Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is a relative unknown and suffered a serious knee injury, which has led to questions around the NFL.

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who spoke before O'Connell, said he had just run into McCarthy while walking around TCO Performance Center prior to his press conference. He said McCarthy was in the weight room doing "those cool quarterback thrusty things that Dak (Prescott) does." He also noted that the rookie QB is back to throwing in on-field workouts.

“I’m very excited about where J.J. is at,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said in an end-of-season press conference. “He’s returned to on-field training. He’s returned to being right where we hoped he’d be at this point to have the type of offseason to be able to answer that question (about whether or not he can start beginning in 2025).”

Whether the J.J. McCarthy era in Minnesota will begin in Week 1 of the 2025 season remains to be seen. But as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said, “If that’s the course of action we decide,