- May 21, 2026
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As the Vikings try to resolve their quarterback competition, the primary candidates to start — Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy — are splitting practice reps. On Wednesday, Murray acknowledged that sharing reps makes it harder to learn the offense.
"I think the toughest part is, again, I was [in Arizona] for seven years," Murray told reporters. "I know I had two different offensive systems. But at the same time, you're getting all those reps, you know, now having to split reps. Me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps that, you know, you would typically want a guy to get [while] learning an offense. That's probably the toughest part, just, again, going back to the past, being in control of everything, understanding what we were already doing, because I was comfortable within the system. Now I'm coming into the new system, learning on the fly, trying to play fast, efficient, and then let it loose while learning."
Murray said he's embracing the process of learning the offense, and that he's giving himself grace to make mistakes as he figures things out.
Still, every rep counts. The sooner the Vikings pick a starter, the sooner the starter will be ready to go. That's even more important if the starter is eventually going to be Kyler Murray, since he has more to learn about the way the Minnesota offense operates.
"I think the toughest part is, again, I was [in Arizona] for seven years," Murray told reporters. "I know I had two different offensive systems. But at the same time, you're getting all those reps, you know, now having to split reps. Me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps that, you know, you would typically want a guy to get [while] learning an offense. That's probably the toughest part, just, again, going back to the past, being in control of everything, understanding what we were already doing, because I was comfortable within the system. Now I'm coming into the new system, learning on the fly, trying to play fast, efficient, and then let it loose while learning."
Murray said he's embracing the process of learning the offense, and that he's giving himself grace to make mistakes as he figures things out.
Still, every rep counts. The sooner the Vikings pick a starter, the sooner the starter will be ready to go. That's even more important if the starter is eventually going to be Kyler Murray, since he has more to learn about the way the Minnesota offense operates.