INDIANAPOLIS — The question to Kevin O’Connell was rather straightforward.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – JANUARY 04: J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings talks with teammates during the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium on January 04, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Is there still a belief that J.J. McCarthy can be a franchise quarterback for the Vikings?

As the Minnesota coach pondered those words on Tuesday afternoon inside the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, O’Connell openly acknowledged the role he played in creating some of the lofty expectations that McCarthy so far has failed to live up to with the Vikings.

It all goes back to something O’Connell said in August 2024 while announcing that McCarthy would miss his rookie campaign with a torn meniscus. There was seemingly no doubt in his mind.

“He has confirmed everything that I hoped to see,” O’Connell said at the time. “Everybody should be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback in the building.”

That declaration has followed O’Connell around like a ghost ever since, as McCarthy has underwhelmed. His struggles to adapt to the highest level have been well documented, as has his inability to stay on the field for prolonged stretches.

That said, O’Connell isn’t backing down from his original assessment of McCarthy, even as the Vikings seem destined to bring in somebody to compete with him.

“A lot of those feelings are still the same,” O’Connell said of still believing McCarthy can be a franchise quarterback. “It’s just that the timeline is in a different place for all of us than it was.”

That’s the upshot.

As much as O’Connell might still believe McCarthy can be a franchise quarterback if he reaches his full potential, the Vikings are no longer in a position where they can operate with patience.

They are built to win in the present. They can’t sacrifice that with an eye toward the future.

That explains why neither O’Connell nor acting general manager Rob Brzezinski were willing to commit to McCarthy as the unquestioned starter. Though they also aren’t ready to punt on McCarthy completely, O’Connell and Brzezinski are bringing in somebody to compete with him.

There are many different avenues the Vikings could choose. Options range from somebody who would become the unquestioned starter to somebody who would operate as insurance.

“I don’t know that we’re ruling anything out,” Brzezinski said. “We have a couple of weeks. We’re exploring every option that could be out there. It’s casting a wide net, I guess I would say.”

Maybe the biggest reason the Vikings find themselves in this situation is because McCarthy has started only 10 games since the Vikings selected him with the No. 10 pick in the 2024 draft. He has missed time with a torn meniscus, high ankle sprain, concussion and broken hand.

“There have been some circumstances that have naturally hurt his chances of having a smooth development phase,” O’Connell said. “He still has shown a lot of the traits that we feel we can continue to build on.”

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) holds his helmet during a timeout in the third quarter of an NFL game against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday, Jan 4, 2026. The Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 16-3. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

In that same breath, O’Connell stressed the importance of availability, emphasizing how the Vikings had a 13-4 record in 2022 when Kirk Cousins started every game and a 14-3 record in 2024 when Sam Darnold started every game.

“When that guy is doing his job at a baseline level that allows the rest of our offense and team to play to a certain way, we’ve won quite a few games,” O’Connell said. “That’s where we’ve got to take all the experience that we’ve had up until this point and understand what’s the best way to put together that room.”

The market will ultimately dictate what exactly the Vikings can do. They can’t make a trade for somebody that isn’t on the trading block. They can’t sign a free agent that isn’t interested in signing.

“We can’t manufacture anything that’s not there,” Brzezinski said. “There are a lot of factors that go into it.”

As much as the Vikings are looking for competition, however, they also have some empathy for McCarthy and the hand he has been dealt.

“This is a really, really hard job with a lot of pressure,” Brzezinski said. “Everybody is yearning for that young franchise quarterback. And if I could be candid, I’m not sure that it’s fair all the time.”

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President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern is likely to be a test run of the message Republicans will give to voters in November’s elections for control of the House and the Senate.

The president and his party appear vulnerable, with polls showing much of America distrusts how Trump has managed the government in his first year back in office. In addition, the Supreme Court last week struck down one of the chief levers of his economic and foreign policy by ruling he lacked the power to impose many of his sweeping tariffs.

Though Trump is expected to focus on domestic issues, his intensifying threats about launching military strikes on Iran over its nuclear program cast a shadow over the address.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will give the Democratic Party response following Trump’s speech. California Sen. Alex Padilla, who made national headlines last year after being forced to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents, will deliver the party’s response in Spanish.

Watch the livestream here.

An Apple Valley man convicted of murder for setting up a Bloomington marijuana deal and then hitting and dragging the seller with his SUV while speeding off with the drug was sentenced to 12½ years in prison Tuesday.

A Hennepin County jury found Lamont Eugene Williams Jr., 22, guilty of second-degree unintentional murder last month in connection with the killing of 21-year-old Alexif Loeza Galvan near his home on Bloomington’s east side on March 6.

Alexif Loeza Galvan (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

Galvan’s family and then officers called to the scene found him on the ground near a snowbank, gasping for breath. He was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he soon died of blunt force trauma.

“I had to to watch my brother take his last breath,” sister Yamilet Loeza said Tuesday in her victim impact statement. “Nothing could have prepared me for the silence that came after.”

Galvan’s injuries included a brain bleed, skull fracture, broken collarbone, rib fractures and cuts and bruising on the lower back and elsewhere consistent with road rash.

“This was a horrible death, Your Honor,” Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Krista White told Judge Juan Hoyos, who presided over the trial. “You saw the photos. He was dragged down to the bone, his skull was crushed.”

Lamont Eugene Williams Jr. (Courtesy of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)

Williams claimed self-defense at trial, testifying that he sped away after Galvan assaulted him and “was completely taken off guard by (Galvan’s) actions,” his attorney Katherine Claffey and Robert Paule and wrote in a presentencing memo.

Claffey said at sentencing that Williams “has great remorse,” and no prior criminal convictions. She asked the judge to depart from state sentencing guidelines and give him probation or else a four-year prison term.

White said there was neither evidence nor trial testimony from the witness that Galvan was the first aggressor. She asked the judge for a 15-year prison term, the maximum that would have been allowed under state sentencing guidelines.

Williams had prior convictions as a juvenile, White said, adding “and had the opportunities to learn from his prior mistakes. This isn’t about helping Mr. Williams. He killed someone.”

‘I’m in this Jeep’

Police were called to the 8300 block of 11th Avenue about 8:45 p.m. on a report of the man lying in the street with broken bones and difficulty breathing.

One of Galvan’s family members told officers that Galvan had told him that “Monty,” who was later identified as Williams, had contacted him and that he agreed to sell marijuana to Williams, the criminal complaint said.

Galvan’s mother reported she was sitting on the couch when he told her he was going outside to sell something. About two minutes later, she heard yelling. She looked outside and saw him leaning into the passenger side of a small, dark-colored SUV. He appeared to be halfway in the vehicle.

She said she could see Galvan and someone inside the SUV pulling a backpack back and forth. As this was happening, the SUV accelerated and she shouted to her other children. They went outside and found Galvan lying in the street a few houses from their house.

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Williams was arrested the next day near his home; he’d been driving a grey Jeep Renegade registered to his mother. Inside the SUV was a backpack with a 9mm handgun, which was missing a serial number, and plastic bags of marijuana that totaled about 264 grams, or more than 9 ounces.

A search of Williams’ phone showed the two men exchanged messages through Facebook about Galvan selling him “smoke.” Galvan sent Williams his home address.

Williams wrote to Galvan at 8:31 p.m., “Here.” Four minutes later, Williams wrote, “I’m in this Jeep.” Location data of Williams’ cellphone showed it moved east from the area of Galvan’s home at 8:37 p.m. Six minutes later, Williams messaged him: “My fault gang I had to.”

At sentencing, prosecutor White mentioned the mea culpa message and told the court: “No, he did not have to. He made a choice, and that choice has cost someone their life.”

By COLLIN BINKLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is suing the University of California over allegations that UCLA failed to protect Jewish employees from antisemitic harassment amid pro-Palestinian protests that roiled the campus in 2023 and 2024.

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The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in California, is the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign to punish top universities that it says have been soft on antisemitism. The suit accuses UCLA of failing to discipline those who were involved in protests, including dozens who were arrested in 2024 for failing to leave a campus encampment.

UCLA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump officials previously determined that UCLA failed to protect Jewish students, and last year UCLA reached a $6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued the university. The new lawsuit alleges the harm to Jewish and Israeli employees “goes much deeper” than that settlement addressed.

“The United States will now do what UC has thus far failed to do: protect Jewish and Israeli employees” from antisemitic harassment, the suit said.

Much of the complaint focuses on the 2024 protest encampment that federal officials say blocked Jewish employees and students from parts of campus and included antisemitic signs and chants. It alleges UCLA violated its own policies by tolerating the encampment and accuses the university of failing to discipline any students, faculty or staff over antisemitic behavior.

The suit asks a judge to force UCLA to enforce its own anti-discrimination policies and to award damages to Jewish employees at UCLA who faced a hostile work environment.

The Trump administration has primarily focused on elite private universities in its campaign to win obedience from campuses it accuses of liberal and antisemitic bias. UCLA is one of the few public universities targeted in that effort.

Last summer the Trump administration said it was seeking $1 billion from UCLA as part of a settlement to end federal scrutiny. Trump officials had cut hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from the university, though a federal judge ordered the money to be restored in September.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.