Former Viking Calls Out JJ McCarthy’s Immaturity; Doubts His Readiness

We learned a lot about the Minnesota Vikings during their five game win streak to end the 2025 season with a 9-8 overall record.

On the positive side of things, the culture created by Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah proved to be one that can hold a locker room together for 18 weeks, despite knowing for a month or more ago that they weren’t going to part of the NFC playoff field.

We also learned that, not only is Brian Flores the best defensive coordinator in the NFL, but he is one of the best overall coaches in all of football.. who may not be here next season. Lastly, Justin Jefferson is a bona fide leader, even when circumstances restrict his production.

But the negatives from 2025 far outweigh the positives. Because in the end, the Vikings’ season was doomed by two things, really. First, their heavy reliance on free agency, following years of poor drafting, finally bit them in the butt.

Second, and far more devastating, however, was the Vikings’ complete organizational failure in projecting the stability of their 2025 quarterback room, which we quickly realized wasn’t built from brick, stone or even sticks… but straw.

Minnesota Vikings face more QB questions this offseason

In fact, the Vikings’ horrific miscalculation at QB this year is one of the worst in Minnesota sports history. Most concerning, however, wasn’t his play between whistles or his ability to stay on the field, though those were underwhelming much of the time as well.

More worrisome was J.J.’s maturity (or immaturity) level, both on and off the field — a deficiency that was on full display Sunday when he pulled himself out of the win vs Green Bay, just one play into the second half.

JJ McCarthy had Nine on one shoulder and KOC on another when he was thinking about pulling himself from the game…🤣 pic.twitter.com/UkzSsxAATg

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) January 4, 2026

For much of the game this weekend, McCarthy was making a show on the sideline of his hand injury, wrapping it in a towel on the sideline and hiding it from teammates or any type of contact.

If you were frustrated with the redshirt rookie’s “antics” during the Packers vs Vikings game, you aren’t the only one. Former NFL linebacker (now local media member) Ben Leber felt the same way watching from the sidelines for KFAN’s radio broadcast.

Ben Leber calls out JJ McCarthy’s immaturity

On Monday morning, during one of his regular appearances on KFAN’s Power Trip Morning Show, the 10-year retired NFL veteran (5 yrs w/Vikings) got real honest with his concerns regarding the readiness of JJ McCarthy to be the MN Vikings starting quarterback in 2026 and beyond.

Leber started by ripping McCarthy for taking himself out of the game the way he did, and continued to undress Nine’s immaturity from there, eventually focusing on JJ’s sideline show from Sunday, along with his overall lack of self-awareness.

Former Vikings LB @nacholeber DID NOT like how J.J. McCarthy took himself out of the game 👀

"You don't need to place a towel over your hand… I think he's got a lot to learn about just the body language… the outward optics of how things look."pic.twitter.com/4rDpRLtmiK

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) January 5, 2026

“I know that there are situations where, yeah, you might not be able to go. You might have to alert the training staff that, hey, something’s going on, that something doesn’t feel right. So there are certain circumstances where you were like, yeah, ‘I need this looked at’.

But to pull yourself off mid-series after one pass play in which it seemed everything was fine in the second half of the game in which you seem like you’re throwing the ball fine, yeah, I don’t love the optics of it.”

“Me personally, I would probably push through it as much as I could. You know, get through this series. And if you have a couple throws where you are errant and you are inaccurate and it looks like you can’t grip the football, I would choose to have them pull me off the field or evaluate it during the next when the defense is on the field and then have them deem, hey, you can’t let’s let’s get you out versus taking myself out of the game.”

Ben Leber – Power Trip Morning Show (KFAN)

All offseason, the MN Vikings sold us on the readiness of JJ McCarthy to step into Kevin O’Connell’s offensive system and, despite sitting out his entire rookie season with a knee injury, play well enough as a redshirt sophomore to lead a veteran-laden team to and through the NFL playoffs. Boy, were they wrong.

He isn’t as polished in front of media as we expected, coming out of Michigan. He was thought to have intangibles through the roof. But throughout the season, we’ve learned that McCarthy mostly acts his age… which is still just 22 years old.

JJ McCarthy’s “theatrics” wearing on fans, teammates and media

According to the CBS broadcast, JJ refused any sort of pain killer or medicine that might help manage the pain, even though he told on-field reporter earlier in the week that his pain was an 8.5 out of 10.

Leber isn’t the first former Vikings to voice his concerns surrounding McCarthy. Cris Carter did it in a much more brash fashion earlier this season, on Kay Adams’ Show. But when Ben woke up Monday morning and decided he was going to go in on JJ McCarthy, he did not hold back.

“I don’t love the theatrics of it. I don’t love the optics of it. There’s so much drama that’s that’s surrounding that you don’t need to place a towel over your hand. It’s not melting. It’s not. There’s not a bone sticking out. It’s not disfigured. It’s not harming anybody by looking at it.”

“So, you know, there again, I think that I think that he’s got a lot to learn about just the body language, the behavior, the outward optics of how things look.”

Ben Leber – Power Trip Morning Show (KFAN)

J.J. McCarthy said he couldn’t go anymore

told his teammates “I’m sorry” pic.twitter.com/HwLaKcWjz3

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 4, 2026

Maybe he will grow into the mature-for-his-age leader that we were told he was, coming out of school, but he is not at that maturity level right now.

He flip flops on topics with media, depending on who coached him up that week. “Nine” sounds like something Justin Jefferson created. Other days, he’d sound like he came fresh out of a talk with psychotherapist/head coach, Kevin O’Connell.

Do Minnesota Vikings have time to wait on JJ McCarthy to grow up?

That type of “leader” is not capable of winning or playing well consistently in the National Football League, which Leber is clearly concerned about. Ben still believes in McCarthy and, eventually, expects JJ’s maturity to catch up with his talent level.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t think it will happen fast enough to take advantage of any playoff window the Minnesota Vikings still have with their core, as currently constructed.

“You look at some of those intangible things about making plays when you have to make a play…there’s an elusiveness, there’s a playmaking ability, there’s a there’s a little kid playing backyard football that is inside of him that I actually like. I think it’s a positive thing. We saw a little bit of yesterday.

And I actually think that means that he can grow into what they want him to be as far as a pocket passer and commanding the huddle a little bit more and making some of those throws. I think he’s still wildly immature mentally.”

“There’s definitely a tug of war going on with me internally, because I like a lot of the physical things that I’m seeing. I like the intangible things that I see. But I don’t like some of the theatrics.  I don’t like the way he handles himself sometimes on and off the field. And I think that matters. And I think to be a leader, I think that matters. And I’m not so sure that’s something that he’s going to mature into in his time here.”

Ben Leber – Power Trip Morning Show (KFAN)

If Brian Flores does indeed leave for another coaching gig elsewhere, the Minnesota Vikings’ playoff window may be in danger of closing before it even opened.

Should Flores get passed up again for a second head coaching opportunity, it would unofficially make the Minnesota Vikings the No. 1 benefactor of Flores’ ongoing lawsuit against the NFL and multiple other teams.

But even if that happens and the Vikings come back in 2026 with what they believe is a playoff caliber roster yet again, will they have a quarterback in place capable of operating the offense in a way that allows them to reach their potential?

If not, will they/should they wait for McCarthy… or move on? Those are the quarterback questions this organization must answer over the next month or two, before the 2026 season quickly sneaks up on us.