With J.J. McCarthy now out for the season, the Vikings will turn to Sam Darnold to be their starting quarterback for all of 2024.
Darnold, 27, has started 56 games for the Jets, Panthers, and 49ers since New York selected him at No. 3 overall in 2018. Now he’ll get a chance to play in what should be the best situation of his career.
“Our football team has been and will continue to be excited about Sam Darnold and what he’s been able to bring,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said in his Wednesday press conference before starting a joint practice with the Browns. “Great two days of work for him this week before we continue on with our preparations for the opener. And I can’t wait to see Sam not only these next two days, but continue to stack some really, really good days and showing ultra comfort in our offense. [He has] really been a bright spot to go along with what J.J. McCarthy had done early on in camp as well.”
O’Connell added that Darnold has already done a good job of taking ownership of Minnesota’s offense.
“I think he’s been able to — from an Xs and Os standpoint — lead, which we need our quarterback to do,” O’Connell said. “But at the same time, I think it’s just his comfort in how we’ve built the atmosphere for all of our quarterbacks — whether it’s Sam or J.J. I think it’s allowed those guys to have a lot of runway, a lot of ability to just match their work ethic and their daily grind that puts them on a platform that their teammates see it. And, ultimately, just going out there and doing their jobs.
“You stack enough of that together, it starts to look and sound like leadership. It starts to feel like that. And then as we get more work together in these competitive environments — starting today — stacking what I thought was a really good performance to start the game in 12 plays the other day, that’s what I’m looking for. I want Sam to continue to feel comfortable in that role.”
Darnold was 4-of-8 for 59 yards in the first preseason game against the Raiders. O’Connell said that with two days of joint practices with the Browns this week, Darnold is unlikely to play in Saturday’s preseason matchup with Cleveland.