JJ McCarthy got another preseason stage on Saturday, and the spotlight turned harsh in a hurry.
Starting under center for Minnesota’s second preseason game at U.S. Bank Stadium against Baltimore, McCarthy was back at work after splitting first-team reps with Kyler Murray during camp.
Murray officially won the starting job earlier this month, leaving McCarthy to battle for the backup spot behind him. But one throw from the game quickly took over the conversation.
The play came with pressure closing in as McCarthy dropped back and looked toward the end zone. Receiver Myles Price had created clean separation, with no defender anywhere near him, but McCarthy’s pass sailed high. Price had to leap and stretch for it, and the ball fell incomplete on what should have been an easy touchdown.
That was all it took for the clip to spread fast online, and the reactions were brutal. “Plays like this are hard to watch from JJ,” one X account claimed.
“Should be a TD 100/100 times. Have to settle down and take some heat off these throws.”
Another fan went even further: “JJ damn near needs to take reps at WR in practice so he can understand what a catchable ball is,” one fan suggested.
Not everyone piled all the blame on McCarthy, though. One response pointed out that he “had a guy in his face” and said Price appeared to slip before the throw got there.
Another defender of the play wrote, “Dude had a guy in his face? Gets batted down if it’s a 100/100 TD throw.”
The criticism fits a pattern that has followed McCarthy. Earlier this year, Hall of Famer Kurt Warner addressed the same issue on ESPN, saying McCarthy’s habit of throwing at maximum velocity can shrink the margin for his receivers when the placement isn’t perfect. “He does a great job of taking something off, of throwing what I call a firm but soft ball,” Warner said, while comparing McCarthy’s development path with Josh Allen in Buffalo.
A similar overthrow last season to Jalen Nailor brought its own sharp reaction from NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth, who called it “a dream” chance that went to waste because the ball came in with too much heat.
Saturday’s miss also arrived against the backdrop of an already noisy preseason for McCarthy, including a viral clip of frustrated fans groaning through his training camp reps just weeks earlier. And while the throw was ugly, Price continued to make his case for a bigger role in Minnesota’s offense, having caught touchdowns from McCarthy in both of the Vikings’ joint practices with Baltimore earlier in the week.
For McCarthy, the larger issue is still the same: he needs momentum in a QB2 battle that remains unsettled heading toward the regular season.
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