McCarthy suffered a torn right meniscus on Saturday during Minnesota’s season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders and missed Monday’s practice with what was initially thought to be knee pain, but further examination revealed a torn meniscus that required surgery.
“As much as I’m down for our team and the excitement in our building and our fans felt the same way, especially after he put on a really good performance the other day at U.S. Bank Stadium, I’m down for JJ,” O’Connell said. “But as our fans have either already found out or will find out in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dedicated. As much as I was excited to recruit him, he’s confirmed everything I was hoping to see, not only at the beginning of training camp, through his performance last Saturday, but our fans and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we have our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building.”
McCarthy could have returned within weeks if his surgeon had opted to perform a meniscus reduction, but instead the tendon was fully repaired, leaving the Michigan player with a much longer recovery time ahead of him and will miss the 2024 season.
Minnesota selected McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft in April, making him the fifth quarterback selected in the top 10 picks.
“Now it’s about the unique aspect of continuing a very critical development process for him where the physicals may not be there in the short term, but that’s going to be a little bit of a stumbling block along the way,” O’Connell said. “Other quarterbacks in our league have gone through similar things early in their careers and come back stronger and better than ever, and that’s not just my expectation – I know that’s going to happen for JJ as well. We’re going to have a great plan for him, not just in the quarterback room with the other guys, but a process so he and I can continue to build our relationship and make sure there’s a daily football process, but in the beginning it’s going to be all about the rehab and the physical aspect of working on his way back. I expect him to make a full recovery.”
The Vikings protected themselves by signing veteran Sam Darnold, who began training camp as the team’s top quarterback on the roster but faced increasing pressure from McCarthy after the rookie shone in his first preseason appearance, throwing two touchdown passes (and an interception) in the game against the Raiders.
With McCarthy out, the job for 2024 now belongs to Darnold. He will look to fill the void left by Kirk Cousins, who left Minneapolis for Atlanta as a free agent.
