Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s progress might be paused for at least a little while after he emerged from Saturday’s preseason win over the Raiders with right knee soreness, coach Kevin O’Connell said Monday evening.
Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy sidelined by right knee soreness, coach Kevin O’Connell says
Rookie J.J. McCarthy played six drives in Saturday’s preseason win, but he emerged with a sore right knee that kept him out of practice Monday.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 13, 2024 at 12:58AM
Whether McCarthy, the first-round pick out of Michigan, can travel with the team on Tuesday to Cleveland for joint practices and the preseason game against the Browns remains to be seen. He was among a handful of Vikings players held out of Monday night’s practice, which also included edge rusher Dallas Turner, the other first-round pick. Turner watched practice in a sweatshirt after playing against the Raiders.
“Out of precaution we’re going to continue an evaluation on him and get some more testing done,” O’Connell said. “Very important player, obviously, so want to make sure we’re smart about it before he participates. Making sure we have a good understanding of where he’s at.”
O’Connell said McCarthy “could have continued playing” against the Raiders, when he was pulled in the middle of the third quarter. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Players reported to TCO Performance Center later than normal on Monday with a night practice scheduled, so O’Connell said the team got a “late start” on diagnosing McCarthy’s issue.
“We’re trying to figure out maybe when it happened,” O’Connell said, “but he just came in with some kind of routine soreness that a lot of guys after their first preseason game sometimes come in with and it was something we wanted to be smart about.”
O’Connell was asked whether there’s any reason to believe McCarthy’s injury is more than “routine” soreness.
“At this point, I really don’t,” he said.
McCarthy was going to get “a lot of work” in what is a big week for the team’s preparation, the coach said. The Vikings will hold their only set of joint practices this summer on Wednesday and Thursday in Cleveland, followed by the second preseason game against the Browns on Saturday.
O’Connell said McCarthy was “potentially” going to practice with the first team Monday night. “Hopefully we can maintain the plans we’ve kind of had for him,” O’Connell added. “He’s really done a great job throughout training camp whatever we’ve asked of him.”
The Vikings could be down to three quarterbacks — Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall — in Cleveland if McCarthy is held out of the trip. Last week, O’Connell said the plan was for Mullens, who didn’t play against the Raiders, to get more work moving forward in training camp.
After reviewing the film of McCarthy’s NFL debut, O’Connell continued to praise the 21-year-old rookie for how he responded to an early interception. The Vikings scored touchdowns on three of McCarthy’s next five drives.
“Not only the results of the response,” O’Connell said, “but you can get a pretty good feel about a guy playing the position, especially when you’re the play caller and the voice in their ear. Just with how they handle it from the standpoint of being able to come out and make some aggressive decisions.”
“It was my first time in a long time having 450 [yards] plus of total offense,” he added, “and he had a lot to do with that.”
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is completing more passes more often for more touchdowns than he ever has. “What we’re trying to get from Sam is to play the best football of his career,” coach Kevin O'Connell said.
