https://sports.yahoo.com/j-j-mccarthy-could-ask-215819894.html
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s bid for the Vikings quarterback job in 2024 ended with a knee injury he suffered in the team’s first preseason game and the first-round pick said on Tuesday that it was hard to be stuck as an observer for his rookie season.
McCarthy watched Sam Darnold put together a strong season that resulted in 14 wins and a playoff berth. That created a lot of discussion about what the Vikings will do at quarterback this offseason, but poor outings for Darnold in the last two games of the Vikings’ season made it seem less likely that they’d consider moving on from McCarthy without ever seeing him in regular season action.
During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, McCarthy said he hasn’t heard anything definitive in conversations with head coach Kevin O’Connell and that “there’s a lot of things that are certainly above my pay grade and some things above his pay grade” when it comes to how the team will handle Darnold’s impending free agency. However that plays out, McCarthy said that he just wants at least a chance to show what he can do on the field.
“All I could ask for is a fair opportunity,” McCarthy said. “That’s the one thing I feel like everybody’s given and it’s fundamental. When money gets involved, things get complicated and reps get skewed and there’s different things that come into the whole political world that everyone talks about. I have to focus on controlling what I can control. My feelings don’t matter. I’m not getting any grace. There’s no sympathy, this is the big leagues.”
March 4 is the deadline for teams to use franchise tags and that will be the first significant milestone in terms of what the Vikings are thinking in terms of Darnold.
https://sports.yahoo.com/j-j-mccarthy-could-ask-215819894.html
