J.J. McCarthy leaves Vikings minicamp ‘right where he needs to be’ with plans to build through summer

The Vikings’ “learning and teaching phase” of football, as coach Kevin O’Connell refers to the offseason program, aptly ended Thursday in similar fashion to the last day of school: with a teriyaki truck and snow cones.

But for young quarterback J.J. McCarthy, there was no exchanging yearbook messages of “HAGS” with teammates and bidding them goodbye until August.

He plans to use his summer break to continue working with key teammates such as wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson — even if they are planning to jet out of Minnesota for a bit.

“If I have to go find ’em, I will,” said McCarthy, who gets to start his break early after O’Connell canceled next week’s organized team activities (OTAs).

He heads into summer following his first offseason program as starting quarterback with a strong foundation for training camp in late July and the season beyond.

These past few weeks were less about any sort of numbers and more about reactions, understanding and the enactment of what McCarthy learned on-field — the “why, what, when, how and how we do it better next time,” O’Connell said.

Listen to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s takeaways from Vikings minicamp on the latest Access Vikings podcast:

“That’s all what you’re looking for at this point in time is those moments, those critical moments, and then how do we maximize them so they can kind of become chapters in the book of that development instead of just a speed bump of ‘Man, I wish I did that better,’ ” O’Connell said.

With 39 days until quarterbacks report back to the facility July 20, McCarthy had three things on his homework list to continue building on the foundation the offseason program helped set.

First was continued study of the playbook.

“I wish I could show you guys a call sheet,” McCarthy said with a smile, indicating a heavy load.

But he has embraced what has been thrown at him not just this spring but through the past year. He has sometimes even surprised coaches with tidbits of knowledge from months ago that they thought might have dripped from the sponge.

“He’s right where he needs to be right now, and right where we thought J.J. would be,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said Wednesday. “I don’t think he would come up here and say, ‘I’ve mastered the offense,’ at this point. But there’s been a lot of growth this spring.”

Second on McCarthy’s list was resetting his body to prepare for the wear-and-tear of the regular season.

After missing last season with a torn meniscus suffered in a preseason game, McCarthy said his right knee “feels honestly stronger than ever” and was never bothersome during spring workouts. On Monday, he passed his routine team physical — separate from those specifically for his knee, which he cleared earlier this year.

Nothing about McCarthy’s movements throughout open practices indicated otherwise. He moved every way a quarterback might be asked to, albeit without the true pressure of a 300-pound defensive lineman bearing down on him.

Third on McCarthy’s list is those throwing sessions he said he will track his teammates down for if he has to, though it’s unlikely that will be necessary.

“I’m here to conversate about different things he sees on the field, and I’m also there for him off the field as well, just being a friend, a guy that understands his position, understands that he has a lot going on,” Jefferson said. “Once we pick things back up, definitely will get out there with him to build that connection and continue just working on that chemistry.”

Earlier this spring, Jefferson said learning and adjusting to McCarthy’s throwing style would be one of the benefits of attending more OTAs.

On Thursday, it seemed Jefferson had learned a lot as he complimented McCarthy’s velocity, spin and accuracy.

McCarthy, in turn, called it “really fascinating” to see how Jefferson makes catching those passes look so easy.

McCarthy’s three-part summer list comes down to one goal: Making sure there’s no gap between the progress made this offseason and the start of training camp, when, after an extra year of waiting, the countdown to his NFL regular-season debut begins in earnest.