The Vikings have had their fair share (if not more) of injuries to start the season. After having a pretty safe season last year, it is probably the odds that they would get more this year. Now that JJ McCarthy is out for at least one week, with some reports saying it could be 2 to 4 weeks, the debates have been very spirited about his capabilities. I really do not know right now. I am hopeful that he will be the long term answer. It remains to be seen though.
This article was before the Bears game.
McGinn: Inside the J.J. McCarthy Mystery
“The whole thing is just a mystery until he plays,” an executive in personnel said last week. “Everything (in Minnesota) is about the quarterback this year.”
“I don’t really know what to say about him,” said an NFC personnel man who eagerly watched the McCarthy snippet. “He threw (seven) passes in the preseason; none of them were particularly impressive. I do think he has movement ability and should be good on the boot action, but he’s a total wild card. I have no idea how he’s going to do in this offense.
“If I’m a Minnesota fan, I’m confident in the players around him, and especially the coach (Kevin O’Connell). But for anyone to say they know what he is or will be, they are just speculating.”
“I’m sure there will be some rocky moments at the start,” offered Polian.
“He has to show he can put enough touch on his underneath throws to give the backs a chance,” said one scout. “And he has to show he can throw that deep crossing route, particularly to (Justin) Jefferson that they rely so much upon.
“If he can do that, then I think he’ll be fine.”
Scary stat!
Before the 2024 NFL Draft, CBS Sports highlighted that J.J. McCarthy was the first first-round quarterback since Christian Ponder in 2011 to be selected without having a single season with either 3,000 passing yards or 500 rushing yards during his college career.
Oh man. Our faith is being put to the test big time right now.
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Other Vikings injury updates: Aaron Jones, Christian Darrisaw, more
RB Aaron Jones
Part of the reason the Vikings traded for Jordan Mason was the knowledge that Jones is 30 years old and has dealt with various bumps and bruises throughout his career, even if he’s mostly been durable. Mason has already out-snapped Jones in each of the first two games, and his snap share figures to spike in Week 3 as Minnesota’s clear-cut RB1 for quarterback Carson Wentz. With Ty Chandler on IR, Zavier Scott is now the Vikings’ RB2. They also have Xazavian Valladay on the practice squad.
LT Christian Darrisaw
Darrisaw missed a second consecutive game to start the season as he finishes up his recovery process from last October’s major knee injury. In Week 1, he was listed as questionable, but that was just so the Vikings could put him through a pregame workout at Soldier Field. He was never going to play in that game. In Week 2, he was ruled out in the final injury report on Friday.
If the Vikings thought Darrisaw was going to miss the first four games of the season, they could’ve put him on short-term injured reserve. That would seem to suggest he has a chance to play as soon as this week. Asked on Monday if he feels like Darrisaw is close, O’Connell gave an emphatic “yes.”
“It’s been a true day-to-day approach to it,” O’Connell said. “He’s doing everything he can.”
C Ryan Kelly
During Sunday night’s game, Kelly and Skule joined Andrew Van Ginkel and Jeff Okudah in the concussion protocol. For Kelly, it’s a bit more concerning given his history of concussions during his time with the Colts. O’Connell did say that there were “some positive early signs” on Monday, but added that it is “totally in the hands of the medical professionals as they work through the protocol.”
“It is encouraging that he does feel positive and good today, from a standpoint of knowing that history,” O’Connell added. “But like I said, my job is to have the best interest of the player and totally just allow the medical staff and our doctors and the independent doctors to guide where this thing goes.”
OLB Andrew Van Ginkel
Van Ginkel missed Sunday’s game while in the concussion protocol, which was his first injury absence since he joined the Vikings prior to last season. O’Connell said they’re “expecting some good news” on AVG and Okudah “with where they’re at in the phase of the protocol, being able to begin their practice work and clear that last hurdle to hopefully be available this week.”
S Harrison Smith
Smith has been ramping up after missing a big chunk of time due to a personal health matter, but he’s been inactive for the first two games of the season. O’Connell said he expects Smith to practice on Wednesday, and they’ll continue to evaluate him from there. The 14th-year veteran could make his season debut this week.
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At one point in the second half of Sunday’s game, the Vikings were without 7 of their 22 projected starters coming into the season: Aaron Jones, Jordan Addison (suspension), Christian Darrisaw, Ryan Kelly, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman (IR), and Harrison Smith. Now J.J. McCarthy can be added to that list. Even if some of those players might be back next Sunday, it’s been rough so far.
“We’re definitely dealing with some adversity right now, both through our performance but also the injury side of things,” O’Connell said. “It’s never ever gonna be an excuse. We’ve gotta find a way to have the next man up.
“That is the nature of our league, week in and week out. It’s just hit us pretty significantly early on here, and we’ve just gotta work our way through it and try to weather the storm and play good football, regardless of who’s in the game.”
Wentz gets chance to revive career with Vikings’ McCarthy reportedly out 2-4 weeks
“He was really impressive last week,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said of Wentz, who has been with the Vikings since August 24. “You felt the veteran presence and the command. He’s really smart. A guy that’s played a lot of football and he’s been able to get himself to a place where he’s felt very comfortable these past two weeks had he needed to go in the football game. Now he’ll get a week of preparation to get ready to go play.”
“He’s going to be a snap away and I know Max will be prepared,” O’Connell said of Brosmer.
7 things that stood out from Vikings’ ugly primetime loss to Falcons
Minnesota’s offense was a mess
This was a nightmarish evening for the Vikings’ offense, led by quarterback J.J. McCarthy in his second career start. McCarthy turned the ball over three times, throwing a pair of interceptions and also losing a fumble on a strip-sack. He threw for just 158 yards. The running game didn’t do much. As a team, the Vikings had only 198 total yards, in part because McCarthy was sacked six times. It’s only the second time in the Kevin O’Connell era that they’ve been held under 200 yards. It was just a complete mess from start to finish, with only a couple positive moments.
McCarthy has to improve quickly
As detailed above, this was a brutal game for McCarthy. He was unable to evade the Falcons’ pressure, missed some receivers, and most importantly, didn’t take care of the football. A key miss came in the fourth quarter, with the Vikings down 15-6. On 3rd and 1, McCarthy took a deep shot to an open Jalen Nailor and overthrew him, leading to a punt.
The Vikings need Christian Darrisaw back
Veteran Justin Skule, who was signed to be the Vikings’ swing tackle, got a second start despite being shaky in Week 1. He continued to struggle in this game, including giving up a key sack with the Vikings in the low red zone in the second quarter. Skule then left the game in the third quarter with a concussion. In came second-year player Walter Rouse, who proceeded to be called for a hold that negated a big Jordan Mason run.
Run defense was shaky
Romo revenge game
Myles Price struggles in return game
Rowdy crowd doesn’t get much to cheer about
Vikings snap counts and notable PFF grades from Week 2 loss to Falcons
Vikings offensive snap counts vs. Falcons (out of 47)
QB J.J. McCarthy: 47
LG Donovan Jackson: 47
RG Will Fries: 47
RT Brian O’Neill: 47
WR Justin Jefferson: 47
WR Jalen Nailor: 47
WR Adam Thielen: 38
LT Justin Skule: 35
TE T.J. Hockenson: 34
RB Jordan Mason: 28
C Michael Jurgens: 24
C Ryan Kelly: 23
RB Aaron Jones: 20
TE Josh Oliver: 14
LT Walter Rouse: 12
TE Ben Yurosek: 4
WR Tim Jones: 3
Bottom 5 PFF grades on offense (min. 20 snaps)
Normally we go over the top five grades on both sides of the ball. But after a loss like that, it feels more instructive to take a look at the worst grades. The usual disclaimer applies, which is that while PFF grades are interesting, they’re not some end-all, be-all evaluation of player performance.
- D. Jackson — 44.4
- McCarthy — 49.4
- Skule — 49.7
- Fries — 49.8
- Jurgens — 57.0
Vikings defensive snap counts vs. Falcons (out of 66)
LB Eric Wilson: 66
CB Isaiah Rodgers: 63
S Theo Jackson: 62
S Josh Metellus: 62
CB Byron Murphy Jr: 62
OLB Dallas Turner: 60
LB Ivan Pace Jr: 59
OLB Jonathan Greenard: 57
DT Jonathan Allen: 49
DT Javon Hargrave: 48
DT Jalen Redmond: 38
DT Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins: 24
DT Levi Drake Rodriguez: 21
S Jay Ward: 16
CB Dwight McGlothern: 11
OLB Chaz Chambliss: 6
DT Elijah Williams: 6
OLB Gabriel Murphy: 5
OLB Bo Richter: 4
S Tavierre Thomas: 4
CB Fabian Moreau: 3
Bottom 5 PFF grades on defense (min. 20 snaps)
- Hargrave — 30.4
- Allen — 41.5
- Pace — 43.6
- Greenard — 45.4
- Turner — 52.7
Week 3 NFL Power Rankings: Overreactions, a new No. 1 and Vikings, Commanders drop
- Minnesota Vikings (1-1)
Last week: 12
Sunday: Lost to Falcons 22-6
Overreaction: They should have kept Sam Darnold (or Kirk Cousins)
The Vikings sent two perfectly good quarterbacks packing the last two years and put everything on the shoulders of J.J. McCarthy, who was overwhelmed by the Falcons in his second NFL start. McCarthy has taken the second-most time to throw of any QB in the league, taking three seconds to get the ball out, and he was sacked six times because of it on Sunday night. McCarthy’s EPA per dropback (minus-0.54) is the worst in the league by a good distance. With McCarthy now dinged up, Minnesota will likely turn to Carson Wentz.
The transition was supposed to be seamless. The Minnesota Vikings didn’t necessarily say that. But they also kind of did. Whether it was talking up the seemingly quarterback-proof supporting cast around new starter J.J. McCarthy, or repeatedly turning away from more proven options at the position, the NFC North contender declared with both word and deed that the 2025 NFL season was about winning here and now.
Except, two games into McCarthy’s first campaign as “the guy,” the Vikings feel less like an established contender and more like an organization at the start of a rebuild. Two games is a small sample size. It’s also 11% of an NFL regular season. And samples don’t get much more dispiriting than what occurred Sunday night, when McCarthy was supposed to greet the hordes of purple-coated fans at U.S. Bank Stadium with a sturdy home debut.
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Because the Vikings insisted over the summer and throughout the preseason, when McCarthy’s composure and mobility overshadowed his uneven production, that the Michigan product didn’t need to be Superman. McCarthy echoed the sentiment, telling CBS Sports before his NFL debut he felt no pressure to play “hero ball” as the face of a “stacked” lineup. Yet heroics aren’t even the concern here. Through two games, the biggest question is how long it’ll take McCarthy to even be generally competent. And how long the rest of the Vikings can afford to wait.
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Again, let’s be clear: Two games does not make or break a quarterback. These were McCarthy’s first two starts at the NFL level. This year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, Cameron Ward, had similarly inefficient marks in Week 1. Plenty of star gunslingers have gotten off to ugly starts. And McCarthy wasn’t working with a fully healthy cast of characters Sunday, with two starting linemen in Christian Darrisaw and Ryan Kelly out of the lineup, as well as fill-in left tackle Justin Skule, by the end of the night. We’re also just a week removed from McCarthy producing a stellar close to his first start, spearheading a fourth-quarter comeback against the Chicago Bears.
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The biggest reason for concern is not necessarily that the bumpy start portends a total failure of a career for McCarthy. It’s that the Vikings anticipated otherwise. Their entire 2025 offseason was centered around the decision to say thanks but no thanks to a bevy of alternatives at quarterback. In short order, they:
Refused to enter a bidding war for Sam Darnold, who threw 35 touchdowns and posted top five marks in passing yards and quarterback rating under O’Connell in 2024;
Refused to enter a bidding war for Daniel Jones, who finished 2024 on the practice squad behind Darnold and is now off to a career-best start as the Indianapolis Colts’ starter;
Barely entertained overtures from Aaron Rodgers, who by many accounts preferred to join the Vikings for his final NFL season as opposed to the Pittsburgh Steelers;
Waited until the last minute to swap out a struggling Sam Howell as the new backup quarterback, only signing journeyman Wentz at the close of the preseason.
Not one of those decisions was entirely head-scratching on its own. But as a whole, they paint a clear picture: The Vikings were, above almost anything else, committed to making 2025 all about McCarthy — making him comfortable, ensuring he went unchallenged as the present and future starter, getting the ball rolling on his opportunity to justify the club’s move up to draft him 10th overall in 2024. And the roster construction by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, with heavy resources poured into the offensive and defensive lines, and proven stars like Jefferson at the skill spots, was designed to avoid a drop-off from the 14-win Darnold explosion of 2024.
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So is it time to hit the panic button on J.J. McCarthy as the long-term face of the Vikings? Probably not. It is, however, time to start considering he’s not the guy to take the Vikings right back to the playoffs in 2025. There’s plenty of time for that story to be rewritten. But already the clock is ticking.
NFL rumors: Will Vikings push Kirk Cousins trade button after J.J. McCarthy injury?
It seems like a bit of a long shot at this point. First, the Vikings may not have the capital to spend on such a move. And the Falcons have already shown they are willing to hold Cousins “trade hostage” unless they get a beefy deal.
Furthermore, would Cousins really be the answer for the Vikings in 2025? Aren’t they totally committed to McCarthy?
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“While last night’s injury likely impacted [McCarthy’s] late-game play, some Vikings fans have to be wondering whether they should have kept Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones,” Mike Florio wrote. “Or signed Aaron Rodgers. Or traded for Kirk Cousins.
“The last part remains possible. If, when McCarthy returns, the struggles continue, the Vikings will have until the Tuesday after Week 9 to decide whether to bring Kirk home in an effort to save the 2025 campaign.”
Eagles Quietly Cut Ties With Former Vikings 1st-Round Pick
Philadelphia officially waived veteran safety Lewis Cine on Monday fron the Injured Reserve, per the National Football League’s transaction wire.
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