J.J. McCarthy entered Minnesota Vikings OTAs in 2025 as the undisputed starter.However, this time around he finds himself in the midst of a quarterback battle with Kyler Murray.J.J. McCarthy will do battle with Kyler Murray to be named the Vikings’ starterGettyIt’s been a turbulent start to McCarthy’s NFL career. Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2024 missed his entire rookie season through injury.Vikings execs then opted not to re-sign previous QB1 Sam Darnold, instead giving that role to McCarthy in a decision that massively backfired.While Darnold was winning Super Bowl LX with the Seattle Seahawks, the Vikings finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs entirely, with McCarthy only starting 10 games.With Murray now in the building, there has been a shift in the 24-year-old’s attitude, according to Judd Zulgad.“My takeaway is this: McCarthy, pretty salty. I don’t blame him, I’m not surprised. In fact, I think the Vikings are hoping that pushes him harder,” Zulgad posted on X, following McCarthy’s press conference.“Definitely a different attitude, different mentality, a different personality from J.J. McCarthy than a year ago.“But as I said, I think the Vikings are hoping this situation pushes him.“And right now, I think it’s pushed him to a point being a not very happy camper. But we’ll see where it goes from here.”McCarthy issues verdict on Murray relationshipZugland’s comments came after McCarthy had spoken about his relationship with Murray thus far.“It’s just like two guys in a classroom,” McCarthy said via ESPN. Judd Zugland has said McCarthy is ‘salty’ at Minnesota’s OTA’sGettyMcCarthy has insisted there is no ‘awkwardness’ between himself and MurrayGettyMcCarthy didn’t do enough to lock down the Vikings starting role last seasonGetty“He sits on one side, I sit on the other side, and it’s the coach’s responsibility to teach us and coach us.“Awkwardness? It’s just like the same feeling when you’re in high school and there’s another person on the other side of the room. “That’s just kind of how it is. I wouldn’t say there’s any awkwardness.”Murray is hoping that head coach Kevin O’Connell can sprinkle some of the magic he did with Darnold and Daniel Jones on him.McCarthy’s former QB coach has urged KOC not to give up on him, and O’Connell has given no indication as to who is in pole position for the starting gig.Deep down, though, McCarthy must have known the Vikings couldn’t hand him the keys again after a 2025 season riddled with injury and poor play.Along with the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikings’ QB battle is one of the more intriguing storylines during spring practice, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming weeks and months.Stay up to date with the NFL across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET