Tag: J.J. McCarthy

Vikings rookie J.J. McCarthy undergoes second procedure on injured knee

Fast forward a few months and in the middle of his rehab, McCarthy is undergoing another surgery.

The Minnesota Vikings lost rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy to a torn meniscus early in the preseason. Everyone thought he was going to be playing sooner rather than later but those plans were sidelined.

Fast forward a few months following his initial injury, and in the middle of his rehab, McCarthy is undergoing another surgery on his meniscus.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN was the first to report the surgery and provided the details. According to Seifert, McCarthy started to experience swelling in his surgically repaired knee while rehabbing. He received a biologic injection, and his timetable to return should not be extended.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell spoke to the media on Wednesday about McCarthy and his knee and provided further comment. His answer to that question and more can be found below.

 

Kevin O’Connell shares details of the work he and Sam Darnold do

As it turns out, to no one’s surprise, Kevin O’Connell isn’t playing favorites but rather is giving all his quarterbacks equal treatment.

A few weeks ago, it was reported that J.J. McCarthy was back in the Vikings facility and continuing his rehab. One of those details included that he was meeting with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell weekly to discuss things and it had people questioning why Sam Darnold wasn’t getting the same treatment.

As it turns out, to no one’s surprise, Kevin O’Connell isn’t playing favorites but rather is giving all his quarterbacks equal treatment.

When speaking to the media on Monday, O’Connell gave some details as to the inner workings of his relationship with Sam Darnold operates. Not only did he reaffirm that Danrold is the starter, as did many players, but he also shared that he and Darnold meet weekly.

Just as he and J.J. McCarthy do.

The play-calling and decision-making choices show that O’Connell works hard to ensure his quarterbacks are in a good place. Despite Darnold playing the way he did this past week, it should speak very loud about what O’Connell and the organization think of Darnold to stick with him.

Salary cap implications complicate Sam Darnold being a Viking in 2025

The voice of the Vikings, Paul Allen doesn’t see Darnold back in Minnesota next season.

Plenty of Viking fans are left scratching their head following Sam Darnold’s three-interception performance on Sunday against the Jaguars. Minnesota got the job done and won 12-7 against Jacksonville, but Darnold arguably played his worst Viking game.

Darnold is tied with Geno Smith and Jordan Love for last in the league with 10 interceptions thrown. There was a reason the Vikings drafted Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy to become their new franchise quarterback, and even if Darnold can get back on track, it’s unlikely he will be in Minnesota after this year.

What Allen eludes to is the main issue with Darnold returning to the Vikings in 2025. It has nothing to do with his play but rather with the salary cap implications. Darnold is likely to get a contract earning between $20-$30 million a year from a team needing a quality starter, which Darnold has proven to be.

“I mean, if Sam Darnold wins the Super Bowl as quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, he’s not getting 100 million guaranteed here,” Paul Allen said on KFAN1003. “He’s not, because Kwesi in that group has worked so hard for two and a half years to get salary cap flexibility. And in essence, jettison picks in certain parts of the draft to get Greenard, to get Van Ginkel, to get Cashman.”

The Vikings and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are in prime posit[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]ion to make a splash in free agency, with a projected $76 million available to them. That will allow them to re-sign and extend some core players while also going out and addressing some team needs.

Bringing Darnold back makes those two goals more challenging for a franchise that has shown efficiency in player management.

Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthy is working his way back into the fold

Rookie J.J. McCarthy will miss the 2024 season but remains active off the field to stay on top of things.

The Minnesota Vikings are in quite the pickle regarding their quarterback situation in the future, or so it seems. Sam Darnold’s play has truly been remarkable. Despite that sudden emergence, Darnold has to know he is not the future for this franchise. In fact, the quarterback of the future is already making his way back into the fold.

Rookie J.J. McCarthy will miss the 2024 season but remains active off the field to stay on top of things.

In a recent report from Sports Illustrated, Albert Breer discussed that McCarthy was with the Vikings during their trip to Los Angeles for their Thursday night matchup. He also included that McCarthy meets with coach Kevin O’Connell in one-on-one meetings weekly.

McCarthy is also working on his way back to being back into football activities, not just the mental ones. He remains the future for this franchise, O’Connell is handling it the right way, let us hope that Darnold does as well as he begins to see him more around the building.

J.J. McCarthy to be honorary captain for Michigan vs. Oregon?

He’s gonna get an incredible ovation! #GoBlue

There won’t be many former Wolverines who go down in history more beloved than former quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

The three-time Big Ten champion and quarterback who led Michigan football to its first national championship since 1997 was a leader, a playmaker, and a favored son in the Ann Arbor vicinity. As a former five-star recruit, when the maize and blue were struggling in 2020, McCarthy beckoned Michigan fans to ‘take a deep breath’ and trust that the coaching staff would get things right. And he was right, in part, because he got on campus and took the offense to another level (as did running back Blake Corum).

Corum returned to The Big House for the first game since leaving on Saturday and now it appears that McCarthy is following suit. According to WXYZ’s Brad Galli, McCarthy will be an honorary captain for the Week 10 game against Oregon.

McCarthy is available to come to the game because he suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason for the Minnesota Vikings. McCarthy was selected by the Vikings with the No. 10 overall pick making him the first first-round NFL draft pick since his former head coach, Jim Harbaugh, was picked by the Bears in 1987.

Update:

Despite Galli’s report which came from his conversation with head coach Sherrone Moore, it appears that McCarthy won’t be able to make the game after all.

 

Will J.J. McCarthy play for the Vikings again this season? Here’s the latest on his injury.

Here’s what we know about his injury.

When the Minnesota Vikings took J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan with the No. 10 overall pick out of , there was some thought about the quarterback starting right away over Sam Darnold.

And while he may be on the sidelines with the team now, it’s a good time to remind you: he suffered a knee injury and had surgery for a torn meniscus back in August. It’s a season-ender for him, which means that even though you’re seeing him back with the team, he’s looking ahead to returning in 2025.

There you have it. But it’ll be nice to see him on the sidelines on Thursday night.

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Vikings get defensive line help in ESPN’s latest 2025 NFL mock draft

The Minnesota Vikings get help along the defensive line in the latest 2025 NFL mock draft from ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid.

The Minnesota Vikings are still riding high as one of only two unbeaten teams left in the NFL. They’re sitting atop the toughest division in the NFL right now, the NFC North, and have their sights set on doing some big things this season. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start looking ahead towards the future of this team. That future starts with the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Vikings laid a good foundation with the 2024 NFL Draft, especially in the first round, grabbing who they believe to be the future of their franchise with quarterback J.J. McCarthy. They also make an effort to shore up their pass rush by taking edge rusher Dallas Turner with their second first-round pick. Turner has struggled some in his rookie campaign, but he still has a bright future ahead of him in defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ scheme.

While the Vikings have several high-quality pieces on both sides of the ball, several areas can be improved. According to ESPN’s NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid, the Vikings’ biggest areas of need heading into the 2025 NFL Draft are along the offensive line—particularly at guard, the defensive tackle spot, and cornerback.

So, where should the Vikings look next April?

Reid has the Vikings getting some defensive line help with the last pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, taking Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. Here’s Reid’s breakdown of the selection:

The Michigan State transfer has quickly become arguably Oregon’s best defensive player. With a quick first step, Harmon has been able to consistently penetrate the first level, picking up three sacks this season. His strong hands help him stack and shed blocks in the middle as a run defender, but he must do a better job of finishing plays. The Vikings’ defense has been excellent this season, but it probably still needs long-term depth at defensive tackle. Harmon’s explosion would work well in Brian Flores’ attacking unit.

It’s a little surprising to see Reid projecting the Viking to land help on the defensive side when guard has been such a glaring need for the team. However, that situation may improve with the return of Dalton Risner, and the Vikings could certainly use the depth at the position. Harrison Phillips isn’t going to play forever, and Minnesota would do well to think about the next man up despite his recent extension.

He’ll have some mighty big shoes to fill.

Bill Belichick sees only one way for Sam Darnold to keep the starting job

Luckily or not , Sam Darnold has taken that luck and parlayed it into now being involved in the discussion of the team’s future. 

In April, the Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was pegged as the franchise’s future and looked like it after the team’s first preseason game in August. Sadly, in that same game, McCarthy would suffer a complete tear of his meniscus, and it thrusted Sam Darnold firmly into the starting role.

Luckily or not for the Vikings, Sam Darnold has taken that luck and parlayed it into now being involved in the discussion of the team’s future.

Bill Belichick recognizes the situation that Darnold’s success is bringing, but he acknowledges that there is only one way for the former USC Trojan to keep the job. As Belichick explains, winning a Super Bowl for the Vikings would make things interesting for the franchise in more ways than one.

“I think it would definitely change things if that were to happen. That’s what happened with Brady, that’s what happened with Kurt Warner and Trent Green. When your QB takes you to the Super Bowl championship, what else do you want them to do? That’s a pretty big commitment to make.”

While Vikings fans and the team want a Super Bowl, can they really de-commit from McCarthy despite that? It continues to be an exciting situation in Minneapolis.

Is Sam Darnold’s hot start making Vikings rethink their plan at quarterback?

Sam Darnold has been on a roll to start the 2024 season. Is it enough to make the Minnesota Vikings re-think their long-term plans at QB?

When the Minnesota Vikings decided to let former quarterback Kirk Cousins walk in the offseason and sign with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, many questioned what the Vikings were going to do at the position going forward. When the Vikings signed journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold, a famous NFL Draft bust, those questions turned to question the sanity of the Vikings’ front office.

No one expected Darnold to be anything more than a bridge quarterback to whomever the Vikings would draft in the 2024 NFL Draft – if he’d even be able to beat that player out in camp at all. That player wound up being former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and from the outset, the Vikings had a plan with McCarthy. He would be the backup quarterback and learn from Darnold, but he would likely eventually take over. It was just a matter of when.

Then, a preseason knee injury altered the plan, as McCarthy would be declared out for the season. The Vikings were looking at Darnold as their starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, and most saw that as a recipe for disaster. But, as the 2024 season has gotten underway, the results have been anything but a disaster for Darnold and the Vikings.

So much so that Darnold is playing like arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, which is making some question whether the Vikings should further change their plans at quarterback and sign Darnold long-term.

With his performance on Sunday in a victory over the Green Bay Packers, Darnold set a number of team or NFL records. The 28-0 lead Darnold led the Vikings to became the largest lead over the Packers the Vikings have had in team history.

Darnold threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns on the day and finished the game with a quarterback rating of 123.4. With those numbers, Darnold became the first quarterback in team history to post a quarterback rating over 100 in four straight games and tied an NFL record dating back to 1970.

With his three touchdowns on the day, Darnold moved to 11 touchdowns on the season, making him just the second quarterback in NFL history to go 4-0 and throw 10 or more touchdowns in his first four starts with a team – the other being Patrick Mahomes.

Obviously, there is a ton of season left to be played and a lot of time for Sam Darnold’s Cinderella season to come crashing down around him. But for right now, Darnold is playing the best football of his career, and if he keeps it up throughout the season, he may have Vikings’ brass making some difficult decisions at the end of the year.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson ‘not overly concerned’ about quad injury

Fast forward to Week 2, they have another major injury scare that isn’t as bad of news as McCarthy’s.

The Minnesota Vikings have been bit the injury bug quite a lot to start the season. None have been major since the season started, of course the preseason saw the team lose J.J. McCarthy for the year with a torn meniscus.

Fast forward to Week 2, and they have another major injury scare that isn’t as bad of news as McCarthy’s.

Late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win, All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson was hit in the knee and went down immediately. Most people were immediately panicked, but it seems that may have been an exaggerated reaction.

Speaking to the media after the win, Justin Jefferson told them that he was “not overly concerned. It’s just a little thigh bruise, contusion, whatever you want to call it. Something that happens.”

The team has yet to respond to his medical diagnosis officially. The injury report will be published on Wednesday, so we will have to wait until then for any official designation.