JJ McCarthy and Carson Wentz - Minnesota Vikings
JJ McCarthy and Carson Wentz - Minnesota Vikings
Normally, the bulk of snaps from a Minnesota Vikings preseason finale — especially during the Kevin O’Connell head coaching tenure — would be played by guys unlikely to make the final 53-man roster.
Really, it’s a final opportunity for those guys to put good moments on tape, before they hit the waiver wire at the end of the weekend. But KOC made it very clear Wednesday that won’t be the case for his Vikings on Friday against the Denver Broncos.
Revealed: Vikings’ plan for JJ McCarthy, Carson Wentz vs Broncos
While there will be plenty of inactives, neither Carson Wentz nor JJ McCarthy are expected to be among them. On Wednesday, O’Connell confirmed that both quarterbacks — along with former Gopher Max Brosmer — will play against in Denver.
This, despite McCarthy being held out of practice today due to the mild ankle injury he suffered against the Ravens. In fact, KOC is still holding out hope that the former first round draft pick will be available to start.
Kevin O'Connell provides updates on OL Caleb Tiernan, S Theo Jackson and QB J.J. McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/bTBaUIMaqG
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 26, 2026
“With JJ, we are going to kind of give him a rest day today, just to see if we can put the ankle [injury] behind him a little bit. He’s gotten some work, we kind of split the reps yesterday, just to not overload him, with hopes all along, really wanted him to be able to start this final preseason game, and we will work off of that. If we feel good about getting him those really important reps, we will.”
Kevin O’Connell on plan for JJ McCarthy vs Broncos
Related: Vikings Will Play Against Short-Handed Packers Week 1
If McCarthy can play, he needs the reps
Normally, the Minnesota Vikings do not like to play guys who were not able to practice in the days leading up to a game. With that being said, McCarthy’s absence from practice today appears to be more cautionary, than anything else.
And there’s no denying, as the head coach pointed out, how crucial it is that JJ get every single possible game rep he can get right now, even if those reps do not count, and will be lost to the annals of history faster than his stats from training camp practices.
In the meantime, we all wait to see who Kevin O’Connell eventually anoints as the MN Vikings’ backup quarterback. And if he does crown Carson Wentz (as is pretty much expected), how does JJ McCarthy handle it? We’ll soon find out.