On Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings announced a significant setback: rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy will miss the entire 2024 NFL season following surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee. The promising young quarterback, who had shown early signs of potential, underwent a full repair of the meniscus, confirmed by the team on Wednesday.
McCarthy, who reported knee soreness when he came into the facility on Monday, was held out of practice following his performance in Minnesota's preseason opener. In that game, he completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Unfortunately, the soreness persisted, leading to the discovery of the torn meniscus.
"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.," said head coach Kevin O'Connell. "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."
McCarthy's surgery was performed by the team doctor on Wednesday morning. This marks him as the eighth quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL draft in the Common Draft era to miss his entire rookie season. Notably, he is the first to miss his entire rookie season due to an injury.
With McCarthy sidelined, Sam Darnold is now positioned as the presumptive starter for the Vikings heading into the upcoming season. This change has already had a ripple effect on the team's projections and odds. The team’s total win projection for the season dropped by half a win to 6.5. Additionally, the Vikings' odds to win the NFC North have decreased by 2.2%, and their chances of making the playoffs have dipped by 4.7% to 10.3%.
The Vikings are also grappling with other challenges. Tight end T.J. Hockenson is coping with the prolonged absence after suffering an ACL tear late last season. Moreover, wide receiver Jordan Addison is facing a likely suspension following a DUI arrest earlier this summer. Addison sustained an injury in practice on Wednesday, though it's not believed to be serious.
O'Connell remained optimistic about McCarthy's future despite the setback. "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," he said.
O'Connell underscored the importance of McCarthy’s mental development during this period. "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. 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."
The head coach's confidence in McCarthy's physical talent was evident. "Checking the boxes of the physical part of it, there is no question in my mind the physical talent that J.J. has. And even just for some of you guys who saw him back from Day 1 in the spring until really Saturday night, the transformation of a really good player, had really started to look like an NFL quarterback," O'Connell commented.
Looking ahead, the focus will be on ensuring McCarthy’s seamless transition back to the field. "Outside of the physical reps, there's just so many ways that now that the physical side and the path to physically playing the position the way we want is clearly there, it's now the [need to] really stress mentally above the neck where, how many ways and different sequences and different environments can we put him in that we can get as close to those reps as possible so that he has a seamless transition when that time is right," O'Connell said.