The Vikings landed in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions, but this season still wasn’t supposed to unravel like this. The plan was simple: a healthy J.J. McCarthy would finally grow in real time and prove why he was drafted to steady the franchise. Instead, it’s been a bumpy, uneven ride, and McCarthy knows it.

But he believes there’s a reason behind all the struggles he’s faced this season.

“It’s very new. Coming in here. I was taught how to play quarterback in a very different way. That’s expected going into the league, going to any new team. But at the end of the day, it was the injuries that I felt took away all the reps and constant repetitions to make those a habit and make them concrete,” the quarterback said.

It’s easy to forget McCarthy is barely a second-year player. His rookie season lasted one drive before a torn meniscus shut him down. He didn’t get a typical year of mistakes, corrections, or growing pains. He didn’t get the reps that make young quarterbacks settle in. And that theme carried straight into this year.

The 22-year-old barely saw the field in the preseason. Then, after an electric comeback win against the Bears in Week 1 with a 16-yard strike to Jordan Addison with 50 seconds left, he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2. That cost him five games, stalled whatever rhythm he had built, and left him trying to learn an offense in fits and starts.

And still, you see the flashes. The Detroit game after his return, when he threw two touchdowns and ran for another. The late-game poise that made the Vikings believe in him in the first place is still there. Right now, though, he’s just trying to piece it all together.

“I feel like it’s just the repetitions. How many times can I go home, and every time I take the dogs out I’m getting 10 drops each time. Little things like that to keep building the reps,” McCarthy said.

The young quarterback’s commitment isn’t the issue. The question is whether he can find his footing before Kevin O’Connell’s patience runs out.

Kevin O’Connell issues McCarthy a warning

Kevin O’Connell has backed J.J. McCarthy at every turn this season. That part isn’t changing. But even he admits it’s time for the work they’ve put in to start sticking.

“We’ve got to start seeing the cement dry on some of the things we’ve really worked hard to make football habits for him from a fundamentals and technique standpoint,” the head coach said.

That’s the next step. Not a big statistical jump, but a quarterback who looks more polished in the things he and the staff have drilled into him since July. O’Connell went deeper, pointing to McCarthy’s mechanics, especially his posture and base at the top of his drop.

“When he gets to the top of his drops, we are really trying to see if we can get him to be more in a repeatable body position. His feet got a little bit wide. His base got really wide. That contributed to some of the accuracy issues.”

It’s not unusual for a young passer, but it’s hurting him. When McCarthy pushes the ball downfield, his base tends to open up, and the ball sprays. That’s a big reason behind the 52.9% completion rate. O’Connell isn’t asking him to play like an MVP. He just wants to see all of that offseason teaching start to take root.

All the fans want to see right now are signs that the foundation is forming, and that their quarterback is finally becoming the player they drafted him to be.