Vikings' Justin Jefferson seems to make big statement about potential Carson Wentz, J.J. McCarthy QB controversy

Arguably the biggest storyline hovering over the Minnesota Vikings in the opening days of October involves whether or not the club could continue starting quarterback Carson Wentz even after J.J. McCarthy recovers from his high right ankle sprain.

While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson seemed to make a big statement regarding the topic while discussing how McCarthy has remained active behind the scenes over the past few weeks. 

Justin Jefferson says J.J. McCarthy is "still our guy"

"He's definitely in the mix," Jefferson said about McCarthy, per Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated. "He's in the back of the offense (during practice), making sure he's getting all of those mental reps. He's still communicating with the quarterbacks and communicating with C-Wentz about what he sees out there. At the end of the day, he's still our guy, and he's still the quarterback that we lean on. So he definitely has to be in there mentally, physically. He definitely can't sit back and just watch and go through the motions."

While McCarthy tossed two touchdown passes and rushed for a score in the fourth quarter of Minnesota's 27-24 Week 1 win at the Chicago Bears on Sept. 8, he otherwise left much to be desired with his play before his injury. In total, he completed 24-of-41 passes (58.5%) for 301 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions over two games. To compare, Wentz went 44-of-66 (66.7%) for 523 yards with four touchdowns and two picks as he went 1-1 in his first two starts with the Vikings. 

Justin Jefferson opens up about Vikings' QB uncertainty

Minnesota hasn't had a long-term QB1 since Kirk Cousins suffered a torn right Achilles in October 2023. Sam Darnold guided the 2024 Vikings to a 14-3 record, but the club somewhat controversially let him reach free agency this past March.

"That's something that I can't really control," Jefferson directly said about not knowing who his full-time QB1 will be following this coming Sunday's game versus the 1-3 Cleveland Browns. "The only thing that I can control is going out there and catching the ball, winning on my routes, making sure that I'm open for the quarterback to see. So it really doesn't matter who's out there throwing the ball. It's been difficult, just trying to connect with one quarterback and getting that relationship, but at the end of the day, my job is to go out there and catch the ball."

As of Friday morning, ESPN BET had the 2-2 Vikings as 3.5-point favorites over the Browns for the matchup that will be held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Minnesota enters its bye after the Cleveland game, so McCarthy will have extra time to heal up before the Vikings host the Philadelphia Eagles (4-0) on Oct. 19.