Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy needs experience like Bryce Young once did. Adam Thielen would know.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen said he can see a parallel between one of his former teammates, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, and his current quarterback, J.J. McCarthy.

Thielen said McCarthy “is not lacking the skill set, he’s not lacking the competitiveness, he’s not lacking the confidence,” but that it’s just a matter of experience for the 22-year-old quarterback who is five starts into his NFL career.

Thielen said that’s what Young, the Panthers’ No. 1 overall pick in 2023, needed when going through a difficult first two seasons. Thielen was a go-to target while Young completed about 60% of his passes and totaled 32 touchdowns (passing and rushing) to 27 turnovers across 2023 and 2024.

Now in his third season, Young is guiding the 6-5 Panthers. During his 38th start, Sunday’s overtime win at Atlanta, Young threw for a franchise-record 448 yards and three touchdowns.

“Look at what Bryce is doing now,” Thielen said Monday. “He’s got a lot of confidence. I think being in the same system a couple years, being around a lot of the same guys and just trusting the system. ... I’m sure he’s leaning on a ton of experiences over the last few years that were some really tough moments individually and as a team.”

“There’s no timeline,” Thielen added, “that says at this point in your career you’re going to have success, but if you just stay the course and trust it and lean on that experience, good things happen.”

Thielen said he has had that discussion with McCarthy, whose inaccuracy has been a primary culprit for an NFL-low 52.9% completion rate. They have talked about how some mistakes are necessary growing pains for next time, when Thielen said he expects McCarthy to get “better and better.”

Coach Kevin O’Connell said he sensed a couple of young Vikings players were pressing and trying to “make the play myself” when Chicago Bears returner Devin Duvernay found a wide lane during a 56-yard kickoff return that set up the winning field goal in the Vikings’ 19-17 loss Sunday.

Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. and wide receiver Tai Felton were the second- and third-widest players on that side for the Vikings, but both ended up on the opposite hashmarks as Duvernay ran the other way. O’Connell also alluded to Will Reichard’s short kickoff, which fell around the 4-yard line after he had kicked a previous one into the end zone in the fourth quarter.

“A couple young guys got out of their lanes,” O’Connell said Monday. “We knew they were a field return team. There was evidence earlier in the game on the same location Will hit it to the perfect spot. I think there’s an element to it, too, where guys want to win so bad. ... I think there is a lot of that going on on our team right now, because this team has fight.”

Outside linebacker Dallas Turner played well while starting for the injured Jonathan Greenard, who missed his first Vikings start against Chicago because of a left shoulder injury suffered Nov. 9 against Baltimore.

Turner helped force the Bears’ second three-and-out drive to start the game when he tackled wide receiver Luther Burden III for a 3-yard loss in the first quarter. He was a disruptive pass rusher with a team-high five pressures that included three hits on the Bears’ Caleb Williams, whom Turner called a “Houdini-like” quarterback.

“It’s gonna take more than one person to bring him down,” said Turner, who has 2½ sacks this season. “But I feel like the front seven, we did our best in order to contain him.”

Turner, the 17th overall pick out of Alabama in 2024, said he’s feeling “a big difference” from his rookie season.

“It’s a steady progression,” Turner said. “Still taking steps, still learning from the vets.”

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