Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson (87) shown during Thursday’s practice against the New England Patriots. (Rebecca Villagracia/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
McCarthy, calling himself a “perfectionist,” said that’s another area he’s managing while growing into his role as franchise quarterback.
“That’s something that I’ve been continuing to work on ever since college,” McCarthy said. “I want everything to be perfect out there. That’s just unrealistic. I feel like there’s always ways you can get better, little things like ball placement that you could’ve done more. That’s kind of the psycho in me when [Hockenson] catches a 20-yard high cross and I’m like, ‘Hmm, could’ve been 30.’ But at the end of the day, it’s about staying neutral through those plays.”
A better plan also helped McCarthy in his second day against New England. McCarthy tried looking at the Patriots’ preseason opener for tips about what he might see this week at Vikings headquarters.
“They did not do much of that,” McCarthy said.
Between sessions, O’Connell said coaches did a little bit of game planning off Wednesday’s practice film to put players in better situations on Thursday. Receiver Justin Jefferson also told McCarthy that in the regular season, defenses will be playing Jefferson — and McCarthy — differently because not everyone has one of the best receivers in football.
“I was talking to [Jefferson] in the locker room,” McCarthy said, “telling him the same situation and he’s like, ‘Dude, there’s going to be a lot of teams this year that show one thing on film and when they come play us and play me, they’re going to show a different thing.’ It was just great to get exposed to that early on.”