Vikings Misses and Myths: Jaire Alexander, J.J. McCarthy’s Hand, The End of a Rumor
Weekly on Sundays, VikingsTerritory presents the purple items that didn’t work out as expected or that were flatly wrong. We call them “nopedy nopes.”
Vikings misses and myths on Jaire Alexander, J.J. McCarthy’s hand, and the end of a circulating rumor, breaking down what’s real and what isn’t.
This week touches on a couple of cornerbacks and the QB1’s hand.
Vikings Nopedy Nopes for November 16th, 2025
The following items didn’t play out as planned or weren’t quite accurate.
The Nopedy Nope: Jaire Alexander would’ve made a sweet addition to Minnesota’s secondary.
Six months ago, pitching the idea of the Vikings signing Jaire Alexander made you sound like the smartest guy in the room. Five months later, that entire conversation looks upside down. Alexander, now 28, joined his third team in a calendar year — traded from Baltimore to Philadelphia — and suddenly he’s contemplating retirement instead of a comeback.
For the moment, the former Packers stud is stepping away from the game.
ESPN’s Tim McManus reported Tuesday, “Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Jaire Alexander has decided to step away from football in order to focus on getting right physically and mentally amid his ongoing recovery from offseason knee surgery, a league source confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.”
“Alexander, 28, informed the Eagles of his decision Tuesday, a day after their victory over the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football. He did not travel with the team to Green Bay for the game. The Eagles indicated that Alexander staying in Philadelphia was part of a plan they had in place both for his knee and for his acclimation to their defensive system.”
NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport added Wednesday morning, “The Eagles placed CB Jaire Alexander on the reserve/retired list, while activating CB Jakorian Bennett from IR.”
Up until last weekend, most observers were still applauding the Eagles for making the move in the first place. Now it looks less like a savvy trade and more like a gamble that collapsed before it ever had a chance to pay off.
The Verdict: With Alexander calling it quits, at least for a while, the notion of him joining the Vikings as a steady contributor would have flopped. Nopedy nope.
The Nopedy Nope: J.J. McCarthy has a bruised hand, so “here we go again” with his injury song and dance.
If you were looking for one more J.J. McCarthy subplot this week, Minnesota delivered.
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis tweeted Wednesday, “Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy was limited today in practice with the hand swelling after hitting it on a helmet.”
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert followed with more detail: “J.J. McCarthy will have a bandage today on his right hand, per Kevin O’Connell, after hitting it on a helmet Sunday. It is not expected to impact his week of prep ‘very much,’ O’Connell said, and he remains set to play Sunday vs. the Bears.”
Minnesota initially listed McCarthy as a limited participant when the injury first appeared. Asked how the hand felt, McCarthy didn’t dance around anything, replying, “If you get your hand slammed in a car door, it’s going to feel different for everything you do with that hand. There’s no excuses. We’re warriors and we’ve got to push through.”
He stressed that the bruise isn’t expected to alter his workload or availability this weekend.
“I definitely felt it, for sure. Ripped one in there pretty good to Jets and hit a helmet, so you’re gonna be feeling it the rest of the way, but there’s no excuses at all. Gotta find ways to adapt and make sure the ball gets to the receiver,” McCarthy added.
And, as Seifert noted again, “O’Connell said the bandage is there to protect what was in essence a bruise that caused some swelling, to prevent the issue from ‘festering.'”
Predictably, some fans on social media freaked out, fearing the worst about McCarthy’s hand. But nothing came of it.
The Verdict: The hand matter was a nothingburger. By the weekend, McCarthy wasn’t even on the injury report. Nopedy nope on the panic.
The Nopedy Nope: Free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. would pick the Vikings as his next NFL destination.
The rumor mill earlier in the year wasn’t right.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor noted Tuesday that help is finally arriving for Pittsburgh’s banged-up secondary. She wrote, “Help is on the way for the banged-up Pittsburgh Steelers’ secondary. The Steelers are signing cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. to the team’s practice squad, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. An ESPN top-25 overall free agent in March, Samuel underwent spinal-fusion surgery in April, delaying his signing.”
“Though Samuel is joining the practice squad, he could fill a major need with injuries piling up in the secondary. Cornerback Darius Slay is in the concussion protocol after an incidental helmet-to-helmet hit with teammate Kyle Dugger on Sunday. Jalen Ramsey, once the team’s starting slot corner, has spent the bulk of the past two games at free safety after injuries decimated that group.”
Meanwhile in Minnesota, nothing changes. The Vikings will roll with their current group: Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, Fabian Moreau, and Dwight McGlothern. Veteran Jeff Okudah remains on injured reserve after suffering his second concussion of 2025, leaving the team with little choice but to stay the course.
The Verdict: The SKOR North-fueled rumor about Samuel Jr. to Minnesota got it wrong. Nopedy nope.
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