Nearly one year to the day since he suffered a torn meniscus in his Minnesota Vikings preseason debut, J.J. McCarthy will return to game action, with coach Kevin O’Connell announcing his new starting quarterback will indeed play in the team’s preseason opener Saturday against the Houston Texans.
O’Connell didn’t commit to McCarthy, 22, playing in either of the Vikings’ other two preseason games — Aug. 16 against the New England Patriots and Aug. 22 against the Tennessee Titans. He believes the team’s joint practices against the Patriots on Aug. 13 and 14 could provide all the competitive action he needs to see from McCarthy.
“You’d love to play him as much as possible, but I think with those two days of joint practice, the type of repetition that the other guys on the offense will get from a physicality and workload standpoint, we’ll more than likely use those two days as our real days,” O’Connell said. “Obviously subject to change based upon how those practices go, how we feel coming out of those, if we need to get a little more work, we will, and then we’ll assess that final preseason game when it comes.”
It’s J.J. McCarthy time for the Vikings: What Kevin O’Connell’s QB track record tells us about what to expect
Cody Benjamin
Minnesota traded up one spot to draft McCarthy, fresh off a national championship at Michigan, 10th overall in 2024. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns and an interception in the Vikings’ preseason opener last year but reported knee soreness and was diagnosed with a torn meniscus shortly thereafter. He underwent surgery that week, had a second surgery in November and missed his entire rookie season.
O’Connell declared McCarthy “ready to hit the ground running” in April, and he has been the starter all offseason after the team let Sam Darnold walk in free agency. Now, he’ll hope to impress again as he prepared to be the team’s third starting quarterback in three seasons.
After Minnesota moved on from Kirk Cousins last year, Darnold led the team to a 14-3 record and a playoff berth. However, he struggled down the stretch and in the postseason. After the season, Darnold signed a three-year, $100 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, opening the door for McCarthy to take the reins of O’Connell’s offense moving forward.
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