J.J. McCarthy has quite the ally in his corner.
The 2024 first-round pick shared advice he got from Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, with the main message being to "respect the NFL but don't over-respect it," per Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
Manning also told McCarthy to not "speed up your footwork, don't speed up your thought processes" and to simply just play his best game.
Manning is as good a mentor as McCarthy is going to find. He was the No. 1 pick in 1998 and had a difficult rookie season before embarking on an iconic career.