Cat’s Out of the Bag for Vikings Starting QB This Weekend
With injuries a factor, the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 7 starting QB decision seemed like it might go down to the wire on the Friday injury report. But after Wednesday’s development, all signs point to Carson Wentz for his fourth consecutive appearance under center.
There was indeed a mystery regarding the Vikings starting QB for about a week and a half, but that all but seems resolved in Week 7.
The cat’s out of the bag in Minnesota, thanks to a first-of-the-week injury report that showed J.J. McCarthy as a limited participant and Wentz with a “full” designation.
Vikings Starting QB Choice Points at Carson Wentz for Week 7
McCarthy, in theory, could rally, but that feels unlikely.
Injury Report Tells All for Vikings in Week 7
Fans have monitored Vikings quarterback activities intently for a week and a half, hoping to learn the starter’s identity for Week 7 against a reeling Philadelphia Eagles club.
That appears to be Wentz, thanks to the team’s initial injury report.
NBC Sports‘ Josh Alper wrote Wednesday, “Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t offer much of a hint on Wednesday about which way the Vikings will go at quarterback against the Eagles in Week 7, but their injury report offered a bit of one.”
“Carson Wentz was listed as a full participant at practice while J.J. McCarthy remained limited with an ankle injury. Wentz injured his shoulder in the Vikings’ Week 5 win over the Browns in London. The team had a bye in Week 7. The team will have two more days of practice before making injury designations for Sunday, but Wentz’s ability to practice without limitations suggests he’s closer to getting the nod against his first NFL team.”
Wentz, as a full practice participant, and McCarthy, as limited, are pretty much the smoking gun.
Wentz to Get a Crack at Former Team
A subplot, although Wentz downplayed it on Wednesday, is Wentz’s lurking showdown against the team that drafted him nine years ago.
The Eagles took the plunge with Wentz as the second overall pick in 2016, utilizing him as the QB1 — rather successfully at times — for five seasons. But in 2020, the Eagles shocked the world by drafting Jalen Hurts, and by the start of 2021, Wentz hit the road to begin a journeyman’s adventure.
With the cat out of the bag about Wentz’s presumptive starter’s job this Sunday, he undertakes a mini-revenge angle. Wentz has faced Philadelphia once in his career, a game between the Eagles and Washington Commanders in 2022, when Philadelphia prevailed by a score of 24-8 while sacking Wentz 9 times.
McCarthy Healing in the Meantime
The good news for the pro-McCarthy crowd? He’s emphatically on his way back. McCarthy told media members that he would play this weekend if the decision were up to him, but sadly for his sake, that’s not how it works. Minnesota’s training and coaching staff makes that call, and is almost certain to ride with Wentz and his full practice regimen over McCarthy’s “not quite 100%” ankle and limited practice build-up.
McCarthy, though, won’t be out much longer. The clues tend to hint at a Week 9 return to QB1 against the Detroit Lions on the road.
The standard recovery time for a quarterback in the NFL with a high ankle sprain is 4-6 weeks. McCarthy is in Week 4 of that process.
Implications for the Game
The Vikings remain 1.5-point underdogs this week, a point spread that may have shifted in Philadelphia’s favor if McCarthy had gotten the nod under center.
In recent weeks, head coach Kevin O’Connell has adopted a quicker passing game due to a patchwork offensive line, and to some extent, the experiment has yielded dividends. Wentz is getting the ball out to his pass-catchers faster than any quarterback in the business, while one of the knocks on McCarthy through two games was the opposite — holding the ball too long and enduring subsequent sacks.
Philadelphia has also played like a shell of its Super Bowl-winning self in recent weeks, so perhaps Wentz can realistically pull off the revenge angle and defeat his former team.
PurplePTSD on the Week 7 QB Saga
Our Kyle Joudry wrote Thursday, “The Vikings’ quarterback room has seen one of the four passers subtracted: Mr. Ridder. Since he was only in town to offer insurance due to J.J. McCarthy’s injury, Ridder being cut made sense.”
“But then there’s another shoe that needs to drop, right? Presumably, Mr. McCarthy needs to be available sooner rather than later. If not, then the Eagles contest will involve a Carson Wentz with a hampered shoulder alongside rookie UDFA Max Brosmer. Not exactly an encouraging scenario.”
The Vikings haven’t beaten the Eagles in six years.
“Leaning on that quarterback twosome against the defending Super Bowl champions — a team renowned for its defensive front — would be too contingent on hope. Get into the game and hope things don’t deteriorate at the game’s most consequential position. Doesn’t sound particularly prudent. Is there some sort of conclusion that can be drawn? I think so,” Joudry argued.
“At the very least, J.J. McCarthy is going to dress. Maybe that’s only in an emergency QB3 manner, the kind of assignment that would suggest he isn’t totally healthy but could go in a true emergency (as the title suggests). That kind of arrangement would involve a trio of passers being available.”
McCarthy would probably have to practice in full on Thursday and Friday — that seems unlikely — for the cat to return to the bag.
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