The Minnesota Vikings received a positive update on JJ McCarthy as the offseason inches closer to the NFL Draft.

Vikings general manager discussed McCarthy’s progression since his injury, and is optimistic about where things currently stand with the young quarterback, via NFL Network on X, formerly Twitter.

“We’re excited about JJ McCarthy,” Adofo-Mensah told Tom Pelissero on Wednesday. “Somebody that we identified in the draft process last year. Somebody, not just from an arm talent, athleticism, just the work ethic. We talk a lot about leadership, and having your quarterback embody what your culture is. He’s somebody from a positive attitude. The way he cares about his teammates. All those different things that we want to be our starting quarterback for a long time. I want to chase this thing with Kev, him, myself, the alignment we have together. So we’re excited about him, and what he’s brought. Obviously he had an injury and a setback, but we’re excited about everything that he’s done from that point. We’re going to go forward with that. We’re going to look to always add depth to that room to upgrade it, but we’ve set out to build the type of team that’s very quarterback friendly to a young player from a running game and defensive standpoint. A lot of the moves we made was with that in mind.”

The Vikings are looking to make McCarthy their starting quarterback of the future, so fans should be encouraged by his status this early into the offseason.

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After quietly considering Aaron Rodgers in free agency, it appears that the Vikings are beginning to wrap their head around McCarthy going forward.

“He looks great right now,” Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “Obviously there were some struggles with the injury, that a lot of players can have. With something that you love that much, it almost shows what you loved about the player. How much he loves the game, and how much it matters to his life.. But he approached everything with a can-do, and unbelievable mentality to be the best version of himself. That’s why he’s somebody we want to embody our leadership and our culture.”