The Minnesota Vikings‘ plans for Sam Howell to be J.J. McCarthy‘s backup have not gone according to plan.
Howell has struggled at training camp, and as the summer days continue to get shorter, so has Howell’s runway for taking the job directly behind McCarthy.
After another poor performance at practice on August 1, Howell was benched, pulled from a period with the second team that was instead led by backup Brett Rypien while Howell watched.
After practice, Minnesota Star Tribune beat reporter Ben Goessling, appearing on the “Access Vikings” podcast, argued that the Vikings have seen enough and said that he believes there will be a search for another option at quarterback.
“I think there is going to continue to be a hunt for an option here,” Goessling said, adding that the Vikings made a trade for Nick Mullens after the first game of the 2021 preseason after neither Sean Mannion nor Kellen Mond did enough to win the backup job behind Kirk Cousins.
“We saw them do that, making a trade for [Nick Mullens]… if they found something they liked that worked in a trade, I wouldn’t be surprised if they found a way to make something happen, I don’t think that is a settled issue at this point.”
Sam Howell’s Struggles Impacting Rest of Vikings Roster
GettyMinnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Howell.
Through nine days of training camp, Howell has not done well with the learning curve of Kevin O’Connell‘s offense.
Throws have not been made on time. He’s taken too many sacks and put the ball on the ground too many times.
These problems have impacted the flow of practice, with second-string players who are trying to earn a roster spot seeing their reps diminished with Howell’s struggles.
“I think that if you played Sam Howell right now, you’re not scoring any touchdowns at all. Like that’s that’s how it looks. At least when Mullens came in, they played these exciting crazy games. We’re too far into this to say, ‘Hey, give them more time,’ ” Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller said after Howell’s benching. “I wouldn’t be shocked if they were on the phone today. It’s been so bad after this. This was one of the worst practices you will see from any quarterback.
“It’s very possible that it could get better. It could click in. It could improve. It’s just that when you can’t even complete passes, you can’t even run plays. It’s not really helping them develop a lot of guys or prepare a lot of guys.”
J.J. McCarthy Has Best Practice Yet
GettyJJ McCarthy remains the biggest question mark for the Vikings in 2025.
While Howell has struggled, McCarthy is continuing to connect mind to muscle and translating the learning lessons from O’Connell onto the field.
As the defense turned the intensity up for padded practices last week, McCarthy had hit some snags but has since remedied them with a pair of impressive practices.
His best yet came after there were a pair of scrums with the defense, including on which he started by shoving rookie Tyler Batty.
After tensions simmered, McCarthy put forth a poised performance, hitting deep and middle throws with touch, accuracy and anticipation.
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