The Minnesota Vikings‘ actions with J.J. McCarthy have spoken louder than their words.
Yet, after reports of McCarthy’s injured ankle not healing in a timely fashion, Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell opened up about why the starting QB will not be available to play Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.
McCarthy has only played two games since injuring his ankle against the Atlanta Falcons. Despite O’Connell’s comments about the QB returning after Minnesota’s bye — which came in Week 6 after the second of their two games in Europe, a win over the Cleveland Browns.
Yet, Carson Wentz has been the starter for Minnesota (3-3) and will be again Thursday against the Chargers.
Kevin O’Connell ‘Encouraged’ By McCarthy’s Progress
O’Connell opened his comments by saying McCarthy did on-field workouts Tuesday and said the door would have been open for McCarthy to play if the Vikings were not bound by the short week. But he remained positive about McCarthy’s progress.
“We’re all kind of encouraged about where he’s at and the progress he’s making, but he’s just not there,” O’Connell said. “If this were a Sunday game it would be a little bit of a different story, but I look at [Tuesday] as a Wednesday [or] Thursday [practice], but it is a Friday on the timeline of being 48 hours out from the game.”
O’Connell said he worked with McCarthy before their game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown also participated in helping McCarthy get ready for his emergency-third QB role last weekend.
Vikings fans may be feeling frustrated by the constantly rosy outlook O’Connell has articulated — especially since Thursday will be McCarthy’s fifth straight missed game, which could have made him IR eligible.
But McCarthy will be in uniform as the No. 3 emergency quarterback, behind both Wentz and Max Brosmer. Yet, the hope for O’Connell is for McCarthy to return after the 10-day layoff for the Vikings’ huge NFC North showdown next Sunday against the first-place Detroit Lions.
“Encouraged about where he’s at, and very much looking forward to continuing his progression and hopefully having a chance to going next week,” O’Connell said.
Carson Wentz Has Filled In Admirably For J.J. McCarthy
This is the second year in a row a journeyman veteran has taken the reins from a McCarthy injury and run with the Vikings offense, and like Sam Darnold in 2024, Wentz has been pretty good in his time managing the Minnesota offense.
Of course, he helped Minnesota put up 48 points in its rout of the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, but even since then he has put up two 300-plus-yard games and completed 60-plus-percent of his passes, despite the Vikings’ 1-2 record in their past three games.
Still, he and the Vikings will have their work cut out for them, going across multiple time zones on a short week to take on the Chargers (4-3). But even though pundits may be counting the Vikings out, O’Connell is not.
“We’re attacking it and have a lot of confidence in our team to go out to LA and play well,” O’Connell said.
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