JJ McCarthy is done for the season, and the Vikings need to pick up the pieces
BEREA, Ohio — The Minnesota Vikings buses rolled up to the Browns’ practice field outside Cleveland, and coach Kevin O’Connell quickly got to work. He found the crowd of reporters, positioned himself in front of a purple backdrop and delivered the news.
JJ McCarthy, the symbol of a brand-new organizational future, was set to miss the entire 2024 season. A surgical procedure performed early Wednesday morning revealed that McCarthy’s meniscus required complete repair. The quarterback room is now down to Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall.
“While I am heartbroken for our team,” O’Connell said, “I am most heartbroken for JJ.”
GALLING DEEPER
Vikings rookie JJ McCarthy out for the season after successful surgery
As he spoke, the remaining Vikings players poured out of the bus. Some looked at their head coach. Others got ready for practice, putting on their helmet straps and taping them down.
Not everyone seemed to be aware of the news their coach was delivering. When practice was over, safety Cam Bynum, when asked about his reaction to the McCarthy news, said he knew McCarthy would respond well, whether the surgery required a short rehab or a long-term recovery.
His voice was still hopeful, hope that O’Connell had dashed hours earlier. The joy, excitement and belief that McCarthy had single-handedly inspired with his training camp production and pre-season debut had been doused with a bucket of cold water.
Or at least postponed. Forty-five years of quarterback limbo felt like it could end. And it still could. Just not yet.
While O’Connell’s job requires him to hold his head high and lead, which he continues to do, even he acknowledged how painful this is, especially in light of what the organization has been going through for months now.
“Yeah, there’s a number of things that, like I said before, challenge your culture, challenge your foundation, challenge your locker room, challenge your building,” O’Connell said. “It really didn’t just start this summer.”
Coach O’Connell provides update on JJ photo.twitter.com/88OcZ6g1DV
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 14, 2024
However, we cannot help but say that the past few months have been the most challenging.
In July, Khyree Jackson, the Vikings’ fourth-round pick out of Oregon, tragically died in a car accident. The news shocked the entire organization. Only time and togetherness, the Vikings staff felt, would honor Jackson and help them all heal.
The team arrived for training camp, and during an otherwise unremarkable seven-on-seven practice, promising young cornerback Mekhi Blackmon collapsed to the grass with a torn ACL. The next day, Shaq Griffin, whom the Vikings had signed as a veteran corner and locker room voice, tripped while deflecting a pass. Griffin’s injury was less serious, but the cornerback has yet to return to practice.
Shortly after that, the day before training, I spoke to a regular Vikings employee and said, “What a tough time.”
“I know,” they replied. “You just hope it’s not one of those years.”
All seasons are different. But in 2010, the Vikings were hit with an onslaught of chaos: Sidney Rice’s hip injury required surgery, Brett Favre was investigated over allegations he sent inappropriate messages to a former Jets employee, Randy Moss was acquired and then released amid a blowout, and the damn roof of the Metrodome has collapsed.
You just hope it won’t be another year like that.
That sentiment was still ringing in my ears Monday night when O’Connell first broke the news of McCarthy’s knee pain. This was a quiet evening, one that had been planned as a celebration of sorts. Sprinklers sprayed water on the Vikings’ fields behind the team’s headquarters at the TCO Performance Center. Fans streamed in for a workout under the floodlights.
O’Connell was expected to talk about how excited he was to have re-watched McCarthy’s performance on Saturday. Instead, he spoke ominously about McCarthy having to undergo further tests.
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Even McCarthy’s closest friends and mentors were unaware of the news. When Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell was alerted that McCarthy was not practicing, he simply asked, “Why?” Most Vikings players were also unaware. Center Garrett Bradbury noticed McCarthy’s absence from practice and had no idea of the severity or details of an injury. He wasn’t the only one.
“He finished the game (for the Raiders) and he looked good,” left tackle Christian Darrisaw said. “He looked great, actually. I didn’t know what was going on.”
Bradbury learned Tuesday that McCarthy had torn his meniscus and would need surgery. Before the Vikings left for Cleveland, he saw McCarthy in the training room and said, “Keep your head up.”
After the Vikings landed Tuesday night, O’Connell texted McCarthy. One name that came up was Joe Burrow, himself a highly touted franchise changer who underwent surgery as a rookie to repair a torn ACL, MCL and damaged meniscus. Burrow, who once called McCarthy to pitch him to play at LSU when McCarthy was a recruit, responded and has become one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks.
“(McCarthy) felt this was just temporary, regardless of what news he woke up to,” O’Connell said.
McCarthy awoke to the news that Vikings staff and players were still trying to figure out the afternoon practice. Many slowly filed out, heading back to the buses, deep in thought about how the team’s plan for the season had changed so dramatically in such a short time.
“It’s tough,” Darrisaw said. “Especially after his first game, the way he came out and competed — you see something special in that kid.”
“Let’s just put it this way: I think the kid has an incredibly bright future,” right tackle Brian O’Neill said. “And we’re all rooting for him.”
O’Connell summed up their thoughts.
“I truly believe that JJ has confirmed to me and a lot of our coaches and players that we have the right guy in our building for the future,” he said. “And he did it in a short period of time. That’s what makes this news solid.”
There’s still a season to play, a season that was always going to be about transition. The Vikings have absorbed nearly $60 million in dead cap money, one of the highest loads in the NFL this season. After trading up and acquiring edge rusher Dallas Turner, the team now has just three 2025 draft picks. So the Vikings need to move on.
That is, if the hits ever stop.
As O’Connell wrapped up a radio interview and began walking across the field toward the buses, reporters pressed him for details about sophomore wide receiver Jordan Addison, who had sprained his ankle earlier in practice while landing on a contested catch. O’Connell sounded optimistic but said Addison was being taken in for imaging.
That sentence felt relevant again.
You just hope it won’t be another year like that.
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(Photo: Brad Rempel/USA Today)
