EAGAN, Minn. — J.J. McCarthy's intangibles showed up in his return to action.

McCarthy helped bring to life a win at Detroit – the club's first in the Motor City since Week 17 of 2020.

And yet, McCarthy wasn't "proud," he declared, standing in the belly of the Lions Den after Minnesota upset Detroit 27-24 in Week 9. Bearing witness to his intangibles, McCarthy deftly deflected from his second divisional win on the road in as many tries and emphasized, "There's a lot of meat on the bone."

He finished with three total touchdowns and diffused frequent defensive pressure by going 7-for-11 passing with 91 yards and a score against 13 blitzes concocted by Detroit, according to Next Gen Stats.

The young quarterback, however, is aiming to be better.

"He's hard on himself," Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell said Monday. "And I think what we saw yesterday, there were some really, really good examples of some of the things we've been working on."

O'Connell recalled a 17-yard rope thrown to Jordan Addison in the third quarter as an example of McCarthy playing with a calm lower body; he liked a play-action pass where McCarthy placed a ball up and over a defender to Justin Jefferson; and he was fond of McCarthy's execution of a swing pass to Aaron Jones, Sr., (a 31-yard run-after-the-catch counted as a rush because it was ruled a lateral) that he floated to the flat.

"And then, I think, the importance of him being 100-percent healthy for the touchdown run on third-and-9," O'Connell assessed. "There's not very many folks in the league that are outrunning [Alex] Anzalone to the corner there, getting around him to score. Some of the other plays he was able to make right even when, either in the noise, we went the wrong way [at] the running back spot or there were some plays that could have been catastrophically bad, where you just kind of felt his full burst of his athleticism help not only him protect himself, but help the team continue to progress forward.

"I just thought there were some real elements of (encouraging) quarterback play, and then in the moments where maybe it got loose, or we can tighten things up, that's what we're here for. And that's all part of the journey he's on," O'Connell continued. "And it definitely helps to have one of his best reps of the day – I don't think it's an uncommon or an accidental circumstance for his best rep of the day, one of [them], to be that final throw to Jalen Nailor. That's who J.J. McCarthy is."

Here are three other takeaways from O'Connell's day-after-game press conference:

1. Finding a physical play style

Even without top run-blocking tight end Josh Oliver and punishing lead blocker C.J. Ham (both were absent from the lineup Sunday due to injuries), Minnesota's ground game got rolling and didn't stop.

The Vikings 142 rush yards (78 for Jones and 8.7 a pop) were their most since salting the clock with 169 in a blowout of the Bengals, and otherwise their most since Week 10 last season with 169 at Jacksonville.

The knock-back effect extended to the defense, O'Connell noted. He complimented Minnesota's run-stopping and said the team's reached a point where he wants to "see some of those principles continue to be something that are highlighted by our staff and our players" every week.

In addition to holding the Lions offense to 65 rushing yards on 20 attempts (3.3 avg.), the front seven was instrumental in keeping Jared Goff guessing – where pressure was coming from, and how to avoid negatives. O'Connell was high on Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, who combined for five QB hits.

"They were big as far as getting Jared off the spot, even when they were able to have a hat on a hat, and they were trying to get the ball down field, or they were trying to get some of those explosive plays that they've kind of made very much their calling card over the years," O'Connell said of the veteran linemen. "Those guys were able to kind of have disruption that I think was felt for four quarters."

O'Connell also shouted out Jalen Redmond, who slid down the line to play defensive end on occasion and tallied three tackles and a sack, and Jonathan Greenard, who was active but could've had a bigger day if he contained Goff on a wonky play where the QB escaped and found David Montgomery, who slipped a tackle for 13 yards.

The complementary performance indicated to O'Connell that sometimes, several months removed from training camp, "scheme becomes too much of a conversation" and detracts from unique circumstances.

"There was a very loud environment, but even with the silent cadence, I thought we were able to get off the football and get into blocks and get the proper body position and technique and fundamentals, but there was an element of play style and physicality that needed to be found. And I thought we did those things," O'Connell said. "[Detroit] played a lot of base defense to 11 personnel, [which] can limit your run menu at times. But we found different ways to try to get the ball in open spaces, and when we needed to get it downhill, we were able to do that. And I think the same thing goes for the defensive side.

"There were many, many times when you're watching the tape, you see the first defender arrive and then there's three, four or five, purple hats showing up quickly, and kind of vice versa," O'Connell continued. "On offense, you felt a lot of purple hats finishing at the football and down the field, and even if it was a 3, 4 or 5-yard gain, you just felt like there was some playing happening on their side of the line of scrimmage, which I think is critical against what's really one of the more physical teams in football."

2. Getting healthier helps

Teams have less than 24 hours to finalize trades before Tuesday's 3 p.m. (CT) deadline.

General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his staff "do a phenomenal job of just kind of gauging what possibilities may be out there if there's a way to improve our team," O'Connell said. "But ultimately, it feels almost like just the way we've been able to get a little bit more healthy, it feels like a lot of the players are in this building right now; they just are finally getting a chance to get out there with their teammates and play in the original intent of what we hoped. I think it's going to be something ongoing. I know those guys are making sure; they're figuring out if there's anything that helps our team, and if we think it's smart, not only in the present, but in the future, we'll have that dialogue."

O'Connell said McCarthy, outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill finished the game in "a really positive place healthwise," which bodes well for greater continuity across the final nine weeks of the season. Jones arrived Monday feeling sore after dinging his shoulder early in the second half and not reentering the game, but O'Connell is optimistic he will be able to ramp up his workload later this week. The coach also said Theo Jackson entered concussion protocol.

Veteran center Ryan Kelly and Oliver will do some work on a side field this week. Kelly is eligible to return from Injured Reserve as early as this week after he suffered two concussions in a three-week span and hasn't played since the Ireland game.

3. Prepping for Lamar Jackson

Here's a valid question: How do you prepare in practice for "Action Jackson" on Sunday?

O'Connell quipped he's actually going to serve as the scout-team quarterback for Week 10 to give the Vikings defense the best possible look at Jackson's unparalleled athleticism. He was joking, obviously.

"It might be a bunch of different players," O'Connell replied when he was asked who would try to mimic Jackson's movements. "I think how Max [Brosmer] and John [Wolford] take those reps at the quarterback position, where even if you know J.G. wins on a rush and tags them off, or Hargrave wins up the middle and tags them off, we're going to have those players finish every single play, long past any whistle that I would blow just to make sure the guys on the backend are plastering coverage and understanding that some of the big plays that they make, you know, it's not how they were drawn up."

Jackson, of course, is dangerously good in rhythm too.

"There's a reason why he's an MVP-caliber player, one of the best at the position in the league," O'Connell added. "It's not just the skill set to cause so many problems athletically. He's an elite thrower of the football, and he's really processing. So you've got to play total-team, complete defense. Discipline. The rush plan needs to be absolutely ironclad, and we've got to still find a way to get that early down knockback and defend the run with Derrick Henry and all the things that they present that way. So I think it's gonna be a lot of guys. It might be some other players, non-quarterbacks, going in there [for reps]."

O'Connell likened the special preparation to a phenomenal college football program potentially being thrown off its game by a team that runs the triple-option. It's just different, and Jackson is extraordinary.

Minnesota has faced a couple gifted quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert, guys who are capable of creating outside original offensive designs, but neither really has Jackson's rushing prowess.

"We're going to have to be as good as we've been all season against this challenge," O'Connell said.

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