JJ McCarthy - Minnesota Vikings Training Camp
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
It’s finally here. This afternoon at 3:00 p.m. CDT, the Minnesota Vikings and their redshirt rookie quarterback, JJ McCarthy, will take the field at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Houston Texans for their first of three 2025 preseason games.
The next handful of days will be the biggest of McCarthy’s training camp and preseason. Today, we will see JJ start under center against the Texans. Then this week, the 2024 No. 10 overall pick will get a bunch of reps in joint practices against the New England Patriots.
From there, JJ McCarthy will turn his attention to week one of the regular season, in Chicago on Monday Night Football. According to Ben Goessling (Star Tribune), Minnesota’s new QB1’s “probably not going to play next week vs the Patriots”, in the Vikings second preseason game vs New England.
“I do think Kevin O’Connell wants to get JJ McCarthy work in a game, or in game-like settings. He’s not probably going to play against the Patriots after those joint practices, but he will get some work. The fans will get a chance to see him on Saturday and then they’ll have some things to go off of.”
Ben Goessling – Access Vikings Podcast (Star Tribune)
Because starters almost never play in the third and final preseason game, Saturday afternoon is likely to be the only time we will see JJ McCarthy running the Minnesota Vikings offense, until week one of the regular season on September 8.
How much will JJ McCarthy play today for Minnesota Vikings?
So, how much will we see McCarthy play today? Up until Saturday morning, there was no indication, outside of educated guessing from insiders, like Goessling, who predicted a “decent” amount of JJ this afternoon.
But how much is a “decent” amount. Well, Texans beat reporter for Houston’s local NBC affiliate, Aaron Wilson (KPRC) — who has had a knack for breaking Vikings news periodically in the past — is hearing it won’t be much. According to Wilson, JJ McCarthy will get just 8-10 plays.
For #Vikings today, expect a quick day for quarterback J.J. McCarthy, perhaps eight to 10 plays or so @KPRC2
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 9, 2025
The last time we saw JJ McCarthy play in an NFL game, it was one year ago, in game one of the 2024 Minnesota Vikings preseason. In that contest against the Raiders, the newly drafted rookie looked phenomenal against Las Vegas’ 2nd stringers, completing 11-of-18 passes for 188 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.
If Wilson’s reporting is correct, then we won’t see nearly that much JJ today. In all likelihood, the concern with playing McCarthy much longer than one or two drives goes beyond his own health.
Related: Former QB Says MN Vikings Wanted Him to Play Worse
Kevin O’Connell is expected to start most of the healthy MN Vikings starters against the Texans. I’d imagine he does not want McCarthy playing behind a line that is not made of the best offensive linemen on the team.
Because the Vikings don’t want to play their starters more than one or two drives, keeping McCarthy in beyond that could spell disaster. And that is not something Minnesota doesn’t even want to think about, after losing their top pick due to an injury in 2024.
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