Vikings are playing it cautious with J.J. McCarthy for a very good reason
The QB will miss Thursday's game as injuries continue to impact his career. Once he returns, he needs to be able to stay on the field or his early-season struggles will be the least of his problems.
Speculation that the Vikings’ decision not to play J.J. McCarthy the past four games had more to do with a “soft benching” than it did with a high ankle sprain was invalidated on Sunday as Carson Wentz blundered his way through a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wentz passed for 313 yards, but he also threw two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, overthrew or underthrew numerous receivers and mind-bogglingly decided to intentionally ground the ball in the red zone when he had fullback C.J. Ham open in the flat.
In other words, Wentz put on a very Wentz-like performance.
No matter how much McCarthy might have struggled for seven of the eight quarters he played in the Vikings’ first two games, O’Connell has to be chomping at the bit to get his first-round QB back on the field.
But that won’t happen on Thursday night when the Vikings play the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. O’Connell announced that McCarthy was put through a workout on Tuesday morning because the Vikings “just wanted to know if he could possibly be in a good place,” to play against the Chargers. “He’s just not there (yet),” O’Connell said.