For the first three quarters of his first NFL start on Monday night, Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy looked as discombobulated as someone in his position understandably might. Things came to a particularly ugly head when McCarthy threw a pick-six in the third quarter to give the Chicago Bears a 17-6 lead that truly felt insurmountable (Next Gen Stats certainly thought so too).
But that big mistake seemed to activate something for McCarthy. Maybe it simply squashed any lingering in-game nerves he had, but it's also clear his teammates have a lot of belief in him, and he has shown early signs of being a calm quarterback who can rally from adversity.