J.J. McCarthy’s season ended before it even began.
The Minnesota Vikings quarterback underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on Wednesday, coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed. McCarthy will miss the entire 2024 season.
“As crushed as I am for our team and the excitement we had in our building, and our fanbase felt the same way, I am the most crushed for J.J. But as our fans either have already come to find out or will in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dialed in,” O’Connell told reporters on Wednesday. “As excited as I was to draft him, he’s confirmed everything that I hoped to see, not only early on through training camp, first performance last Saturday, but he should — our fanbase and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building.
“It’s just about the unique aspect of continuing a very critical development process for him where maybe the physical reps aren’t going to be there in the short-term,” he continued. “But this is going to be a small bump in the road. Other quarterbacks in our league have gone through similar things early on in their journey and come back stronger and better than ever. And that is not only my expectation, I know that is going to happen for J.J.”
McCarthy, who was drafted in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Vikings, missed Monday’s practice with knee soreness sustained from Minnesota’s preseason win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Michigan product showed flashes of his potential during the Vikings’ first preseason game on Saturday when he went 11-for-17 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. O’Connell confirmed the injury occurred during the 24-23 win over the Raiders, but it’s unclear exactly when it happened.
On Tuesday, McCarthy took to social media to share a message with Vikings fans:
“Love you Viking nation. I’ll be back in no time,” he posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “Amor fati.”
Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold was already expected to be Minnesota’s Week 1 starter, but McCarthy had impressed during training camp. However, now that the 10th-overall pick is out for the year, that all but solidifies Darnold’s status as the starting quarterback.
The Vikings’ quarterback situation needed some help after Kirk Cousins departed in free agency for the Falcons. Minnesota signed Darnold to a one-year deal, and is expected to be the bridge quarterback — perhaps until when McCarthy is ready to take over as QB1.
During the past two seasons at Michigan, McCarthy went 27-1 as a starter.
While losing McCarthy isn’t ideal, the Vikings do have depth in Nick Mullens, as well.
