Where the Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy is Trending Ahead of the Week 8 Road Game

Put together the clues and there’s a pretty reasonable conclusion: J.J. McCarthy isn’t going to start in Week 8.
Of course, much can change in the coming days. Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings are by no means beholden to the internet sleuthing that’s informing the argument here, though a trail of clues point toward a scenario where Mr. McCarthy jumps into the QB2 job while working his way up to reclaiming the starter’s crown.
Where Vikings & McCarthy are Trending Ahead of W8
Start off with a pair of facts that demand to walk hand-in-hand. First, there’s Coach O’Connell’s claim that the sophomore passer will only play once he has had a full on-ramp of practice work.
“Yeah, I think, first and foremost he’s got to get healthy,” O’Connell previously explained. “And then throughout that process, it’s not just, I don’t think it’s one of those things where it’s, hey, the day he’s healthy and if he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re going to just throw him out there.” Crucially, the full health needs to give way to full preparation.

Second, there’s another ironclad fact: the initial injury report of the week.
Mr. McCarthy is back at practice, putting in work. Good news, right? Well, only partially good news. The kid QB hasn’t yet returned in a full-time capacity. He has been limited. Carson Wentz finds himself in a similar spot, but the two passers are in a different spot in their careers.
Minnesota trusts the veteran Wentz — who is roughly ten years older than McCarthy — to be prepared to play without a full practice workload.
So, combine those two realities: O’Connell has previously said that McCarthy is going to need complete work before a game. On a short week, McCarthy has begun by not getting a full workload. Both of those things are facts. Drawing significance out of those facts can be a tricky task, but they’re there nevertheless.

As Week 8 nears, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert arrived at a similar conclusion: “The Vikings didn’t practice today but with a Thursday game were required to provide an estimated injury report. J.J. McCarthy (limited) aligns with the likelihood that he won’t play this week. Carson Wentz also limited, but that won’t affect McCarthy’s availability.”
Over on Vikings Territory, Dustin Baker responds to a word from Adam Schefter. Apparently, the plugged-in NFL insider foresees Mr. Wentz earning another start.
Now, here’s where I’ll add a different spin on the matter: look for the Vikings to promote McCarthy in Week 8.
Last week, the No. 10 pick was operating as the emergency third quarterback. Shoehorning him into that spot made a pile of sense from a team perspective; if injury hindered the top pair — Wentz and Max Brosmer — then McCarthy could have been tossed into the contest. But there’s the issue: the only way to get McCarthy into the game was due to injury.
In elevating McCarthy to being the QB2, the Vikings could insert the sophomore into the game for any reason. Maybe that’s because Wentz’s bad shoulder deteriorates. Maybe that’s because Wents plays terribly. Maybe that’s because O’Connell has a specific collection of plays for the sophomore.
Minnesota’s turn to McCarthy as the QB2 would make sense because it would give the team options.
Progress, building, improving, learning, and momentum are all central to how Minnesota wants to operate. Placing McCarthy in that primary backup spot before giving him the QB1 job in Week 9 would fulfill those ideals.

Across two games, J.J. McCarthy has some modest numbers. He has completed 58.5% of his passes for 301 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. Even worse are the trio of fumbles. Much to improve upon, to be sure.
Quarterback was supposed to be settled coming into 2025, but that’s far from the case as the season inches closer to its midway point.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CT on Thursday, October 23rd.