There’s a Potential Return Date for J.J. McCarthy
It was quite a fun time in Skol Nation between the draft day when general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah invested a Vikings first-rounder in the draft for a quarterback for the first time since Teddy Bridgewater a decade ago and the day of his first preseason game. Then, it all fell apart quickly.
There’s a Potential Return Date for J.J. McCarthy
McCarthy, a national champion with the Michigan Wolverines in his second and final campaign as their starting quarterback, earned praise throughout OTAs and training camp in his first year with the club, and there are credible reports that he was slowly but surely closing the gap to Sam Darnold for the starting role.
His first preseason game started shaky, but he ramped it up in the second half and launched some rockets against the Raiders. Unfortunately, a couple of days later, none of that mattered anymore. The tenth-overall pick suffered a torn meniscus and required season-ending surgery. His first year at the next level was over before it had even started.
The good news is that there hasn’t been any major setback during his recovery, and he will be back on the field soon.
A few days ago, NFL Network‘s Tom Pelissero wrote, “McCarthy, who had a full repair of his torn meniscus in August and an additional procedure in November, is expected to begin football drills in the next few weeks and should be ready to roll by OTAs in May.”
It was extremely quiet about his rehab during the season, but in the last month, there has been some more news about it.
In Super Bowl week, the quarterback himself appeared on the Rich Eisen Show and said, “I’m feeling fantastic, Rich, couldn’t be in a better spot honestly, mentally, physically, spiritually, and we’re just continuing to stack days at this point and, you know, with around 67 days till OTAs, we got a lot of time but not a lot of time to waste.”
He also told SI, “It’s going amazing; ahead of schedule, on track, whatever you want to call it, but it’s going good, and we’ll be ready in around 67 days for OTAs, and we’re running, throwing, everything feels great.”
Until those OTAs roll around, the Vikings have to answer the question about the future of the quarterback position. McCarthy is one option (perhaps the likely option), but running it back with impending free agent Sam Darnold is still on the table.
In addition to that, the Vikings could hire another veteran passer to give McCarthy some extra weeks and months to prepare and give that experienced signal-caller the starting role early in the season.
It should be noted, though, that Minnesota’s decision-makers are quite high on their 22-year-old QB. Besides the unfortunate injury, there’s nothing that suggests he won’t be the team’s future at that vital spot on the field.
We will know more about his status going forward when free agency arrives four weeks from now. Darnold is the first domino to fall.
Regardless, McCarthy should be good to go by the time OTAs start, and in training camp in July, the knee shouldn’t be a factor at all.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt