Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Under Scrutiny for Critical Mistakes, Locker Room ‘Tension’
The Minnesota Vikings have played just seven of 17 games in the 2025 season and already have more losses than they did throughout the entirety of last year.
The quarterback position is an obvious place to start searching for answers as to why, with Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones starting for the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts, respectively — teams that are collectively 12-3 through Week 8.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah instead bet huge on J.J. McCarthy following an injury that cost him his entire rookie campaign.
“It was a defensible move, but it invited so much risk — not just that McCarthy was good, but that he would return from his knee injury healthy. And that the money saved at quarterback and spent elsewhere would actually improve the roster,” Ben Solak of ESPN wrote Tuesday. “Darnold’s departure from Minnesota reminds us about risk and uncertainty in the NFL — how hard it is to get the bona fide ‘guy’ at quarterback, and how easy it is to fool yourself that the next guy is bona fide just the same.”
Vikings’ Locker Room Lacking Joy From Previous Years
GettyMinnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
It may be the personnel changes or the fact that the O’Connell/Adofo-Mensah regime has hit its fourth season and perhaps some of the newness and excitement has worn off, but Alec Lewis of The Athletic said on his podcast Tuesday that the vibes in the locker room have changed in some distinct ways this season.
“It’s felt to me, really going back to the spring, that there’s been like an underlying tension with this team,” Lewis said. “The staff is a part of it, the players obviously. But you just get the sense that the joy that has been there in two of the three seasons where they have won double-digit games, you just don’t feel that.”
“Part of what has made Kevin O’Connell so great in his role is just the feeling that there’s always, like, there’s like an underlying joy,” Lewis continued. “There’s an awareness, there’s a calm within the storm, and you just haven’t felt that as much.”
Vikings Made Questionable Call by Starting Carson Wentz With Existing Shoulder Injury
GettyMinnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz.
Beyond the locker room tension and the lack of joy that Lewis describes, O’Connell has faced scrutiny for his handling of McCarthy’s ankle injury, which he suffered in Week 2 and has sidelined him for the last five games, as well as the shoulder injury that Carson Wentz suffered a few weeks ago that has now cost him the remainder of the season.
During a Tuesday interview with Paul Allen on KFXN, O’Connell offered a justification for playing Wentz against the Los Angeles Chargers last Thursday, despite the shoulder issue already existing.
“There is a mentality to the quarterback position where when a guy is so committed and so all-in and does not want to be taken off the field, you have to honor that,” O’Connell said. “Knowing that he couldn’t make it worse and knowing, inevitably, he would have to get it fixed, and while J.J. was working his way back, you wanted to make sure we gave him every opportunity to do that.”
Some analysts have suggested that O’Connell soft-benched McCarthy (1-1) in favor of Wentz (2-3) due to McCarthy’s struggles early on. Minnesota has dismissed those claims, though the theory is worth mentioning considering Wentz is now out for the year and the Vikings are again looking for a backup QB, this time with a record of 3-4 and on the brink of letting the season slip away.
Packers Predicted to Target Super Bowl Champ at Trade Deadline
(Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Sebastian Joseph-Day #69 of the Tennessee Titans celebrates a sack against the New England Patriots during the first quarter at Nissan Stadium on November 03, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Packers would certainly be excused if they sat out this year’s go-round of the NFL trade deadline cycle, given the fact that they pulled off one of the biggest trades in the history of the franchise just before this season kicked off, when they added star pass-rusher Micah Parsons.
Still, at 5-1-1, the Packers are the best team in the NFL, and should be considered among the favorites–if not the favorite–to go to the Super Bowl from the NFC. And with the state of the AFC being somewhat down, the Packers probably should be among the top two or three teams to be come out with a championship this season.
And that’s despite not quite playing up to the sum of their parts yet. As good as the Packers are, record-wise, there is a sense that they have not had all units firing at the same time. Maybe, adding a piece or two at the NFL trade deadline could help solidify a team that could use another roster jolt.
Sebastian Joseph-Day to Help Replace Kenny Clark?
With that in mind, the folks at ESPN note that it would not be a surprise to see Green Bay sit on the sidelines when the deadline comes next week. Still, the Packers need some help on the defensive front, having sent Kenny Clark to Dallas in the Parsons deal and could look to Titans veteran Sebastian Joseph-Day to help solve the problem.
Joseph-Day came up with the Rams and was a starter in his first two seasons. Writes ESPN:
“Titans defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day. The Packers are thin on the defensive interior after the departure of Kenny Clark in the Parsons trade, and Wyatt’s injury has served as a stark reminder of that vulnerability. Joseph-Day is a stout run defender on a one-year deal — perfect for patching one of the few remaining holes on a Super Bowl contender.”
Packers Could Make Minor Outgoing Moves, Too
The Packers, as things stand, have a pretty good rotation of defensive linemen, when healthy. Devonte Wyatt has just returned from a knee injury, and the team’s other top linemen, Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden have been effective.
But more depth and experience would be welcome, and Joseph-Day was the No. 23-ranked defensive lineman at Pro Football Focus last season, and is No. 37 this year.
As for possible outgoing pieces, the Packers could look to move Sean Rhyan.
ESPN’s Rob Demovsky wrote, “Rhyan, a third-round pick in 2022, is in the final year of his rookie contract. He lost his starting spot to 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan (although they alternated series in the most recent game) and seems to know his time in Green Bay is running short.”
