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The combination of skills and experience Kyler Murray brought with him to the Minnesota Vikings has made him their presumptive starting quarterback this coming season, even though the coaching staff declared an open competition for the job with JJ McCarthy.
In his first public comments since Murray was cut by the Arizona Cardinals, who started over and signed with the eager Vikings, McCarthy sounded like he understood the situation but didn’t necessarily appreciate it.
“Look, the organization made a decision that they feel will improve the depth and the quality of the cap,” McCarthy said Wednesday after the team’s first offseason practice session opened to reporters.
“All I’m thinking about is continuing the upward trajectory that I set for myself last season – the last quarter of the season – and continuing to be the best version of me every single day.”
Asked directly if he was disappointed the Vikings acquired Murray, McCarthy said, “Then I would be disappointed if it rained. It’s out of my control. At the end of the day, I just have to focus on what I can do to be the best quarterback for this football team.”
As for his budding relationship with Murray, McCarthy said there’s no awkwardness between them, but he certainly didn’t sound warm about it in his terse response.
“It’s like two guys in a classroom. He sits on one side. I sit on the other side. And it’s the coach’s responsibility to teach us and train us,” McCarthy said.
Murray, for his part, did not hesitate to speak highly of the work arrangement, which is undoubtedly easier to do as an eighth-year player in the NFL with several outstanding seasons on his resume. Murray said McCarthy has been “overwhelmingly” receptive to his input as a veteran with 87 starts.
“We’re both competitors. I know we both want what’s best for the team,” Murray said. “He’s always communicating, asking questions, stuff like that, so it’s been good.”
Murray has deftly avoided any discussion of depth chart expectation. Even with all the assets the Vikings offer — from top-notch facilities to a quarterback-friendly head coach in Kevin O’Connell to star receiver Justin Jefferson — he probably wouldn’t have picked Minnesota on a one-year, minimum-salary contract if he didn’t think he’d be the starter. Whether or not the job was privately promised to him hardly matters.
“My confidence is unwavering. That’s how I feel about myself,” Murray said. “No matter what happens from day to day, I know that the next day I’m going to come out here and do my best.”
McCarthy declined to specify whether he has made any changes to his throwing mechanics after being dogged by erratic performances during his injury-hit rocky debut. He has spent plenty of time since the offseason started, however, working on the field with Jefferson.
“Just building these on time and rhythm passes for each concept and each route,” McCarthy said. “It’s just amazing to be around that guy every single day.”
When Vikings players reconvened last month to begin the formal offseason workout program, Jefferson spoke candidly to reporters about his excitement over Murray’s arrival — and his anticipation for McCarthy’s improvement.
“It’s good to get some good talent in that room to kind of put a little spark in that room, to see a competitive edge from those guys to lock in and do what we expect them to do, which is come in and be that guy,” said Jefferson, the two-time All-Pro entering his seventh year in the NFL. “We have a lot of talent in that room, especially for JJ to get that spark in him and for Kyler to come from Arizona and continue that spark.”
Assuming Murray wins the job this season, his mobility should open up more room for Jefferson down the court.
“I’m definitely looking forward to his speed, his quickness, his arm strength, which he’s shown countless times over the years,” Jefferson said. “For JJ, somebody into that space with that type of ability, that type of talent, he’s got to step it up a little bit. So it’s good for him to feel that type of pressure and really lock in a little bit and say, ‘It’s either now or I take that back seat again.'”
Report from the Associated Press.
