Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy returned to practice Friday following the birth of his first child Thursday.
McCarthy, 22, and his fiancée, Katya Kuropas, announced the birth of their son Rome Micah McCarthy in a joint Instagram post Friday afternoon.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, who has four kids, said McCarthy came to him Thursday asking if he could leave before practice to take Kuropas to the hospital. He’d been at TCO Performance Center for meetings and team walk-through.
O’Connell told McCarthy that wasn’t something he had to ask permission for and excused him.
“Ryan [Kelly] and I got a kick out of thinking about the last 24 hours for J.J. knowing how many times him and I have both been through that, but not come out the very next day and have a great red zone kind of fast Friday practice,” O’Connell said in his Friday afternoon news conference. “It’s an awesome moment as a father myself to kind of see his reaction to it, best day of his life.”
He also said he gave McCarthy advice in that moment on both what to and not say to Kuropas throughout the day.
“QB development, man,” O’Connell said with a smile.
McCarthy and Kuropas, who’ve been engaged since January 2024, announced the pregnancy via a joint Instagram post May 21.
