Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
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Would the Minnesota Vikings consider trading quarterback prospect J.J. McCarthy?
Most NFL quarterbacks would consider the first win of their career to be one of the best days of their lives. For Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, his first NFL win wasn’t even the best moment of his week.
McCarthy and his fiancée Katya Kuropas welcomed their son Rome to the world on Thursday, three days after his first NFL victory and three days before game two of the regular season.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell gave the new dad some advice before he left the Vikings facility to drive his wife to the hospital.
“He started talking about some of the things he was going to say when he got in the car to take her to the hospital and I did give him some pointers on what to say and what maybe not to say in those moments,” O’Connell joked.
“It’s been cool to see him go through that, the dialogue yesterday right after Rome was born. It’s an awesome moment as a father myself to see his reaction to it on the best day of his life, I was really proud of him.”
McCarthy even asked O’Connell for permission to leave to take his wife to the hospital, to which O’Connell told him to never ask about something like that again. The father of four children knows there’s more to life than just football.
McCarthy, at just 22-years-old, is the NFL’s newest father and maybe he’ll have a little bit of extra Dad strength when he takes the field on Sunday Night Football against the Atlanta Falcons.
O’Connell and Ryan Kelly Joke About McCarthy’s Maturity
McCarthy showed an immense amount of maturity and poise by showing up to practice the next day and putting up a strong performance
“Ryan [Kelly] and I got a kick out of thinking about the last 24 hours for J.J. knowing how many times him and I have been through that, but not come out the next day and had a great red zone Friday practice,” O’Connell said. “I like to pump myself up in 2022 when all I did was stand on the sideline and coach a football game a couple of days later.”
“Quarterback development, man,” O’Connell joked.
Vikings Look To Back Up Week One Win
After getting off to a slow start on Monday night against the Bears where they were held to just six points through the first three quarters, McCarthy and the Vikings offense exploded for 21 points in the fourth quarter.
McCarthy’s stat line won’t jump off the page – 13/20 with 143 yards, two touchdowns and an INT – but he showed great poise leading Minnesota down the field three times in the fourth quarter to complete a comeback win against a division rival.
Now, the Vikings are playing in their second primetime game in a row, this time on Sunday Night Football against the Atlanta Falcons, who dropped a tightly contested game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The QB matchup will be a battle of two second-year QB’s who both didn’t play much or at all last season in McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr.