MN Vikings Minicamp Ends Without QB1 Clarity

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.

“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.

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