Fair or not, J.J. McCarthy finds himself in do-or-die moment as the future of the Vikings
With Carson Wentz sidelined, McCarthy will need to sink or swim on his own
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The Minnesota Vikings are at a crossroads. The organization enters Week 9 a game below .500 with a 3-4 record, which is good for last place in the vaunted NFC North. Maybe more dire than their record, however, is the situation developing at quarterback.
The club just placed veteran Carson Wentz, who started the last five games, on injured reserve due to a left shoulder injury. In the announcement via the official team website, Minnesota revealed that Wentz endured "considerable pain" ever since he suffered the injury in the first half of the Vikings' Week 5 matchup against the Cleveland Browns in London.
That revelation of the severity of his injury then brings us to this logical question: Why was Wentz out there in the first place?
Wentz initially sprang into the role after J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota's Week 1 starter, suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 against Atlanta. McCarthy's been sidelined ever since, but has been on the mend in recent weeks. The 2024 first-round pick has been a limited participant in practice after Minnesota returned from its Week 6 bye. McCarthy has been listed as questionable for both Week 7 and Week 8, along with being named the emergency third quarterback for both contests. So, under a specific circumstance, the Vikings deem McCarthy is able to play.
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While head coach Kevin O'Connell may not want to send his young, still-developing signal-caller out there until he's returned to full strength, he's currently preparing to start in Week 9 against the Detroit Lions. If McCarthy can go this week, how much has he truly recovered between last Thursday, when the team took on the Chargers and now? Given how they have described Wentz's situation, it's fair to wonder if McCarthy was a healthier option over the veteran these last couple of games post-bye.
If that's the case, what gives?
McCarthy finished that Week 2 matchup -- a 22-6 defeat at the hands of the Falcons -- and the severity of his injury was revealed later on. That game wasn't pretty for the Michigan product as he completed 11 of his 21 throws for 158 yards and two interceptions. He also fumbled three times (one lost). McCarthy did lead the Vikings to a thrilling comeback in Week 1 against Chicago, where he led three fourth-quarter touchdown drives to win the game. Outside of that stellar fourth quarter, however, the McCarthy-led offense managed six points over the first three quarters, and the QB's play was again inconsistent.
With that prior up-and-down play in mind, it'd be hard to ignore the possibility of the Vikings shielding McCarthy, particularly over these last few weeks when Wentz was injured. With him now on IR, however, McCarthy has to come out of the shadows and either prove that he is the franchise centerpiece or not.
That's a tremendous amount of pressure to place on McCarthy's shoulders, especially as he has just two starts under his belt. Remember, McCarthy missed all of his rookie season due to a meniscus injury, so the last meaningful snap he took before Week 1 of this season was the College Football Playoff National Championship when he was with the Wolverines. Fair or not, McCarthy will need to come out guns blazing to calm the nerves surrounding an organization that chose him over Sam Darnold -- who led them to a 14-3 record last season -- and Daniel Jones, for that matter.
If that inconsistent play continues through the rest of the year, it could shake the foundation to the point where the Vikings are exploring their options at quarterback this offseason unlike what they did a year ago.
