J.J. McCarthy's return to the practice field was the spectacle of the Minnesota Vikings' offseason so far.
Fans clamored over social media videos of the 22-year-old seen throwing to his teammates for the first time since his rookie year was shut down due to a meniscus injury.
No person has a better pulse on McCarthy's development than Kevin O'Connell.
However, in a recent media appearance, O'Connell may be more in the dark about how McCarthy looked at practice than fans -- sparking questions about the NFL's offseason rules.
Appearing on the "Up and Adams Show" with Kay Adams, O'Connell was asked what he learned from McCarthy's first practice back on Monday, April 29.
The Vikings coach admitted that he couldn't answer that question truthfully.
“So what you’ll notice about that video, Kay, is that there can’t be coaches out there yet. So I was hard at work up in my office, and next week we get to get on the grass with the guys for Phase 2 of the offseason program," O'Connell said.
Adams was surprised that while players are at the team facility preparing for the upcoming season, the coaching staff is not allowed to have access to them.
"That sucks," she said after getting clarity from O'Connell, who signaled there could be a rule change in the near future.
"Yeah, Phase 1 rules: we get them for four hours. I have to limit myself — the guys always put me on the clock in the team meetings anyway because I can get going and [talk] for a long time — so I have to limit that," O'Connell said. "But this time of year, Kay, is about those guys coming back in the building and spending some time together... unique rules, I don’t know how much longer we’ll have the offseason in its present form. But it is what it is right now, and we’re going to maximize it.”
While O'Connell was holed up in his offense and is preparing for the next step of the offseason program, he, the son of a former FBI agent, worked his sources to get some intel on how McCarthy looked.
"That doesn’t stop me from asking Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson and Aaron Jones how it went," he quipped. "The guys were just really excited to get back and get working together.”
