‘Pure excitement, pure confidence.’ It’s game week at last for J.J. McCarthy

J.J. McCarthy may have grown up cheering for the Bears in the Chicago suburbs, but there’s no glossy eyes over playing 30 minutes from home Monday.

“I feel like home is in Minnesota,” McCarthy said Wednesday after practice. “At the end of the day, it’s just a business trip.”

McCarthy makes his NFL regular-season debut Monday night against the Bears 501 days after the Vikings drafted him No. 10 overall out of Michigan.

His wait to take the helm under center included spending the 2024 season sidelined with a knee injury suffered in his preseason debut against the Raiders last August.

McCarthy did all the right things throughout his recovery and returned to on-field work at the top of the calendar year, making a full debut back at practice during organized team activities (OTAs) in the spring.

Now that game week is finally here, McCarthy said he’s “extremely thrilled.”

The 22-year-old QB said he has a different type of feeling than when he stared down his first Michigan start back in 2022.

Even when he couldn’t be on the field in the past year, McCarthy was working toward this moment, making sure his return to the field and his first chance at commanding a pro offense was a smooth transition.

He spoke Wednesday about picking up different habits from last year’s quarterback room, as well as considering how he’d compartmentalize information throughout game weeks so he could play free once it came time for him to take the field.

One specific aspect of previous starter Sam Darnold’s game prep that McCarthy said he took to heart was his balance of work and recovery, like not being at the Vikings’ Eagan facility 24/7.

That part might be something McCarthy’s still working on — Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said McCarthy was at TCO Performance Center on Tuesday doing game prep with No. 3 QB Max Brosmer even before team meetings and practices began.

“I feel like [the balancing is] something I struggled with,” said McCarthy, who has previously described himself as a perfectionist, said. “It’s always been work, work, work. ... Little things like that pay dividends down the road ‘cause it is such a long season.”

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for McCarthy in training camp, as those same defensive players often tormented him, especially early on. But he showed nothing to make one question the investment the Vikings made in him.

Last week, his teammates cemented their confidence in him by selecting him one of eight captains — again, before he’s even taken a regular-season snap.

“He knows he’s definitely not gonna be alone out there from the standpoint of the coaching staff and myself right there with him, maybe me too much sometimes in his ear, being able to coach the quarterback system,” O’Connell said. “I know those 10 guys in the huddle, regardless of who’s in the game, those guys are excited for No. 9 to come in and call that first play.”

Running back Aaron Jones’ advice to McCarthy aligned with O’Connell’s read on how teammates are viewing his impending debut.

Jones, also a captain, said he reminded McCarthy the rest of the team’s job is “to make [his] job easier,” and to ask for help when he needs it, though Jones also said McCarthy is “ready for the moment.”

O’Connell said McCarthy has a “gamer” trait proven by his successful track record through high school and then at Michigan, where he helped lead the Wolverines to a national title his final season.

That trait, O’Connell said, is how he shows up often at his best on game days.

Still, the Vikings aren’t ignoring the fact that an NFL start is a new situation for McCarthy.

“We’re all aware of that, but that doesn’t mean we put a ceiling over him,” O’Connell said. “At the same time, that doesn’t mean that because of all that success throughout his football journey we raise the floor, either.”