On Saturday night, the Minnesota Vikings won a preseason game for the first time under Kevin O’Connell and first since 2019. This was as anticipated as a preseason game can get for Vikings fans as they saw the debut of J.J.
McCarthy , among many other fresh faces donning the purple and gold. Winner J.J.
McCarthy /Sam Darnold McCarthy and veteran Sam Darnold had more than enough bright spots Saturday to be happy with where they’re at at this point of training camp. Darnold only played one drive, leading the offense right down the field with a few anticipatory passes to Jailon Nailor, who also played well in the absence of Justin Jefferson . oh no not again pic.
twitter.com/9DQXGOeJNm — Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) August 11, 2024 McCarthy received much more of the workload after the sole Darnold drive, and it started as poorly as you could’ve drawn it up with an interception on the first drive of his career. While the interception was rough, the way McCarthy responded was as promising as any singular play he made.
He stayed aggressive all game with two big touchdown passes and multiple chunk gains while facing heavy pressure. He looked mobile, accurate and threw with anticipation. If Darnold plays the way he did in his drive throughout a good portion of the season, odds are McCarthy won’t play, which is probably a good thing since McCarthy isn’t all the way there yet.
It wasn’t perfect, but enough to get fans excited for the future. can see the positives of JJ McCarthy'.