Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Minnesota Vikings finished their three-day mandatory minicamp on Thursday. Unlike other teams — some of which skipped minicamp altogether — head coach Kevin O’Connell took advantage of all the time allotted to him by the NFL to get work in this week.
After Kyler Murray opened 7v7 sessions Tuesday with back-to-back interceptions, there hasn’t been a lot of news filtering out of practice out at TCO Performance Center. However, the podium press conferences afterwards have been worth paying attention to.
Obviously, all eyes remain on the Minnesota Vikings’ QB competition between Kyler Murray and JJ McCarthy. Both QBs spoke with media on Tuesday, then assistant coaches and teammates were asked questions about it yesterday.
Kevin O’Connell pushes MN Vikings QB battle to training camp
Then today, the grand finale. KOC spoke with reporters after the Vikings finished practice Thursday, where the first few questions revolved around quarterback. It took a lot of word salad to get the answer, but the head coach answered the main inquiry on everyone’s mind.
No, the MN Vikings QB competition will NOT be decided this week. Instead, despite how either QB feels about the lack of reps this week, the battle between McCarthy and Murray will rage on into the start of training camp 5-6 weeks from now.
Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell says the team will take the QB competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy into training camp: "I want to see these guys in a very, very unique and difficult circumstance elevate their games to help the Vikings.”
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) June 11, 2026
There's a lot of word salad here… but I believe Kevin O'Connell just told reporters that the Vikings' QB competition will continue into training camp. pic.twitter.com/GXCGqcypke
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) June 11, 2026
“I think to give an actual date would be not necessarily accurate from a portrayal as how we see it. There is a timeline to make sure that we can allow the competition to continue and advance, and layout in training camp to allow us to do that.”
Kevin O’Connell
This isn’t all that surprising but it does fly into the face of what NFL insider Tom Pelissero has been reporting and doubling down on in recent weeks, that the Minnesota Vikings would have their QB situation mostly figured out going into the summer.
Murray and McCarthy both have things to prove
Instead, Kevin O’Connell noted that it’s on Kyler Murray to continue to learn the offense this summer, prior to camp, just like it will be on JJ McCarthy to continue his upward trajectory, after impressing those around TCO Performance Center the past few months.
However, this news also means that the daily questions and reports surrounding the MN Vikings QB battle will continue through the end of July, possibly longer.
As minicamp ends, Kevin O'Connell says he plans to continue the Vikings' QB competition into training camp. Cautions against reading much into "who gets what on which days." But he knows the frenzy that's coming: "Me saying that was the waste of the time that I took to say it."
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) June 11, 2026
Mentioned in this article: J.J. McCarthy Kevin O'Connell Kyler Murray NFL Offseason
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