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Can J.J. McCarthy lead the Vikings to the playoffs? (1:29)
Domonique Foxworth and Jeff Saturday explain why they need to see more from J.J. McCarthy before declaring the Vikings a playoff team. (1:29)
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Kevin SeifertNov 5, 2025, 07:43 PM ET
- Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
EAGAN, Minn. — J.J. McCarthy seemed to have an edge throughout his triumphant return Sunday as the Minnesota Vikings‘ quarterback. On multiple occasions during the Vikings’ 27-24 victory over the Detroit Lions, and in one viral moment in the postgame locker room, McCarthy’s normally joyous face was scrunched into a mean mug.
Speaking on Wednesday with reporters, McCarthy acknowledged his new game-day persona. He referred to it by a name — «Nine,» a reference to his jersey number — and said it is a product of the anger built up over missing 23 of his first 25 NFL games because of injury. McCarthy missed all of his rookie season because of a torn meniscus in his right knee and five games this season because of a high right ankle sprain.
«It really kind of started to show up this year,» he said, «and it came about last year during IR. Just never had a full season, where you want to be out there so freaking bad, but you can’t. It was just this built-up anger that was kind of ready to just explode, and I chose to harness it instead of letting it go into a self-destructive kind of way.»
The Vikings have won two of McCarthy’s three starts this season. He accounted for three touchdowns in each of the wins, in Week 1 over the Chicago Bears and then Sunday against the Lions.
On Sunday, McCarthy was caught staring intensely at coach Kevin O’Connell as he gave a postgame speech.
pure dawg 🔥@jjmccarthy09 | @Vikings pic.twitter.com/uXxMDALN9m
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2025
O’Connell joked Wednesday that he has learned to «get the hell out of the way for my own personal safety» when addressing McCarthy during those moments.
«I kind of love feeding that wolf,» McCarthy said, «because my entire life at [the University of Michigan], there was a smiley face on my hand, and [if] you smile, and you have fun, you’re going to play better and all that — which is true. But I also think there’s a lot of power that comes from that built-up anger that you can transmute into your performance.»
