McCarthy gave an interesting interview on The Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday.
Will Ragatz | 10 Hours Ago
The recent buzz is that Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is “ahead of schedule” in his recovery from last August’s meniscus tear that cost him his entire rookie season. The news that he had a second procedure in November created some concern among fans, but that was apparently a fairly unusual biologic injection to address some swelling.
“I would say this, he’s ahead of schedule,” Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer told Rich Eisen this week. “He’s able to do just about everything now. The second surgery was really just a clean-up. And he’s gonna have a full offseason. So he’s not gonna be limited by anything this offseason.”
McCarthy, appearing on Eisen’s show on Tuesday, was asked if that characterization is a fair way to put it.
“That’s very fair,” he said.
McCarthy reportedly lost more than 20 pounds last fall while injured, but it seems like he’s on track to have no restrictions when the Vikings’ offseason program starts up in the spring. That’s an important piece of context to Minnesota’s upcoming decision on whether or not to bring back free agent starter Sam Darnold.
Subscribe to our free YouTube channel for fresh Vikings content
The Vikings’ 22-year-old quarterback had a few other interesting answers in his appearance with Eisen. He said the last year has been “really hard, if I’m going to be straight up,” as he dealt with the injury and wasn’t able to be on the field with his teammates during a 14-win season. He also noted that he capitalized on the time away from playing — and that he really doesn’t know what’s going to happen with Minnesota’s quarterback situation this year.
“With coach (Kevin) O’Connell, he’s one of the most genuine guys I know,” McCarthy said. “Our conversations have just been nothing (but) about the greatest thing for the Minnesota Vikings. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of things that are certainly above my pay grade and some things above his pay grade. … I’m just going to control what I can control and attack each day with enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”
McCarthy knows that even as a top-ten draft pick last year, nothing is going to be handed to him in the NFL. He’ll obviously have a much more clear path to starting this year if Darnold lands elsewhere, but for now, all he can do is try to put himself in the best position to be ready to go if he’s called upon.
Even the Vikings might not know what’s going to happen, given that it could depend on Darnold’s market and what he wants to do. One thing that Breer feels confident in is that the Vikings would be comfortable rolling with McCarthy if that’s how it plays out.
“There’s still a little bit of a leap of faith in that he did lose four or five months of development time, but he was very locked in to every part of the football operation that he could be a part of,” Breer said. “When they went out to practice, he would do his rehab work. And then all the stuff that was in the building, he was a part of. He was in the quarterback room pretty much all the way through.
“He’s doing everything he possibly can to put himself in position to play in 2025 and start in 2025. I’d say J.J. has checked a lot of boxes and I can say they’d be comfortable with him as their starting quarterback in 2025. That does not mean they’re kicking Sam Darnold out the door, but I do think it gives them a lot more flexibility in the way they handle Sam’s situation over the next couple of months.”