“It’s not perfect, we’re ironing out a lot of wrinkles out here, especially for Kyler Murray, who’s learning a new offense; he’s never really played in the Sean McVay-Kevin O’Connell system before,” Solak said. “So, there were misses. And the sort of misses are because he’s learning the offense.

“He disagreed with Jordan Addison about whether or not a route should break or keep going vertical … this is the sort of stuff that figuring out training camp is for. Except unlike a quarterback who just changed jobs, Kyler only gets 50% of the first team reps because J.J. McCarthy is out there.” 

Solak added that McCarthy looks more comfortable in O’Connell’s system after a tumultuous 2025 campaign. 

“McCarthy looks better frankly because he’s been in this offense before,” Solak said. “He’s thrown to these receivers before. He has a better understanding and handle on the system. And that’s why this is a legitimate quarterback competition, because Kyler needs to get up to speed, that is a process that will take a couple of weeks. And then we’ll see if and when the Vikings are ready to name a starting quarterback for Week 1.” 

McCarthy having the “lead” in the competition is certainly surprising, especially considering former Vikings receiver Adam Thielen said the job is Murray’s to lose on ESPN earlier this week. 

But apparently not. At least as of now. 

O’Connell said both Murray and McCarthy will take reps with the first and second team in practice to give different layers to the evaluation. 

Murray signed with the Vikings on a one-year, veteran minimum deal in March after seven seasons with the Cardinals. 

He tossed 121 touchdowns and ran for 32 more and guided Arizona to the playoffs in 2021. 

The former No. 1 overall pick was never a liability for the Cardinals, but wasn’t consistent enough to become their franchise quarterback. 

McCarthy, the 10th pick in the 2024 draft, missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury and was inconsistent at best in his first full season starting in 2025.

While McCarthy went 6-4 as a starter, he threw 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.