Until J.J. McCarthy takes another snap, our last image of him will be walking off the U.S. Bank Stadium field, crestfallen. The Atlanta Falcons had beaten the Minnesota Vikings 22-6, spoiling Adam Thielen’s return and a celebration of Jared Allen’s Hall of Fame induction.
Atlanta left Minneapolis with the win, but the Vikings had beaten themselves. Their only scoring was six points in the second quarter, and McCarthy finished 11 of 21 for 158 yards and two interceptions. There was no miracle comeback this time. No lore about presence and gratitude, just the pain of losing a game they could have won.
Little did we know that Kaden Elliss had rolled up on McCarthy’s ankle, and that Minnesota’s first-round quarterback had suffered his second major injury in as many years. Christian Darrisaw’s lingering injury and Jordan Addison’s suspension also sullied the Vikings’ efforts to bring McCarthy into the NFL world with clean hands.
Still, the NFL is an imperfect world. Darrisaw suffered an ACL and MCL tear in Week 7 last year and needed to recover fully. Addison has already had a speeding charge, and his “wet reckless” was his second driving-related incident. The Vikings tried to reinforce the trenches in the offseason, but injuries have ravaged their offensive line.
Everyone knows what they say about best-laid plans. Even if the Vikings had fewer injuries, any quarterback exposes himself to injury when they scramble outside the pocket. What is he supposed to do? Give up on trying to pick up the first down?
J.J. McCarthy isn’t yet a true reclamation project because he’s still green. He isn’t Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones. The New York Jets drafted Darnold third-overall in 2018 and gave up on him after three seasons. The Carolina Panthers gave up on him after two. Meanwhile, the New York Giants took Jones sixth-overall in 2019 and started him for six seasons, then extended him before releasing him.
Darnold made 38 starts for the Jets and 17 with Carolina before signing with the Vikings. Jones made 69 starts for the Giants. McCarthy has played two games. Still, he has completed 58.5% of his passes for 301 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. McCarthy owns a 67.2 passer rating (20.3 QBR) and is a fourth-quarter rally in Chicago away from having worse numbers.
McCarthy has also faced significant adversity in his career. He missed his rookie season with a meniscus tear and made his first start at Soldier Field, a loud stadium in his hometown. McCarthy had evident chemistry with Addison in the preseason, but Addison was missing in the regular season. Darrisaw protects his blind side.
Perhaps the silver lining to McCarthy’s injury is that he has extra time to learn the offense and study how Carson Wentz, a 32-year-old former franchise quarterback, prepares for games. Still, McCarthy was deliberate about how he maximized his time last year and watched Darnold rejuvenate his career while he recovered from injury.
There is only so much more McCarthy can learn on the sidelines. Assuming he can get in and out of the huddle more efficiently and progress quickly inside the pocket, the Vikings need to start him again. Wentz is more of a prototypical backup than a potential franchise quarterback at this point in his career. He’s a stopgap until McCarthy is ready.
Maybe the Vikings feel it’s prudent to start Wentz against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Philadelphia has lost two straight, but they’re the defending champs and are 2.5-point favorites in Minneapolis.
Starting McCarthy on a short week against Justin Herbert, Jim Harbaugh, and the Los Angeles Chargers on the road would also be challenging. Still, there will be a lot of purple in the crowd, and McCarthy will have some insight into Harbaugh’s coaching after playing under him at Michigan.
Regardless of when we see McCarthy again, Kevin O’Connell has experience triaging reclamation project quarterbacks. He turned Kirk Cousins into a winning quarterback and Joshua Dobbs into the Passtronaut. Darnold and Jones revived their careers under O’Connell to the extent that people wonder if the Vikings should have kept one of them, especially Darnold.
There’s only so much more McCarthy can learn from the sidelines. At some point, he needs to perform consistently in regular-season games. The upside to that is that we saw what he could do in a pinch when the Vikings needed a win in Chicago. Perhaps he can channel that again now that there’s a sense of urgency after a slow start to his first season under center.
