Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell fuels J.J. McCarthy injury questions after remarks on Carson Wentz

Kevin O’Connell raved about Minnesota Vikings’ Carson Wentz when filling in for J.J. McCarthy

Second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy missed one training session due to the birth of his daughter, and he returned the following day in red-hot form.

However, that didn’t translate against the Falcons, with McCarthy’s pre-draft criticism resurfacing as he struggled to throw to the left of the field.

During the one session that he missed, Kevin O’Connell had Carson Wentz take snaps with the first team, and he reportedly had a ‘phenomenal’ practice.

O’Connell said to the KFAN1003 radio station, as per VikingzFans page on X: “I don’t think it (the football) hit the ground more than one time.”

While O’Connell will undoubtedly not care about social media opinion, it could not have come at a more inconvenient time for the Vikings’ optics.

First, Wentz had a stunning practice with the first team in McCarthy’s absence, which was then followed by McCarthy struggling significantly against the Falcons’ defense.

Then, a mysterious ankle injury rules him out for up to the next four weeks. Fantasy analyst Hayden Winks, the director of Underdog, said as much:

“Suspicion the Vikings are hiding behind injury. This is JJ McCarthy on the 2nd-to-last play. Looks to be moving well. Not touched on the last play either. Ruled on a Monday? Really??”

It wasn’t aided by the fact that fellow second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels’ knee injury still hadn’t been addressed, despite it happening three days earlier.

Minnesota Vikings offensive line played a factor in J.J. McCarthy’s injury

The Minnesota Vikings’ snap count in the Falcons’ loss tells a story in itself. Starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw was ruled out, with Justin Skule taking the majority of the snaps, but not all of them.

Injuries to Skule and center Ryan Kelly meant that late 2024 draft picks Walter Rouse and Michael Jurgens took over at LT and center, respectively.

It was almost inevitable that the highly-rated Atlanta Falcons defense would have themselves a night, having invested in two first-round edge rushers in the 2025 draft.

Depending on Darrisaw, Skule, and Kelly’s injury status, it makes sense to keep a second-year quarterback, who missed his entire first year through injury, out of the line of fire.

There was debate over whether he would return before the Vikings’ bye week, Week 6, as they have two international games coming up.

The Vikings face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, before travelling to London to face the Cleveland Browns, with concerns over swelling due to air travel playing into it.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero said as much: “The schedule is a factor here with JJ McCarthy… What you don’t want to do with a high ankle sprain is get on an 8-hour flight that’s going to cause the thing to swell up. So there might be something to be said for not having JJ make, at least, the initial trip to Dublin.”

The next time we might see McCarthy would be in Week 8 against a physically imposing Philadelphia Eagles defense.