Vikings Fans Get the J.J. McCarthy Update They’ve Been Waiting For
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters early this week that several players would return to practice, and among the roll call, quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s name emerged.
Folks have been hanging on every word regarding J.J. McCarthy’s return to the Minnesota Vikings, and good news arrived on Monday, October 6th.
McCarthy hasn’t practiced since before Week 2, when the 22-year-old suffered a high ankle sprain. Now, he’s on his way back.
Go-Time Nears for J.J. McCarthy
The Vikings’ QB1’s recovery timeline took another turn on Monday.
J.J. McCarthy to Return to Practice
And just like that, Vikings.com tweeted Monday, “Head Coach Kevin O’Connell expects J.J. McCarthy, Donovan Jackson, Blake Cashman, and Michael Jurgens to be returning to practice in different capacities next week.”
O’Connell evidently wanted McCarthy to get some ginger practice reps last week in London, but the plan didn’t come to fruition due to inclement weather (rain).
The Path Back to His QB1 Job
For those closely tracking McCarthy’s return to the starting lineup, this is exactly how the process would go: a ramp-up to practice, followed by the actual practice, and an injury designation (or lack thereof) around October 15-17.
Some onlookers thought McCarthy would return in a week or so, but high ankle sprains virtually never heal that fast unless they live on the body of Patrick Mahomes in the postseason. For example, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has the same injury, and he has already missed two games, with an unknown timetable for return.
Still, McCarthy practicing in the next two weeks is the path to regain his QB1 job title.
Weird Theories Totally Debunked
McCarthy played abysmally the last time anyone saw him, a game at home against the Atlanta Falcons. He looked woefully unprepared, herky-jerky, and in one of the bad phases of his development.
Because he performed so dreadfully, some folks on social media declared his injury “fake” and suggested that Minnesota had falsified the sprain and lied to the public on the whole. No one claimed that the aforementioned Lamb was softly benched.
The theory was later put to rest by the Vikings’ coaching staff and trusted NFL insiders. What’s more, the Vikings have a 2-1 record without McCarthy, so if they indeed “softly benched” him, getting him ready to return when the team had a winning record just doesn’t make any sense. A soft benching would turn into a prolonged benching. The cockamie notion is now defunct, with McCarthy preparing to practice.
McCarthy Must Play Better Than Week 2
That said — McCarthy must play better upon his return. His team will face a trying slate of opponents after the bye, as the “easy” section of the schedule is over. There won’t be too many more mediocre opponents.
The Week 2 version of McCarthy will propel Minnesota to an upside-down record this season. The Week 1 and 4th Quarter version of McCarthy will put the Vikings in the postseason.
McCarthy will return to a team that needs a hero’s rescuing, and on paper, there is no better man for the task than the guy the team drafted in Round 1 a year and a half ago. The next few months will be his moment to convince the fan base that it has the right guy for the long haul.
O’Connell on McCarthy
The Vikings’ skipper also added about McCarthy’s progression, “He’s had some real moments of growth through this time, I think watching Carson, watching the way Carson’s kinda gone through progressions quickly, just the value of putting the ball in play, even when it’s not your first progression, even when it’s not the most exciting completion of all time.”
“I think he’s kinda taken a lot of that, of just watching it closely, and my dialogue with him. But I think the most critical part is gonna be technique and fundamentals of playing the position the way he worked so hard to build up throughout the spring and the summer.”
If McCarthy takes the reins as early as Week 7, he’ll face a lion’s den of opponents, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions, and Baltimore Ravens.
“Getting him back into kind of the mandatory nature of certain things from a fundamental standpoint, that will only help him perform at a high level,” O’Connell continued.
“So, I think it’s gonna be more about the physical side of his lower-body mechanics and then just trying to put together a game plan for him throughout the practices of how much can he do, what’s the soreness level coming out of practices, to try to be able to have the most consistent level of a ramp- up we can with him.”
Make no mistake: Minnesota’s bye — so the next two weeks — will all center on McCarthy’s prognosis to return under center. It’s the top storyline at the moment.
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