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Kevin Seifert
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Justin Jefferson had nothing new to say. Speaking to reporters in the visitors’ locker room at Lambeau Field, about an hour after the Minnesota Vikings’ 23-6 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Jefferson’s face betrayed no expression.
«It’s frustrating to be up here and say the same things every single week,» Jefferson said, «and expecting something to change the following week. And we’re still in the same spot.»
Jefferson and the Vikings have a big problem. Their quarterback isn’t playing at an NFL level and, if anything, his performance has regressed since the start of a season dedicated to his development. With a 24.9 QBR after six starts, McCarthy is off to one of the worst career starts of any NFL quarterback in the past decade.
The Vikings aren’t 4-7 and almost certain to miss the playoffs solely because of J.J. McCarthy. But it is plainly obvious that he is the top reason. If it was apparent to those in the Vikings locker room, however, no one said it publicly.
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Coach Kevin O’Connell, for one, gamely referenced a handful of mistakes the Vikings made around McCarthy on Sunday, He twice noted center Ryan Kelly stepped on McCarthy’s foot, scuttling a play in the first quarter, and identified receiver Jordan Addison’s failure to make a block as the cause of a failed running play later in the game. Rookie Myles Price’s muffed punt in the third quarter was also a key error, O’Connell said.
Asked if the Vikings can win with the way McCarthy is playing, O’Connell didn’t hesitate.
«I think you can,» O’Connell said, «I do believe that. But it does require, as a football team, not doing things that loses games. … There are some things where you can’t have breakdowns around that player to consistently sustain. So as some of those things happen or you start stacking negatives, that becomes incredibly difficult for any quarterback, never mind a guy just still in this single-digit world of career starts and all that.
«I think there’s a needle to thread there, and we got to just keep on building the foundation of playing the position, but also all 11 guys in that huddle doing their jobs.»
Joshua Metellus, one of eight captains on the Vikings’ roster, echoed that sentiment and took it one step further.
«I’m not going to lie,» Metellus said. «I think ‘9’ is playing great. If you don’t play as a full team and don’t give each other a chance to win, quarterbacks get the blame. But in terms of his ability to grow and develop? We’re talking about a guy that has, what? Seven starts? Six starts? I think he’s playing really well. I know he’s going to keep getting better. I know the kind of guy he is.
«Shout out to J.J. for being able to step in and just keep going and ignore the noise. I don’t know really too much about what’s going on, but I know it’s not just a QB problem. It’s an all-11 problem. Whenever we’re all on the field, we all have to play as one.»
Football is a team game, of course, and Price’s special teams mistake played a significant role in the outcome. The Vikings’ win probability dropped from 24% to 9% between the time of the muff and the Packers’ ensuing touchdown two plays later.
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But the errors made by McCarthy and those by his teammates aren’t comparable. And that’s where the risk of locker room fractures could begin for the Vikings over the final six weeks of the regular season. The NFL’s most expensive roster at $350 million for 2025 is in the process of being sacrificed for the development of a quarterback who clearly needed more time to develop behind the scenes.
71 quarterbacks have opened their careers with at least six starts over the past decade. McCarthy ranks No. 67 in QBR (25.6) and completion percentage (54.1%), No. 66 in passing yards per game (154.8), No. 52 in off-target throws (20.6%) and No. 69 in interceptions (10) when comparing their first six starts.
He has performed at that level not with an expansion team or one that played poorly enough the season before to earn a top pick in the draft. Instead, he has done it with an offense that includes two elite receivers in Jefferson and Addison, a reliable tight end in T.J. Hockenson and an offensive line featuring three former first-round picks.
And on Sunday, O’Connell tried to support him with one of the least aggressive game plans of his tenure. The Vikings used designed runs on 58.6% of their plays in the first half, the highest first-half rate since O’Connell arrived in 2022 and only the third time they’ve been over 50%.
That approach kept the game close, but it was rendered moot after Price’s muff. Forced to turn to the passing game to make up a two-score deficit, the Vikings managed only three net offensive yards. On 13 dropbacks, McCarthy completed five passes for 25 yards. He threw both of his interceptions and took four of his five sacks.
McCarthy, like Jefferson, had nothing new to say afterwards. He did, however, offer the team’s most fact-based assessment.
«I’ve got to be better,» McCarthy said. «I’ve got to do a lot of things better.»
