he was allowed to hit the quarterback.