J.J. McCarthy's comments last week that he and Kyler Murray sit on opposite sides of the QB meeting room have been interpreted as indicating an icy relationship between the two. Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell rejected that translation on Thursday, saying the two have been "very professional."
O'Connell noted that there's been "no hiding anything" regarding the QB competition, as the club has been transparent about its plans.
"I want players who are smart, tough guys that love football," O'Connell said, . "Guys who -- I don't even want to say are great teammates -- that need to attempt to be a great teammate. You need to repeat that time and time again because that process never stops.
"But it also doesn't mean that everybody has to be smiling every day. When they speak to [reporters], I want them to be open. I want them to be honest, because I think it's all part of having a transparent quarterback competition that allows these guys to truly demonstrate that they can consistently be the same guy every day and stack really good days. And when they do that, the team grows, and that's what I ultimately care about -- that position being an igniter of our team getting to what our ceiling may be for this year."
The Vikings signed Murray to a one-year deal this offseason to push McCarthy for the starting gig. All indications are that the veteran signal-caller is ahead in the early stages. KOC added that McCarthy has handled the reworked quarterback room "really well."
The coach doesn't care if the players grow particularly close, only that they both have the same goal: to improve each day and help the club win.
"What actually matters is what I care about," O'Connell said. "Did we take the right footwork on a play? Did we have our eyes in the right spot? Did we make a protection call against one of [defensive coordinator Brian Flores'] blitz looks? Did we do our jobs to manufacture the starting point and potential path to success for the offense? And there's enough that goes into that that I don't have a ton of space left over for who says what and how they say it.
"I mean, it's all a reflection of how people handle competitive situations and we're all going to handle them differently. What I care about is when they step between the white lines, that there's growth and development and that it really is a competition."
Eventually, one of the QBs will be named the Week 1 starter. For now, O'Connell will keep praising the entire room.
