“But we’ve got to get Sam ready to play. We’ve got to get Brett Rypien ready to play. Excited about our quarterback room, but now it’s our job to go coach them.”

The Vikings traded for Howell late last month, presumably to fill the QB2 role.

O’Connell added about McCarthy, “When he is taking snaps, he’s taking plenty of snaps from Ryan Kelly, who happens to be a 10-year starting center in this league. Take that for what it’s worth. I don’t think Vikings fans or any wildly successful nationally renowned broadcasters like yourself should be worried about the amount of reps J.J. is going to get with the ones. We’re going to have him ready to go.”

Kelly is the starting center, so O’Connell tipped his hand about McCarthy as QB1. It’s just that he won’t formally announce it. It’s not how competition works for a young quarterback.

Why Do We Keep Doing This?

Of course, a website like Bleacher Report ran with this headline from the Eisen-O’Connell interview: “Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Won’t Confirm J.J. McCarthy as QB1 Following Sam Howell Trade.”