Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz will have season-ending left shoulder surgery and has been placed on injured reserve.
That opens the door for the return of rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who has missed five games because of a high ankle sprain.
Wentz, 32, was sacked five times and appeared visibly in pain during the Vikings’ loss to the Chargers on Thursday Night Football in Los Angeles.
“Pain is pain,” Wentz said postgame. “I felt like I could still help this team and find a way to go down and score and all that stuff.”
Wentz dislocated his left (non-throwing) shoulder in the Vikings’ win over the Browns on Oct. 5 in London and knew at that point he’d need surgery to fix the injury, which also resulted in a torn labrum and fractured shoulder socket, a source confirmed.
He’s played through the injury with a sleeve and sling the past two weeks, including a bulkier apparatus against the Chargers that he said he hadn’t played with before.
Wentz’s injury comes just as McCarthy seems poised to return from a Week 2 injury, although coach Kevin O’Connell hasn’t revealed his starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Lions in Detroit yet.
“If JJ is healthy, JJ will play,” O’Connell said postgame Thursday. “That’s been the case since the injury. It’s always been kind of my mindset and I believe we’re right, hopefully around the corner from seeing him be healthy, have a week of preparation and go compete because that’s really, that’s what he wants and that’s what he’s been working towards.”