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 rook

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