Speaker 1: Hey, Vikings fans, been over here. I'm so excited to
Speaker 1: be a new Lifetime member, and so are my kids.
Speaker 1: They love the tennis, the pick a ball, the basketball,
Speaker 1: and of course the Yummy cafe. Check them out at
Speaker 1: Lifetime dot life to find a club nearest you.
Speaker 2: Well, the Undefeated edition of the Minnesota Vikings podcast is underway,
Speaker 2: and it is a special privilege to be joined by
Speaker 2: a man who is making such a huge impact not
Speaker 2: only on the field but off the field for this
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings team. Quarterback coach Josh McCown appreciate.
Speaker 3: You joining mes. Josh awesome. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2: Look, we talked about it a little bit before before
Speaker 2: the camera turned on. The first time I met you
Speaker 2: was twenty eighteen Charlotte, North Carolina Josh Norman's All Star
Speaker 2: Celebrity Basketball Game tournament, or like the Celebrity All Star Game.
Speaker 2: And I went into that day walking into the gym
Speaker 2: seeing Terroll Owens dunk right.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I left that game basically thinking to myself, why
Speaker 2: didn't anyone tell me Josh mccowca who walk us through
Speaker 2: just that the celebrities on deck that day, Yeah.
Speaker 4: There was there was a few guys out there. Man,
Speaker 4: I mean, I know Cam, I love Cam was there.
Speaker 3: And Lukeley and Louke Keikley.
Speaker 4: It was a fun day and the funniest part I
Speaker 4: remember about it is like it was Josh's event, and
Speaker 4: I think we came down to the last second shot
Speaker 4: which in which he got a charitable foul call and
Speaker 4: had like on a three pointer that he had like
Speaker 4: three chances to make it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think it was like a laying violation too, so
Speaker 2: he can finally make the free throws like.
Speaker 3: He doesn't make any of them.
Speaker 4: And I think it was the me or t O
Speaker 4: or one of us look at each other like all right, well,
Speaker 4: like if he ain't gonna win it, like we're winning
Speaker 4: it now, like you know, like we're trying to let
Speaker 4: him win his event. But man, that was because it's
Speaker 4: you know, his squad. I know there was a few
Speaker 4: of his his family members there too with him and
Speaker 4: uh and so it was competitive as far as charity
Speaker 4: games go.
Speaker 3: It was fun though. It was fun day, yeah, just
Speaker 3: from start to finish.
Speaker 2: Just that the people that rolled in, the people that
Speaker 2: that are athletes that were either retired or playing and
Speaker 2: just thinking about you know, your journey, what twelve teams,
Speaker 2: eighteen different eighteen seasons in the NFL. I don't know
Speaker 2: if you know how many Hall of Fames, I don't
Speaker 2: know how many Hall of Famers you play with. But
Speaker 2: do you have an idea of just just some of
Speaker 2: the guys that.
Speaker 4: You had a I mean, yeah, just rolling through them,
Speaker 4: like Emmitt Smith, you know, Larry Fitzgerald will be in
Speaker 4: there for sure, and Kwam Bolden probably should be in
Speaker 4: there at some point.
Speaker 3: Kurt Warner there in Arizona.
Speaker 2: Staying on that point, right, Like, when you're around all
Speaker 2: those guys that have played at the highest level and
Speaker 2: you've had a chance to be teammates, spill relationships with them,
Speaker 2: what does that teach you when you get into the
Speaker 2: coaching aspect of it.
Speaker 4: Well, I just think the biggest thing you learned being
Speaker 4: around those guys is watching their habits, their practice habits.
Speaker 4: And that's one of the things that throughout the course
Speaker 4: of my career, whether you're talking about Brian or Lack
Speaker 4: or Julius Peppers, you know, Joe Thomas, these guys that
Speaker 4: I was fortunate to be around, and then late in
Speaker 4: my career in Philly, Jason Kelsey Lane Johnson. You know,
Speaker 4: these type of Hall of Fame type of players, their
Speaker 4: practice habits are such that it flex these things that
Speaker 4: we're talking about, and that's you know, you want to
Speaker 4: impart that on young players.
Speaker 3: Is just EMMITTT. Smith. I got him at the end
Speaker 3: of his career and play with him as the end
Speaker 3: of his career.
Speaker 4: In every practice, he's you know, running the football thirty
Speaker 4: forty yards downfield, are scoring and getting back to the huddle.
Speaker 4: And he was, you know, thirty two, thirty three years
Speaker 4: old as a running back. Joe Thomas, how he would
Speaker 4: approach walkthroughs, the level of focus that he would bring
Speaker 4: to a walk through. Watching Jason Kelsey and Brandon Brooks
Speaker 4: or Isaac Somalo like work through their single blocks over
Speaker 4: and over and over again after practice, blocks that they
Speaker 4: had done a million times, but working these combinations again
Speaker 4: over and over after practice because they wanted their feet
Speaker 4: to be in their hands to be exactly right. Are
Speaker 4: just some of the things I took away of just
Speaker 4: the detail that these Hall of Fame type players approached
Speaker 4: their position.
Speaker 2: At what point for you, right after seeing all of that,
Speaker 2: at what point do you make a decision that, hey,
Speaker 2: you know what like, I may want to coach when
Speaker 2: I'm done with this.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think very early on, just because the cool
Speaker 4: thing is watching and coaches impact those players, you know,
Speaker 4: and how those players wanted to be coached. They wanted
Speaker 4: to be coached hard, they wanted to be held to
Speaker 4: a high standard, and it's it's reflective in the way
Speaker 4: that they played on Sundays and then while we're talking
Speaker 4: about them as Hall of famers. So I do think
Speaker 4: that impacts you, you know, if you're interested in coaching,
Speaker 4: you know, as I was, I think it impacts you
Speaker 4: because it lets you know that, even at the highest
Speaker 4: level and even with the best players, that you can
Speaker 4: do something to influence and help their career.
Speaker 2: You have a moment when you, you know, finally realize that hey,
Speaker 2: or like that that first spark of you know what,
Speaker 2: I actually might be good at this when I when
Speaker 2: I get done playing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think changing coordinators over and over throughout
Speaker 4: my career, I think I learned a lot about different
Speaker 4: systems and how to assimilate and learn a system quickly
Speaker 4: and try to apply that. And then from there it
Speaker 4: was as an older player, was just like okay, how
Speaker 4: can I help a young guy? It's kind of starting
Speaker 4: even going back to when Kevin and I first got
Speaker 4: together in Cleveland, trying to help a young young guy
Speaker 4: like Johnny Menzel the head coach, Mike Peden was the
Speaker 4: head coach, that's right. So that's you know, kind of
Speaker 4: when some of this all started. You know, we're going
Speaker 4: way back, and then even even with Sam as a rookie,
Speaker 4: you know in New York, so looking at ways to
Speaker 4: like how can you how can you still impact the
Speaker 4: game when you're not playing and you get an opportunity
Speaker 4: to do that as a backup quarterback, and then I
Speaker 4: think you you take that and take some of those
Speaker 4: tools and go, how can I apply that maybe to coaching,
Speaker 4: you know, and a full time aspect. So so I think,
Speaker 4: you know, later in my career really is when, and
Speaker 4: even maybe a little bit before that, even even working
Speaker 4: with Jay Cutler in Chicago, I think some of those
Speaker 4: things is where I really started to feel and some
Speaker 4: of the interactions with with men like Lovely Smith and
Speaker 4: Mark Tressman and Rod Marinelly like really you know, uh
Speaker 4: legends and the coaching profession, like those guys impacting my
Speaker 4: career and really encouraging me along that path.
Speaker 3: I think were some of the moments that led me
Speaker 3: to this. I love that.
Speaker 2: I think one of the I mean we talk a lot,
Speaker 2: you know, North Carolina quarterbacks, just that the whole scheme
Speaker 2: of how we're trying to make the state of North
Speaker 2: Carolina basketball turning from a basketball state to a football state.
Speaker 2: I know you're from Texas, but just spending a lot
Speaker 2: of time of your life in North Carolina. It brings
Speaker 2: me to my next question of thinking about at the
Speaker 2: quarterback position, could you, you know, just provide our fans
Speaker 2: with an example of going from one team to another,
Speaker 2: having to learn a new playbook and having to digest
Speaker 2: that and then get in the huddle and then dissect
Speaker 2: that all in the span of three to four months.
Speaker 3: If you're Sam Darnold, yeah, exactly. It's not easy.
Speaker 4: And the longer you play, obviously, the easier it gets,
Speaker 4: even if the language is new, because you can apply
Speaker 4: some of the basic principles of every system to what
Speaker 4: you're doing. But at the same time, when you get
Speaker 4: a playbook and you're you're taking it and trying to
Speaker 4: make it its own for you, the depth of the
Speaker 4: information you know learned has to be so solid because
Speaker 4: when the stressors come, when the game comes, and and
Speaker 4: and or you know, starts in OTA's and then pray well,
Speaker 4: when the stressors come, you want to be able to
Speaker 4: access that knowledge in real time to to be able
Speaker 4: to get a good response out of your body, to
Speaker 4: be able to do the physical things. For a young player,
Speaker 4: it's more difficult because he hasn't had the physical reps
Speaker 4: as a veteran player, but the same thing applies both
Speaker 4: those guys have to get this information as quickly as possible,
Speaker 4: so it really takes so much learned. Like rope memorization,
Speaker 4: everybody has different tricks to the trade. Sometimes you want
Speaker 4: to associate it with some of the things you learn
Speaker 4: in another system. I try to tell guys as much
Speaker 4: as you can wipe clean and start over, that's really
Speaker 4: the best bet, because, yeah, just because there may be
Speaker 4: things that were taught in the old system that don't
Speaker 4: apply in this system, because everybody teaches things different, and
Speaker 4: you don't want to drag some of those things into
Speaker 4: this new thing. And again, the old experiences, both positive
Speaker 4: and negative, can benefit you, but from a system learning standpoint,
Speaker 4: you really want to kind of cut those things and go, Okay,
Speaker 4: what are these coaches? What's this group of coaches trying
Speaker 4: to teach me about this play that I need to
Speaker 4: learn for the Vikings versus how I played it for
Speaker 4: the Bears or the Cardinals or these are a team
Speaker 4: that you are on previously. So that exercise can fill
Speaker 4: up your off season pretty quick. Yeah, and it really
Speaker 4: takes a lot. I know a lot of guys employ
Speaker 4: the services of their spouses to kind of help them,
Speaker 4: you know, whether it's calling out plays or their significant
Speaker 4: others just you know, helping them.
Speaker 3: Helping them learn the playbook is huge.
Speaker 2: I remember I can buying them.
Speaker 3: Talked about that.
Speaker 2: He said when he was trying to learn the switch
Speaker 2: from cornerback to safety, he would have his wife like
Speaker 2: hold flash cards and like give them play calls and
Speaker 2: seeing how that applies to not only the safety position
Speaker 2: but the quarterback position. I think that's a unique insight,
Speaker 2: especially for a guy in Sam Darnold right, like everybody's
Speaker 2: talking about him.
Speaker 4: The difference is that the speed at which you get
Speaker 4: that done allows you to begin to attack the defense.
Speaker 4: Like if you're still in memorization mode, then you're walking
Speaker 4: to the line of scrimmage going, what is Justin Jefferson doing?
Speaker 4: What is Jordan Adison doing? What's our protection? Like what
Speaker 4: do we call things? You're not really attacking, you're just
Speaker 4: kind of accepting things as they come and dealing the football.
Speaker 4: When you have the offense down and it's in your core.
Speaker 4: Now you're like, we're about to attack these guys like
Speaker 4: this is We're going to attack this coverage and I'm
Speaker 4: going to go with them with this route. So those
Speaker 4: are the levels of learning that you really want to
Speaker 4: get to, and we're trying to progress that way with Sam,
Speaker 4: you know, as soon as possible.
Speaker 2: Let's rewind back to July twenty seventh of twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: That was the first day that both you and Sam
Speaker 2: reported to New York Jets camp, and it was Sam's
Speaker 2: rookie year, a third overall pick, and you got a
Speaker 2: chance to be the backup that year. And understanding his
Speaker 2: thought process from that day until where we are right now,
Speaker 2: how has that guy evolved into who he is right
Speaker 2: now for this team?
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's you know, I say every now and then,
Speaker 4: like he's such an adult man. He's such a grown up,
Speaker 4: you know, and on a personal level, it's just really cool.
Speaker 4: You know, to watch somebody that you got to know
Speaker 4: seven years ago kind of mature in their life and grow.
Speaker 4: But he's grown as a player as well. And I
Speaker 4: think the number one thing that I see in Sam
Speaker 4: is as his coach is just a level of focus
Speaker 4: that he brings to preparation every week and how how
Speaker 4: he goes about internalizing the game plan and so that uh,
Speaker 4: so that it can manifest on Sundays like that, and
Speaker 4: of itself is a is a practice of like we're
Speaker 4: talking about, of just you're getting this playbook and how
Speaker 4: how quickly can I get it in my core so
Speaker 4: that I understand it at a level that when the
Speaker 4: bullets are flying and it's real in the game and
Speaker 4: the pressures against me the things I want, my natural
Speaker 4: talents will take over because I know this game plan
Speaker 4: so well. So how he you know, obviously it starts
Speaker 4: with like note taking questions, He asked, whether it's with
Speaker 4: with coach Phillips or coach O'Connell, like the time he
Speaker 4: spends with them, and then and then after practice the
Speaker 4: time he puts in uh with Grant Yudinsky, who's unbelievable
Speaker 4: asset to our quarterback room, Like the time he spends
Speaker 4: with Grant and getting kind of the background of some
Speaker 4: of the system knowledge that that that Grant has that
Speaker 4: I don't have because Grant's been here, so some of
Speaker 4: those things, like he's turning over every stone to be
Speaker 4: as prepared as possible, and and I think that's the
Speaker 4: thing I'm most pleased with with him, and looking back
Speaker 4: seven years to now of saying, man like, if you're
Speaker 4: telling me seven years ago the guy that you were
Speaker 4: hoping to look up and see this would this would
Speaker 4: be who I want to see. Is this version of Sam?
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 3: I love it.
Speaker 2: We're talking to quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and before we
Speaker 2: go to break, just staying on that question of your
Speaker 2: relationship with Sam Donald. A lot of people have an
Speaker 2: opportunity to be coaches, but not a lot of people
Speaker 2: have the opportunity to coach a friend. So how do
Speaker 2: you coach a friend and him still be able to
Speaker 2: excel at the highest level in Sam Darnald.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I think to a degree, he knows
Speaker 4: he knows that I know.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying, he knows that I know.
Speaker 4: And ever since he got in the league, and even
Speaker 4: you know, from our first time together of just wanting
Speaker 4: to see the best and wanting the best for him.
Speaker 4: And so the level that the standard that we hold
Speaker 4: him to and that I'm tasked with holding him too
Speaker 4: as the QB coach does not change, And as a
Speaker 4: matter of fact, I think it raises it because you
Speaker 4: know how your interactions, like with with people that aren't
Speaker 4: maybe as close to you, you kind of like you're
Speaker 4: you're cool with how they they can act a certain way,
Speaker 4: but like when your kids start acting silly, like you
Speaker 4: hold them to a higher defender, right, or your family
Speaker 4: acts silly, You're like, hold on now, like we need
Speaker 4: to have a conversation. And and I feel that way
Speaker 4: a little bit with me and Sam, where there's a level,
Speaker 4: you know, to our relationship that it's like I want
Speaker 4: the best for him, you know, on so many levels,
Speaker 4: obviously just for the vikings in general, but just personally
Speaker 4: because we do have a history. So I think it's
Speaker 4: it's there's a trust there that when we call out
Speaker 4: the greatness in him and demand better in certain areas,
Speaker 4: that he can respond to that. And I think that's
Speaker 4: unique and I enjoy that part of it.
Speaker 3: I love it. Can we do one more quick second
Speaker 3: with you. Let's do it. Josh McCown coming up.
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Speaker 2: Brady to have your spirits lifted. Then the laugh out
Speaker 2: Loud comedy Ghost is for you. The new season premiere Thursday,
Speaker 2: October seventeenth on CBS. Well we are back. This is
Speaker 2: the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. The Minnesota Vikings are four and
Speaker 2: l heading across the Pond to London this upcoming Sunday
Speaker 2: to face the New York Jets. And this is a
Speaker 2: New York Jets team that Josh McCown, who is our guest,
Speaker 2: that you're you're very familiar with, and the fact that
Speaker 2: you play them across the pond, a new fan base
Speaker 2: for you with you know, this UK Vikings fan base. Like,
Speaker 2: what are your thoughts like as a as a coach
Speaker 2: who played for that team, Like, what are your thoughts
Speaker 2: going into that game as a from a from a
Speaker 2: human perspective.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know that they're obviously they come from a
Speaker 4: big market. When you get to play in that market,
Speaker 4: you understand the scrutiny that that you're under as a
Speaker 4: Jets player and that all eyes are on you. So
Speaker 4: this game will be no different given our record and
Speaker 4: then and then the success that they you know that
Speaker 4: they're having and and you know the hope that they
Speaker 4: have with with you know, with their quarterback, especially you know,
Speaker 4: being a Hall of Fame player. So you know, we're
Speaker 4: excited about it, but it's just it's another opportunity for
Speaker 4: us to to go out and here to grow and
Speaker 4: get better, and that's the main focus. And we know
Speaker 4: that we'll have our hands full. They're a good team.
Speaker 4: And a and a very good defense Robert Solids an
Speaker 4: excellent excellent football coach, excellent defensive football coach. And so
Speaker 4: we know we got our hands full. And uh, you
Speaker 4: know that preparation will start, you know here soon and
Speaker 4: and uh and we'll get ready to roll in all
Speaker 4: the aspects of getting over to London and getting ready
Speaker 4: to play. We'll be a part of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the logistics is uh, the underrated portion of this
Speaker 2: entire thing. But I know our staff does a great
Speaker 2: job and making sure everybody's well taken care of, well arrested,
Speaker 2: and just thinking of Sam right and playing against his
Speaker 2: former team, Like, I know a lot of people are
Speaker 2: going to make a lot out of that, but for me,
Speaker 2: I feel like Sam just wants to be a guy
Speaker 2: that plays football and just like it's just a normal
Speaker 2: human being. Yeah, what have you sense from him?
Speaker 3: This? We know for sure.
Speaker 4: Like that's what I'm most impressed with right now, is
Speaker 4: that he has such a present mentality where it's just
Speaker 4: executing this thing in front of him, whether it's this
Speaker 4: meeting or this walkthrough or this you know, lifting session,
Speaker 4: Like he's just executing the thing in front of him.
Speaker 4: And so you're right, there will be I'm sure stories
Speaker 4: and noise and things you know that are you know,
Speaker 4: of interest, you know, to everybody outside of the game.
Speaker 3: But for him, his.
Speaker 4: Focus will be on you know, I know it'll be
Speaker 4: on the Jets and and how he's going to prepare
Speaker 4: and be on our game plan and how to internalize that.
Speaker 4: And so I'm not concerned with that because I know
Speaker 4: what I've seen since the day he got here to
Speaker 4: now has just been a very intentional focus to be present.
Speaker 3: And be the he can in every moment. How does
Speaker 3: that help your coaching?
Speaker 4: I mean it's those things obviously make it easier because
Speaker 4: you're not having to dial, you know, real somebody in
Speaker 4: from you know, doing this or doing that. You know
Speaker 4: that you feel him in the meeting. You feel his
Speaker 4: intention to the game plan, to the to the information
Speaker 4: you're presenting him. You feel that, and so you appreciate
Speaker 4: that as a coach because you know it makes your
Speaker 4: job easier. And again, when you get that kind of attention,
Speaker 4: you're able to focus and dive deeper into some details
Speaker 4: that are going to give you an edge.
Speaker 2: On game day, you talked about assistant quarterbacks coach Grant
Speaker 2: Grant Udentsky earlier, and we're talking to quarterbacks coach Josh McCown.
Speaker 2: But a guy that we haven't mentioned is a former
Speaker 2: NFL quarterback who just so happens to be our head coach.
Speaker 2: Kevin O'Connell. Describe just his impact as a former coach,
Speaker 2: as a friend of yours, being able to help Sam's
Speaker 2: process so far this.
Speaker 4: Year, man, he's been. He's been lights out. I'm so
Speaker 4: impressed with our whole coaching staff in general. So you
Speaker 4: don't want to go into it like West Phillips is
Speaker 4: a rock star, has Roc and they've just been they've
Speaker 4: just been awesome. But Kevin's ability to game plan and
Speaker 4: to lead our team and the call plays, you know,
Speaker 4: at the highest of levels, has been really impressive.
Speaker 3: It's it's it's.
Speaker 4: What we you know, what I thought we saw in
Speaker 4: him ten years ago as a young quarterback coach. But man,
Speaker 4: he is just you know, I'm just every day the
Speaker 4: more and more I get to see it, it's just
Speaker 4: it's so impressed with with how he handles himself and
Speaker 4: how he leads our team, and relative to Sam, you know,
Speaker 4: some guys they get outside of it and playing, like
Speaker 4: you said, a formal quarterback, they can kind of forget
Speaker 4: kind of what it feels like to play that position,
Speaker 4: but it's never too far out of Kevin's mind about
Speaker 4: what it what it feels like to hold that ball
Speaker 4: back there and to be in that position. And I
Speaker 4: think because of that, he draws on those experiences and
Speaker 4: utilizes that knowledge to help put our quarterbacks and advantageous situations.
Speaker 4: So it's very helpful as a quarterback coach to to
Speaker 4: have a guy like that at the helm, both as
Speaker 4: the head coach and as the play caller, because he
Speaker 4: helps your team out so much.
Speaker 3: So very very thankful for KO.
Speaker 2: I think all of Minnesota Vikings fans are thankful for
Speaker 2: Kevin o'conno and Josh mccowns, who we're talking to right
Speaker 2: now of Minnesota Vikings quarterback coach, and staying in that
Speaker 2: quarterback room. We know, you know, that's a very talented room.
Speaker 2: You got Nick Mullen, she got Brett Rippon, but a
Speaker 2: lot of people haven't heard about Jj McCarthy, the guy
Speaker 2: who we drafted tenth overall this year, and being in
Speaker 2: that room, seeing him every day, understanding his process. How
Speaker 2: instrumental has this process been for Jj? McCarthy who's recovering
Speaker 2: from an injury right now.
Speaker 4: It's been it's been huge. I mean he's in every
Speaker 4: meeting that he can be in. You know, the tension
Speaker 4: right now is on the rehab and getting him to
Speaker 4: you know, there's phases of that, and Tyler and their
Speaker 4: team take care of that. But as we go through
Speaker 4: the phases and stages of that, you know, he's attacking
Speaker 4: that just like you would expect JJ to attack it.
Speaker 4: But the meetings that he's involved in, which as many
Speaker 4: as he can be involved in, he's engaged. He's a
Speaker 4: tenant of you know, we throw questions at and randomly,
Speaker 4: you know, we want him to feel involved, and he
Speaker 4: spits those answers out quickly and and they're correct most
Speaker 4: of the time, and he's right on, and so we're
Speaker 4: really pleased with how he's interacting and those interactions that
Speaker 4: relative to you know, how the program goes with him
Speaker 4: from a rehab standpoint, will will continue to you know,
Speaker 4: be more and more. And we're excited about that. And yeah,
Speaker 4: we just we talk about it all the time.
Speaker 3: We love our room.
Speaker 4: When you turn the tape on and you see Brett
Speaker 4: Rippon and you see Nick Mullens, who has been invaluable
Speaker 4: to myself as a as a guy with system knowledge
Speaker 4: to be able to lean on. And when you talk
Speaker 4: about plays, and it goes back to like learning the playbook,
Speaker 4: Like everybody teaches him different. And when you have a
Speaker 4: guy that's actually played in the system sitting in your room,
Speaker 4: he's such an asset to Sam, he's such an asset
Speaker 4: even to myself. And it was great to add Brett, Like,
Speaker 4: we really feel good about our room and the support
Speaker 4: that our room has for one another. And and so
Speaker 4: I pinched myself every day when when we get to
Speaker 4: when we get to walk in there, because you're working
Speaker 4: with pros. I mean, these guys, the way they take notes,
Speaker 4: the way they give reminders to one another, the way
Speaker 4: that they compete.
Speaker 3: It's really it's a really really cool process.
Speaker 2: And I'm thinking just of the quarterback room in particular
Speaker 2: outside looking again, I know I'm working inside of the building,
Speaker 2: but outside looking, I think the greatest part that I've
Speaker 2: seen about this quarterback room is how JJ McCarthy cheers
Speaker 2: on his teammates, including Sam and everyone else on social media,
Speaker 2: Like we know, we know it's a competition. Every position
Speaker 2: is a competition battle. But I feel like he's the
Speaker 2: biggest cheerleader for this quarterback room. And I'm sure that
Speaker 2: probably affects the entire room, including Sam correct.
Speaker 3: Oh, no doubt.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, it's it's to have the support
Speaker 4: of your teammates is critical, and especially within your room.
Speaker 4: And JJ this speaks to who he is as a person.
Speaker 4: It's just like, as soon as you know, you want
Speaker 4: to be able to encourage and impact the game at
Speaker 4: whatever level. When you're on the field, you obviously you
Speaker 4: have that impact on the field, but when you're off
Speaker 4: the field, it's like, what else can I do? And
Speaker 4: so he's you know, he's using his voice to to
Speaker 4: to be a support for his teammate, and I think
Speaker 4: that's awesome and uh, and we appreciate that from him,
Speaker 4: and we're excited about you know, his progress and and
Speaker 4: and where he was where he was headed, uh going
Speaker 4: through you know, he had the one preseason game and
Speaker 4: thought he played really well, and really pleased with with
Speaker 4: how he attacked uh learning this playbook and and you know,
Speaker 4: excited about his future.
Speaker 3: And he makes our room fun.
Speaker 2: Moving into this upcoming week, you get an opportunity weekend
Speaker 2: and week out to go against Brian floor as in
Speaker 2: his defense. When you look at the stats, I mean
Speaker 2: there are number one or number two in almost every
Speaker 2: single category. As a coach, like, how beneficial is that
Speaker 2: going against a defense like that?
Speaker 3: Every day in practice?
Speaker 4: Man, iron sharpens iron, And I think that saying gets
Speaker 4: thrown around so much in our business, and I I
Speaker 4: don't know if I've felt it as much as I
Speaker 4: had this offseason and especially this training camp. I think
Speaker 4: those guys just when you have to go against that
Speaker 4: every day, you have to find solutions and then and
Speaker 4: then from a quarterback standpoint, you.
Speaker 3: Have to be ready.
Speaker 4: You have to have great eyes and great discipline within
Speaker 4: your reads. And I can just there's a handful of
Speaker 4: plays that I can look at throughout the course of
Speaker 4: our season, already our young season, and tell you that
Speaker 4: Sam is benefited from going against our defense. You know,
Speaker 4: as tough as it is when you're in training camp
Speaker 4: and you're like, man, can we just get something simple
Speaker 4: or we you know that was my first reaction, but
Speaker 4: now go guys again, Yeah yeah, yeah exactly, But now
Speaker 4: going through it, you're like, all right, man, Like you know,
Speaker 4: it's like anything, the more you lean into too, that discomfort,
Speaker 4: you know, and you get comfortable being uncomfortable, so to speak,
Speaker 4: the more it benefits you down the road. And so
Speaker 4: Flow and Dronte and Swerve and those guys, like it's
Speaker 4: a phenomenal staff they have over there, and they do
Speaker 4: a great job and they have they have been unbelievable
Speaker 4: early on, you know, in the season here with taking
Speaker 4: the ball away and just the intensity that they play
Speaker 4: with and and it's certainly we felt that in training
Speaker 4: camp and it's paid dividends for us.
Speaker 2: My final question for you, We've heard a lot of
Speaker 2: guys talk about this team being different, like this is
Speaker 2: something unique about this team and being in the NFL
Speaker 2: as long as you have playing with so many different teams,
Speaker 2: being on playoff teams, like, what makes this twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four Minnesota Vikings team unique?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's the It's just the collection of
Speaker 4: guys that are that are smart, tough, you know, discipline
Speaker 4: football players, you know, and it's not about it's not
Speaker 4: about them, it's about their teammates. And you go back
Speaker 4: just yesterday you look at the play Jordan Jordan gets
Speaker 4: on the on the Jets suite that he gets around
Speaker 4: the anity scores and there's you know, justin Jefferson there
Speaker 4: he is on the edge blocking to spring him, okay,
Speaker 4: and you just you just have to ask yourself, like
Speaker 4: how many guys that are in that conversation, like jets
Speaker 4: is how many guys do that?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 4: And so I think that's reflective of our team, and
Speaker 4: it's reflective of the culture that that Kevin and West
Speaker 4: and Flow and the guys have have created here already,
Speaker 4: you know, over the first few years and and and
Speaker 4: I think that's what makes this feel what it what
Speaker 4: it feels like right now. And so it's you know,
Speaker 4: still one day at a time. It's a one day
Speaker 4: at a time mindset dominating the next thing, the next
Speaker 4: meeting and the next next walkthrough. But you know, those
Speaker 4: feelings are real. We gotta lean into them and keep
Speaker 4: being selfless and keep doing the little things and we'll
Speaker 4: see where that leads us.
Speaker 3: I love it. I love it.
Speaker 4: Well.
Speaker 2: Look you caught you talked about teamwork and reflection of
Speaker 2: a team. And I promise you for our radio fans,
Speaker 2: Josh McCown and I have on the same exact shirt.
Speaker 2: We did not plan this out, No, we did not
Speaker 2: plan this out, but I feel like it's just a
Speaker 2: reflection of what this entire building is because everybody's on
Speaker 2: the same page. Josh, always a pleasure, always a pleasure
Speaker 2: talking to you. Appreciate you joining me to That was
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and kickoff is upon
Speaker 2: us this upcoming Sunday eight thirty eight m Central Time
Speaker 2: against the two and two New York Jets. That will
Speaker 2: do it for today's show and this undefeated Minnesota Vikings
Speaker 2: team heading across the pond to London to play at
Speaker 2: Tottenham Hotspur. So for our special guest of the show,
Speaker 2: Josh mccount and our producer Eric Davidson.
Speaker 3: My name is Gabe Henderson.
Speaker 2: Thank you guys again for tuning in to another edition
Speaker 2: of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast presented by Pepsi. Unreal is
Speaker 2: back with their limited edition Vikings Drop. Head over to
Speaker 2: nurl dot com for more details.