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The bye week came at a good time for the Minnesota Vikings, coming off an extended trip overseas for back-to-back games and with a long list of injury concerns.Atop the list of injury concerns is the quarterback situation, as J.J. McCarthy works his way back from a right ankle injury and backup Carson Wentz deals with a left shoulder issue from the game in London against the Cleveland Browns.
There is a lingering question about [when McCarthy will be able to play](https://thevikingage.com/jj-mccarthy-injury-update-deepens-minnesota-vikings-qb-mystery), but there's no doubt he'll be the starter whenever he's deemed able. Head coach Kevin O'Connell also made it clear that McCarthy will have to have a full week of practice before he takes back the starting job, and he will also do some extra work during the bye week as part of that process.
Will it be J.J. McCarthy or Carson Wentz who starts at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles?
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Speaking to the media [when the Vikings returned to work](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO3MikN8Nfs) on Monday, O'Connell maintained the mystery regarding who will be starting under center in Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
_**"I think there's the decision that's the public one and I think there's the decision one with what we're going to do for the game," O'Connell said. "And those two things can be on different timelines, although I know that's not the most comforting thing to share with you guys. There is a feel of making sure that we're preparing the quarterback position for the game, knowing that we've won games with two different guys this year."**_
After his vague addressing of who his starting quarterback will be, O'Connell dove into the work McCarthy got in during the bye week.
_**"We had some good work last week," O'Connell said. "It was great to get back on the grass and had some good sessions out there, kind of getting back to a lot of the principle of lower-body mechanics and things that had been really good parts of his early journey here."**_
O'Connell then noted something he realized about how little McCarthy has practiced. He missed the team's Sept. 11 practice to join his fiancée as she gave birth to the couple's son, Rome. So, he has had one full week of practice all season.
_**"Didn't even hit me until we were out there, he had practiced one time (officially) since we had left Chicago. So a lot of the things, you're allowing him to get his health back and get his feet back underneath him, but then building that foundation of fundamentals and techniques."**_
Then, O'Connell dove deeper into the value of the 1-on-1 time he got with McCarthy during the bye week.
_**"You can talk about routes and certain throws and certain plays and things like that, but it's the foundation of throwing mechanics, from the ground up, that he's really taken to since he got here and just the consistency of it. You're not talking about an incredible amount of body of work when you're considering when that injury happened and the week that he had leading into that game. Very excited to get him back officially practicing. I don't necessarily want to put a percentage on where I think he's at health-wise, and I think this week will be massive for our whole team, but (it was good) just to see J.J. back out there, getting reps and working through the process of building that foundation back up. We got off to a really good start last week, I was very fortunate to get that time with him."**_
O'Connell also highlighted the benefit McCarthy got from watching Wentz play during the three games before the bye. In particular, getting the ball out faster will be a key part of McCarthy finding success. Wentz averaged 2.59 seconds to throw during his starts, while McCarthy averaged 3.09 seconds to throw over the first two games of the season.
The latest version of "O'Connell quarterback development school" had some extra sessions when there wasn't a game to prepare for. McCarthy will definitely be better for it, whenever he is deemed able to reclaim his starting job.