The Minnesota Vikings‘ management of Carson Wentz‘s shoulder injury has raised major questions about the franchise and its approach to player health.
Wentz was playing with a torn labrum and fractured socket he suffered on October 5 against the Cleveland Browns in Week 5. He played through the pain and repeatedly told head coach Kevin O’Connell he could still play in a Week 9 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. He was battered to the tune of five sacks and five quarterback hits, leading to him requiring season-ending surgery after taking five sacks and five quarterback hits.
In light of Wentz’s season-ending injury, Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller received comments from several sources that have damned the Vikings’ mismanagement of injuries this season after they did not pull Wentz out of the game.
“This is more evidence of a *bleep* show with the training staff this year. So many mismanaged injuries,” a source with knowledge of the Vikings’ situation told Coller, adding that Christian Darrisaw, Andrew Van Ginkel, Brian O’Neill and J.J. McCarthy‘s injuries are also subject to scrutiny.
“This is how you lose a locker room,” another source said. “Everyone is going to be in the cold tub saying, ‘What the heck are we doing?’ ”
Carson Wentz Injury is Just the Tip of the Iceberg for Vikings
Coller’s source made a valid point, questioning the treatment of injuries this season.
McCarthy suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 and was expected to miss anywhere from two to six games, according to varying sources.
The Athletic’s Diana Russini reported that the Vikings “didn’t call it a setback” but “they were hoping he was going to progress faster, and he didn’t.” The semantics about what can be considered a “setback” are debatable, but McCarthy experienced additional swelling in his ankle that was unexpected on their flight to Dublin, Ireland.
Darrisaw admitted that he returned from his ACL/MCL tear “earlier than anyone projected,” yet he has left three games early this season and has been on a pitch count.
Van Ginkel was dealing with a neck injury that held him out of most of training camp before he played 61 snaps in the season opener. He suffered a concussion in that game, but after returning in Week 3 for just eight snaps, Van Ginkel has been out since, reaggravating his neck injury.
O’Neill was out in Week 5 with an MCL sprain before returning after the bye. He played nearly 70 snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles but was unable to play on a short week against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Why Did Vikings Keep Carson Wentz In?
The Vikings offensive line has had a spell of injuries that impacted how well they could protect Wentz this season.
Through the first five weeks, the Vikings played 14 different line combinations as injuries hit every spot on the line except right guard.
Wentz should be commended for displaying a warrior spirit last week against the Chargers. But why did the Vikings not exercise better judgment and pull Wentz when the game got out of hand?
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported that it was an effort to keep McCarthy and Max Brosmer safe, but there is also a belief beginning to rise that playing Brosmer might prove better in the short term, which would cause tension with the plan of developing McCarthy.
“The scene was all in service of a larger goal that would have been sneered at in previous decades: protecting a pair of young quarterbacks who offer more long-term value to the Vikings than Wentz,” Seifert wrote.
“A person with knowledge of the Vikings’ thinking half-joked that O’Connell left Wentz in last Thursday’s game because Brosmer — who had a strong training camp and preseason — might prove a better short-term option than McCarthy,” Seifert added. “With Wentz done for the season, now is the time to find out who — if anyone — the Vikings can move forward with at quarterback.”
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