NFL insider confirms the obvious with status of Minnesota Vikings QBs J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz

J.J. McCarthy Injury Timeline

• J.J. McCarthy suffered a high ankle sprain in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2
• Kevin O'Connell told the media about the injury the next day, saying he could miss some time
• Carson Wentz went 2-1 as the starting quarterback for the Vikings, raising questions whether or not he would remain the starter

Tom Pelissero confirms J.J. McCarthy is the starting quarterback

NFL insider Tom Pelissero was on NFL Game Day talking about the Vikings quarterback situation, and he was clear that McCarthy is the starting quarterback.

"The Vikings quarterback situation is murky, to say the least. J.J. McCarthy, I'm told, got good work during the bye week. He should be able to return to practice this week, but McCarthy is still not 100%
on that ankle," said Pelissero. "They've got to see his mobility. They got to see how the ankle responds, and they got to make sure he is comfortable and in a groove from an operational perspective, before they put him back out on the field.

"Meanwhile, his backup, Carson Wentz is dealing with a left shoulder injury, and he could be limited in practice this week, a lot to sort through to figure out who's going to be out there on the field next week against the Eagles."

We've been in a situation over the last three weeks where there have been rumors about whether or not the Vikings had "quietly benched" the first-year starter. After the 48-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, O'Connell was asked about whether or not McCarthy would be the starter once he's healthy, and his words confirmed that he would be without actually saying it.

"I think first and foremost, he's got to get healthy," said O'Connell on September 22nd. "And then, throughout that process, 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 and say, ‘Hey, go figure it out’ type of thing. I think we saw as phenomenal as he was getting prepared for the Atlanta game, he did miss practice that week. And when you're in the phase of building up the 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours of what it takes to play the position at a very high level, which we know J.J. McCarthy is going to do, you can't cut corners on that. And that also doesn't require an answer on that question today."

McCarthy was always going to be the guy once he was healthy, and it's been the case the entire time. We can put this to rest now.

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