Kevin O’Connell Clears the Air on J.J. McCarthy
J.J. McCarthy will return to the Minnesota Vikings’ starting lineup when he’s healthy — and not before. Source? Head coach Kevin O’Connell.
It wasn’t what fans wanted to hear, but Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell laid out the case for J.J. McCarthy’s return to the starting lineup.
O’Connell provided a detailed explanation about McCarthy’s progress and criteria for returning to action, and while some fans called his answer to reporters a “word salad,” O’Connell was quite clear.
Kevin O’Connell Tells All about J.J. McCarthy’s Current Status
McCarthy’s recovery from a high ankle sprain has been a slow burn.
O’Connell on McCarthy Entering Week 8
O’Connell went into great detail about McCarthy’s status, as onlookers are eager for him to return, especially after Carson Wentz played so poorly last weekend.
The coach said, “It’s some of the movements. The reactionary movements within the pocket. Being able to use his athleticism to protect himself in the pocket.”
“And then as he’s able to work through progressions. I feel really good about the work we’ve done on the foundation of his fundamentals. That’s been pretty evident through the work that he’s done, and he’s really had the commitment to doing that. It’s really just about, ‘Hey, maybe a guy gets edged, and I don’t really know the movement I have to make.’ That’s where he still feels it. If he doesn’t have the ability to do that pain-free, we obviously risk setting him back, which would be very, very unfortunate with the time lost already.”
Some Vikings and NFL fans erroneously mix and match a standard ankle sprain with a high ankle sprain, essentially equating the two injuries as the same. They are not.
O’Connell continued, “But also, giving him the best chance of going out there and having success is ultimately what we’re looking for. Having to overcome certain things has been the story of our season if you look at it for J.J. Whether it’s early on in the Chicago game, we didn’t have a great all-11 feel to our execution. Then we did late in the game, and had a bunch of success and won that game. Then, clearly, the circumstances involved in Week 2 made it less than ideal from the standpoint of preparing a guy to play in a football game.”
“Now, you have the injury as part of it. No, it’s not going to need to be something where he’s 130 percent, or we’re being in a situation where we’re waiting for this metric that, quite honestly, with this kind of injury, he’s got to work through some of that here late in the rehab stages. But it’s about his effectiveness, and his ability to go out and do his job for 60 minutes without having any setbacks, or making his job more difficult than it has to be.”
It’s all about the injury for McCarthy — not his performance or technique. The quote couldn’t be more precise. Everything is tied back to the ankle and its health percentage.
The Vikings need McCarthy to perform without persistent pain and the threat of re-injury. It’s that simple.
Fans Cry Foul
The team’s followers, at least some of them, were wildly unimpressed with O’Connell’s comments.
“Hot seat has never been hotter for Kwesi and KOC,” a man named Scott Herold replied.
One account remarked, “What are we doing here…if McCarthy isn’t ready, play Brosmer. This is a joke and a slap in the face to fans.”
Jason Harmon acted as a voice of reason, “Logically, it makes total sense since the team isn’t doing a single full practice this week, but man, I’m bummed not to have JJ out there. In the meantime, go light it up, Wentzy.”
Recent Examples of High Ankle Sprains
High ankle sprains, which can be a nagging and time-consuming injury to recover from, are not an occurrence exclusive to J.J. McCarthy. They’re just not.
Doctor of Physical Therapy Jeff Mueller tweeted this week:
Highlighting this because there are actual doctors saying that the Vikings are “soft benching” JJ McCarthy or that his injury is fake.
Stuff like high ankle sprain should only take 2-4 weeks, nothing longer, so it must not be truly injury related.This pissed me off, so let’s see which players have missed more than 4 weeks with a high ankle sprain:
Jimmy Garoppolo 8 (2020, deltoid lig too)
Sam Darnold 11 (2022)
Khalil Herbert 5 (2023)
Rico Dowdle 12 (2022)
Clyde Edwards Helaire 7 (2022)
Rhamondre Stevenson 5 (2023)
Kendre Miller 7 (2023)
Christian McCaffrey 6 (2020, right)
Christian McCaffrey 5 (2021, left)
Jerry Jeudy 6 (2021)
Michael Pittman Jr 5 (2017)
AD Mitchell 9 (2022)
Michael Gallup 6 (2015)
Zach Ertz 5 (2020)Important to remember that not all high ankle sprains are the same and SAFE return to play with lower reinjury risk is actually recommended closer to 6 weeks, but a lot of teams/players push it to 3-4 weeks.
To believe that the Vikings’ training and coaching staff have intentionally sabotaged McCarthy or faked the injury altogether requires a level of conspiratorial thinking usually reserved for the very fringes of society.
An injury like McCarthy’s takes four to six weeks to heal on average. McCarthy is in Week 5 of the timeframe.
Week 9 as McCarthy’s Tentative Return Date
Thankfully, McCarthy should be back within two weeks.
O’Connell said Tuesday that if the Week 8 game were played on a Sunday, not a Thursday, McCarthy would have a real shot to play. It all depends on — you guessed it — his ankle.
After O’Connell’s announcement of Wentz one more game on TNF, it’s reasonable to expect McCarthy to ramp up and play in Week 9.
ESPN’s Take on McCarthy
Kevin Seifert wrote Tuesday, “At some point, the Vikings need to get McCarthy back on the field to give him the live-game reps he clearly needs to develop as a potential long-term starter.”
“Wentz has demonstrated some admirable attributes — a quick assimilation of the offense, toughness in the open field and a willingness to push the ball downfield — but he’s playing like a low-level starter/high-end backup. His 42.9 QBR ranks No. 25 in the league. There’s no evidence to suggest he will repeat Sam Darnold’s 2024 run and lead the Vikings to the playoffs.”
McCarthy won the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week award in his first-ever start last month.
“Long-term implications: McCarthy needs game (and practice) reps after missing all last year because of a torn meniscus in his right knee, and then almost a month of practice — along with four games and counting — because of an ankle injury. In all, he has missed 21 of 23 NFL games,” Seifert added.
“The longer it takes to get him back into the lineup, the less time he’ll have for establishing himself as the team’s long-term quarterback before the end of this season.”
When McCarthy is healthy, he will play. That’s pretty much all the world needs to know. It’s not very complicated.
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