Vikings Announce a Shocking QB Change
The Minnesota Vikings are 1-1, a reasonable start on the surface. They beat a fired-up division rival on the road and then lost to a playoff contender after a (slightly) short week. However, only one of those eight quarters was any good offensively, so the record might even be a little flattering.
Vikings Announce a Shocking QB Change
Young passer J.J. McCarthy didn’t help shake off some of the criticisms that he entered the draft (or this season) with. He hasn’t looked comfortable in his two NFL games, aside from one fourth quarter against the Bears. Granted, that period was fantastic.
Then, a day after the disastrous performance against the Cincinnati Bengals, head coach Kevin O’Connell arrived at the podium and announced that backup Carson Wentz would take over for him in Week 3.
The reason, however, is not performance-related, the coach revealed on Monday.
“J.J. McCarthy did come in very, very sore today with the ankle sprain. I would anticipate we’re not planning on having him for Sunday. And don’t likely see this being any kind of short-term IR thing, but I do want to see [and the medical staff] how he responds to treatment this week. Give him a ton of credit, just the toughness to get that thing taped up and keep playing. But that is something that we were able to determine today. Obviously tough news there.”
The first-year starter for the Minnesota Vikings will likely sit out Sunday, and it’ll be the Wentz show. McCarthy’s start has been every bit as bad as it could’ve been, with only 58.5% completion, three total touchdowns, three interceptions, and a lost fumble. Overall, the offense has been fairly dysfunctional for two games.
McCarthy, of course, missed his entire rookie season due to a torn meniscus and had to work his way back from that heartbreaker. Now, his injury list gets even longer.
Wentz was brought in late in August following the final preseason game. The Vikings realized they couldn’t trust Sam Howell in that backup role. Wentz has played a ton of football in his career, but nobody wanted to see him actually play for the Vikings.
He’s played in 98 games (94 starts) for five different franchises. In those games, he has thrown for 153 touchdowns and 67 interceptions and over 22,000 passing yards.
He has the experience to make the offense look like an NFL offense. The offensive line was a struggle, but his veteran presence at quarterback might help him get the ball out quicker to Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson than his younger counterpart.
The positive spin might be that some of the operational and procedural stuff pre-snap can be cleaned up with the veteran under center, while McCarthy can self-scout himself for a week or two. In reality, though, nothing about Sunday’s and Monday’s developments can be viewed as positive.
Only 13 months after receiving a season-ending injury diagnosis, McCarthy is back on ice.
The Vikings already deal with various other injuries.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.