Chase Daniel says J.J. McCarthy sounded 'nervous' during recent presser

When J.J. McCarthy recently took to the podium and spoke to the media for the first time since suffering a season-ending meniscus injury last August, but this time as the presumptive next starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.

McCarthy made some noteworthy statements, saying he feels "110%" and that "I'm ready to start."

Those read like confident statements, but former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel thought McCarthy sounded "nervous."

"It just sounded like it was almost rehearsed in his head a little bit, but I do believe he feels that," Daniel said Thursday on the Scoop City podcast during a conversation with The Athletic's Dianna Russini. "I think it's just mainly — we're making too big a deal about this — he's just nervous to talk in front of the media, and look, he's a first-time starter. ... I'm excited to see what he can do on the field, just looks a little green there. He needs to work on that a little."

Do you think McCarthy sounds nervous? Find his presser below:

There was one aspect of McCarthy's media performance that did impress Daniel, however.

"I was very pro media, and I knew like half our reporters names, so that's a big deal to me," he said.

McCarthy, whom the Vikings selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, was competing with Sam Darnold for the starting quarterback position last season and had an impressive preseason debut before suffering the injury. That was a disappointing start to his NFL career, but now Darnold is with the Seattle Seahawks, Daniel Jones signed with the Indianapolis Colts and McCarthy appears to be the Vikings' guy and will head into 2025 as their next starting quarterback.

Daniel believes McCarthy will be under a lot of pressure with the Vikings coming off a 14-3 season.

"The roster the Vikings have right now, it's elite. They have a really good roster. ... It's all going to come down to the quarterback," he said. "This is all great, and I'm not being negative, this is all great right now ... (but) when the stuff hits the fan, and you're between the white lines and everyone in the huddle is looking at you and you've never done it before, this is what the developmental year for J.J. McCarthy probably looked like last year. ... He's got a lot of pressure on him."