Scoggins: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy has ‘it’ factor that is hard to define but easy to recognize

TV cameras zoomed in on J.J. McCarthy’s face for a closeup as he walked off the field. His helmet did nothing to hide the inferno taking place underneath.

His eyes could’ve stared directly into a person’s soul. His mouth was pursed into a snarl. He was a quarterback in job title but a heavyweight fighter looking for a knockout in appearance.

“That’s kind of how I roll,” he said.

Vikings players, coaches, fans and NFL observers all got a first glimpse of McCarthy’s blistering intensity as a game-day competitor in Monday’s 27-24 victory over the Bears in Chicago. His debut as a starting quarterback at age 22 revealed intangibles that cannot be measured by statistics or Pro Day metrics.

He showed resolve when things looked bleak. He didn’t get rattled by mistakes, including his pick-six interception that might have buckled the knees of young quarterbacks. He displayed fieriness reflective of someone who isn’t used to losing and had no intentions of losing that game.

Forget the historical stats that McCarthy recorded in the final quarter at Soldier Field to completely rewrite the narrative of his first NFL game. The best part — other than the win, of course — was the demeanor that a young quarterback exhibited in a performance that turned from dud to dynamic in a blink.

“Game day, when the lights are shining,” Justin Jefferson said, “he knows how to have that ‘dog’ mentality.”

McCarthy has lost three games as a starting quarterback across high school, college and NFL. Three losses combined at those levels. Winners find ways to persevere when negative situations occur.

The first three quarters of his first start were a mess. Nothing went right. McCarthy looked antsy at the line of scrimmage and in the pocket. Coach Kevin O’Connell saw “sloppiness” from the entire offense.

The response was most impressive. McCarthy didn’t get rattled by the circumstances, which would have been understandable given all the attention on his debut, his return to his hometown and legitimate expectations of a veteran team built to win now.

That’s a lot of pressure on a young leader. And when things started poorly, particularly after his errant pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown in the third quarter, one couldn’t help but think “Uh-oh.”

McCarthy didn’t flinch. He continued to project confidence and positivity.

Coaches and teammates have raved about McCarthy’s maturity and makeup for months. But it’s one thing to show it in the relatively low-stress environment of practice and something entirely different to be trailing by double digits on the road on “Monday Night Football” in the season opener when all eyes are fixated on the new guy who holds the keys to the organization in his hands.

“We all believe J.J. is made of the right stuff and we all believe he would respond in those moments,” O’Connell said. “But that’s an accurate statement to say we hadn’t actually seen it.”

McCarthy’s response to that predicament should be the biggest takeaway. His first season will have more tough moments, more youthful mistakes, more adversity. He seems well-equipped to handle rough spots emotionally and mentally.

He credits meditation for giving him the tools to “control the controllables” and not get derailed by whatever has happened previously in a game, good or bad.

“Stay present, stay calm and really just worry about operating the next play,” he said. “It’s really simple [concept] but hard to do.”

McCarthy gave a snapshot of it when he walked into the huddle during a TV timeout with his team trailing by 11 points, looked at his teammates and delivered a quote that is destined to get printed on T-shirts: “Is there any place else you guys would rather be?”

“A smile goes a long way,” he said. “There were a lot of smiles after I said that. Just a little bit of a perspective shift. Yeah, things weren’t going our way, but we’re here doing this together.”

The snowball was gaining steam at that point. McCarthy made clutch plays to engineer a spirited comeback. Emotions poured out of him, resulting in emotions pouring out of his teammates and coaches.