Vikings rookie JJ McCarthy out for the season after successful surgery
Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy has been ruled out for the season after undergoing successful meniscus surgery in his right knee, coach Kevin O’Connell announced Wednesday. McCarthy underwent tests for knee pain after reporting the injury Monday afternoon.
“He had surgery this morning on that meniscus,” O’Connell told reporters. “It showed that a repair was necessary, which ends JJ’s 2024 season.”
The Vikings selected McCarthy out of Michigan with the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Sam Darnold, entering his seventh season in the league, will likely assume starting quarterback responsibilities in McCarthy’s absence when Minnesota’s regular season begins on Sept. 8 away against the New York Giants.
“This is going to be a little bump in the road,” O’Connell said. “Other quarterbacks in our league have gone through similar things and come back stronger and better than ever. That’s not only my expectation, but I know that’s going to happen for JJ as well.”
O’Connell had yet to name a starting quarterback for the regular season, but McCarthy has shown flashes of potential thus far. The Vikings organization and fans will have to wait a season before college football’s national champion quarterback takes his talents to the NFL.
“Our fans and everybody should just be happy with the fact that we have our young franchise quarterback in the building, I think,” O’Connell said.
What was O’Connell’s reaction on Wednesday afternoon?
He was certainly disappointed and angry for McCarthy, given the trajectory he felt McCarthy was on after Sunday’s 11-for-17 performance against the Raiders in the preseason. O’Connell was also disappointed that his team, which has been dealt a blow after another on multiple fronts (the tragic death of Khyree Jackson and Mekhi Blackmon’s ACL tear), was now being crushed again.
O’Connell even spoke honestly, saying he’s enjoyed watching McCarthy, still just 21, develop on a daily basis. He’s been a part of the coaching, which brought him back to some of his days as a quarterbacks coach early in his NFL coaching career. O’Connell exuded confidence in the 2024 team, saying he believed this Vikings culture and roster were built to last. But he was definitely down for understandable reasons. — Alec Lewis, Vikings reporter
What does this mean for 2024?
It’s already been something of a transition season. The Vikings absorbed about $60 million in dead cap money, according to Over The Cap . They’ve long planned to move on from older, expensive veterans to developmental youngsters. Darnold was brought in as a bridge for McCarthy, and while he was always likely to start Week 1, the burden on him is all the heavier.
Also of note are comments recently made by co-owner Mark Wilf, who said he would not enter into extension talks for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell until after the season. How can the owner fully make that evaluation without seeing McCarthy? There’s also the pertinent note that the Vikings currently have just three draft picks for next season (a first-rounder and two fifth-rounders).
A bad year may not lead to the kind of additions needed to deepen the roster. Lewis
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(Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
