EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Carson Wentz will make his fifth straight start at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, with J.J. McCarthy lacking time in a shortened week to keep building up his sprained right ankle.
Coach Kevin O'Connell announced his decision on Tuesday, ahead of the team's road trip to play the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night that's coming on the heels of a 28-22 loss at home on Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles.
After McCarthy went through a workout on the field, the Vikings determined his ankle wasn't quite strong enough yet to give him or them the best chance to succeed against the Chargers.
“J.J., the medical staff, and myself were all kind of encouraged by where he’s at and the progress he’s making, but he’s just not there,” O"Connell said. “If this was a Sunday game, maybe it would be a little bit different story and we could push it throughout the week to see where he’s at.”
McCarthy will serve as the emergency third quarterback. Rookie Max Brosmer will be the backup. The Vikings (3-3) have won two and lost two with Wentz, the 10th-year veteran who's on his sixth different team in the last six seasons.
McCarthy was hurt on a hard tackle near the sideline in his second career start, an injury he played through the rest of that night against the Atlanta Falcons during a game in which he threw two interceptions and took six sacks. He suffered a high sprain, the type that takes the longest to heal.
“No, it’s not going to need to be something where he has to be 130%,” O’Connell said. “It’s about his effectiveness and his ability to go out and do his job for 60 minutes without having any setbacks or making his job more difficult than it has to be.”
The last stage of recovery can be the hardest to complete, with the Vikings still waiting to be fully confident in McCarthy's ability to not only run at full speed but move suddenly in the pocket under pressure and plant and shift his feet properly for optimal passing mechanics.
“If he doesn’t have the ability to do that pain-free, we obviously risk setting him back, which would be very, very unfortunate with the time lost already,” O"Connell said.
McCarthy will now have missed 22 of 24 games in his NFL career to injury, after sitting out his rookie season following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. The Vikings could’ve placed McCarthy on injured reserve, but NFL teams can only designate eight such players for return during the season, and they’ve already used six — with running back Aaron Jones having his practice window opened on Tuesday.
With another 12 days to treat, work and rest his ankle, McCarthy could well be ready to return on Nov. 2 when the Vikings play at the Detroit Lions, but Wentz wasn't at all worried about that this week.
“My mindset is to win this game at the end of the day and focus on the here and now,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of time or energy to think about beyond this one, quite frankly, so let the future take care of itself.”
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