Vikings to start training camp with the Murray-McCarthy turn-taking at QB before declaring a starter

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The challenge for Kyler Murray as a newcomer to the Minnesota Vikings learning a complex offense has an extra dimension.

He has to take turns.

Committed to staging a legitimate competition for their starting quarterback position, at least during this less-urgent part of the offseason, the Vikings have divided the time in drills with the first team between Murray and incumbent J.J. McCarthy. That's the way they'll start training camp next month, too.

“You’ve got to put it together in a way that challenges those guys and see who responds, see who handles adversity well, and ultimately see who elevates the offense,” coach Kevin O'Connell said after the last practice of minicamp on Thursday. “It’s an open competition, and I want to see these guys in very unique and in many ways difficult circumstances elevate themselves and their games to help the Minnesota Vikings.”

There's no deadline for the decision, O'Connell said, though for the Vikings to be at their best for the Sept. 13 regular-season opener against the Green Bay Packers they'll likely declare their starter at least a couple of weeks in advance of that. The frequency and quality of repetitions during open-to-the-public practices in training camp will undoubtedly stoke the embers of speculation that fuel the popularity of this sport, but the coaching staff has a plan for putting both quarterbacks in as many meaningful situations as they can once the pads come on in camp.

“I wouldn’t read much into who gets what on which days,” O'Connell said, well aware of the intense scrutiny on this team's quarterback depth chart for a third straight year since McCarthy was drafted 10th overall in 2024. “I know me saying that was the waste of the time that it took to say it, but we’re going to put together a way where we can put them in the different aspects of situational football that they need to get.”

Murray, the first overall pick in the 2019 draft who was cut by the Arizona Cardinals and signed with the Vikings for the veteran minimum salary for this year so he can try to cash in as a free agent for 2027, has been the presumptive favorite for the job even if he’s newer to the system.

“Now having to split reps, me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps you would typically want a guy to get learning an offense, that’s probably the toughest part,” Murray said this week.

Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said McCarthy's offseason has “been a continuous upward arrow or him.” From O'Connell to wide receiver Justin Jefferson, all of the Vikings who've been publicly asked about McCarthy's progress from his mostly rough 2025 debut have remarked about sharpened skills and fundamentals. But at some point if Murray becomes the team's long-term choice, McCarthy might well find himself playing elsewhere.

“I think I’ve made it very clear I wanted to be here, before I got here. I love this organization. I love the coaching staff. I absolutely love these players to death," McCarthy said. "This is where I want to be. I feel like I can thrive in this system.”

The Vikings clearly still believe that to some degree, at least if patience were not part of the equation.

“It’s probably going to end up being a difficult decision,” O'Connell said, “just based on where I know those guys are going to go.”

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Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy (9) and Kyler Murray (1) stand on the field during an NFL football practice Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Eagan, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks Kyler Murray (1) and J.J. McCarthy (9) stand on the field during an NFL football practice Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Eagan, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks Kyler Murray, front, and J.J. McCarthy, back, take part in drills during an NFL football practice Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Eagan, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy (9) and Kyler Murray (1) take part in drills during an NFL football practice Tuesday, June 9, 2026 in Eagan, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen is moving closer to a return to civil war as Iran -backed rebels threaten a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.

Here’s a look at the emerging conflict along the Red Sea that could tear the Arab world’s poorest country apart once more, and potentially send oil prices even higher above the $100 per barrel mark.

Yemen is home to over 40 million people who fear a return to the civil war that killed 150,000 and brought many others to the brink of famine in one of the world’s most sprawling humanitarian crises. A ceasefire with Yemen’s internationally recognized government and a wider coalition backed by the Saudis began in 2022.

Now that truce is buckling.

Yemen's troubles are in part because of its strategic location at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and alongside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. It's one of the busiest global shipping lanes and one that the world is turning to as Iran continues to target ships on the Strait of Hormuz.

The civil war left many Yemenis hungry and beyond the reach of aid. In a significant advance, residents said Thursday the Houthis have entered the key Red Sea port of Mokha, which has been held by Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

That endangers another crucial entry point for food and other assistance.

The Houthis' entry into Mokha puts them about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Bab el-Mandeb, creating further complications for shipping on the Red Sea — and not only for neighboring Saudi Arabia. The United States has shown signs of wanting to wrap up the Iran war and get oil-laden vessels on the move everywhere, not broaden the fight.

The ceasefire’s fragile calm held until weeks ago, when the Houthis tested a Saudi-led blockade of rebel-held areas. The Saudis struck the international airport in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, which the Houthis called an attempt to prevent a plane carrying Houthi leaders from returning home after attending the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Houthis already objected to the Saudis' backing of Yemeni government forces, which the rebels say have been pounding them this week with dozens of airstrikes after the rebels attacked several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia, wounding dozens of people.

Now, with the Iran war choking the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthis have a new way to inflict pain on their neighbor by declaring a blockade against Saudi Arabia and targeting its efforts to ship its oil via the Red Sea.

The Houthis' backer, Tehran, doesn’t object to causing the U.S.-allied Saudis pain as it tries to limit oil shipments from the Gulf in service of its war aims.

This week, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the path was not closed to diplomacy but that his country would not hesitate to defend itself.

Among Iran’s armed proxies in the region, the Houthis have had a lower profile than Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. That, as well as their relative distance, has helped shield them from Israeli attack in the nearly three years since the war in Gaza began.

But the Houthis were quickly targeted with U.S. airstrikes when they tried to insert themselves into the regional conflict by targeting what they called Israeli-linked shipping on the Red Sea off Yemen’s west coast. Those attacks soon faded.

Now, the Houthis are back with a different target, aiming at ships and other assets of Saudi Arabia as it seeks to get its oil out to the world via the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait. That Red Sea corridor usually sees $1 trillion of goods move through it per year.

The Houthis are “no longer just positioned on the northern part of the western coast; they now control a much larger stretch of the coastline, bringing them closer to the areas around Bab al-Mandeb,” said Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst on Yemen at the International Crisis Group.

For global oil consumers already worried about Iran’s attacks on vessels trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, the threat to yet another global shipping lane is a flashing danger sign, especially with the price of crude oil again trading above $100 a barrel.

Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalist Ahmed Haj in Aden, Yemen, contributed to this report.

Yemen's Houthi rebels ride a motorbike during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)

Yemen's Houthi rebels march during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)

Yemen's Houthi rebels chat as they check their weapons during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)

FILE - Members of the Yemeni al-Houthi Shiite rebel group burn an effigy of a U.S. aircraft and a Saudi flag during a demonstration against U.S. and Saudi interference in Yemen, after Friday prayer in Sanaa, Yemen, on April 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed), File