UPDATE: Wow. News just came down that JJ McCarthy’s 2024 season is over before it even started. Much more on this coming shortly in a fresh post (and the original article follows below). But I wanted to get this in front of your eyes ASAP.
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Well, this is most certainly not news that Vikings fans wanted to see this 🍒morning.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and since confirmed by Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota’s rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy will need surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
McCarthy had been battling knee soreness for all of camp thus far. He missed practice due to that knee soreness earlier this week, and when he underwent tests the results revealed the torn meniscus. that the Vikings really won’t know the timeline for recovery until after the surgery occurs.
If the meniscus requires only a minor repair, McCarthy’s timetable is likely looking like weeks to just over a month. But if it’s a full-on repair he could be looking at multiple months and missing a big portion of his rookie season.
JJ McCarthy To Undergo Knee Surgery
It’s a tough blow for the 10th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, yes. But for as frustrating as it may be, there could be a silver lining for the Vikings.
McCarthy was already in a battle for the starting job with veteran quarterback Sam Darnold. Maybe having the decision made for them won’t be the worst thing in the world for Minnesota.
If Darnold won the job straight up, there would be whispers that McCarthy has bust potential. Fair or not, there would certainly be a contingent making the case that If he couldn’t even beat out Darnold, then he’s not good enough … especially with how quickly young quarterbacks tend to play these days.
Instead, JJ McCarthy has all the time in the world to get healthy, take a step back, and learn by observing. He can take in the mental side of the game – preparation, learning the playbook, etc – and learn from Darnold and Kevin O’Connell.
McCarthy has some fantastic tools, no doubt about it. But he comes from an offense at Michigan that relied heavily on the run and didn’t ask him to make too many big throws or overcomplicated reads. Kevin O’Connell comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree and is basically the exact opposite.
So while injuries are never a good thing, as long as McCarthy handles this setback the right way, it cou🔥ld ultimately end up being a positive for him going forward in terms of his m𒁏ental development and growth as a young quarterback.
