Though O’Connell said Sept. 30 that the Vikings might return McCarthy to individual drills while the team was in London, the 22-year-old ultimately sat out all three days of practice in the English countryside with practice space more cramped than at TCO Performance Center.
O’Connell said staff will put together a plan for McCarthy’s ramp up these next two weeks with the goal of consistent increase while monitoring his soreness coming out of each day.
“He’s had some real moments of growth through this time,” O’Connell said. “Watching Carson [Wentz], watching the way Carson’s kind of gone through progressions quickly, just the value of putting the ball in play, even when it’s not your first progression.”
O’Connell noted that Wentz came home “pretty sore in that left [non-throwing] shoulder” after making a brief exit from Sunday’s win. He’ll be evaluated throughout the bye week.
He’ll be the first of four players placed on injured reserve since the season started to make his return; fullback C.J. Ham, who’d been put on IR on roster cutdown day, made his season debut against the Browns.