J.J. McCarthy left Sunday’s game against the New York Giants with a hand injury, potentially concluding what’s been a volatile first NFL season for the Minnesota Vikings quarterback.
McCarthy injured his hand on a big hit late in the second quarter. He fumbled on the sack by Brian Burns, and the Giants returned the fumble for a defensive touchdown.
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The injury took place with 25 seconds remaining in the first half. The Vikings ruled McCarthy out at halftime with a hand injury. Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer took over at quarterback for the second half.
The precise nature of the injury wasn’t initially clear, nor was McCarthy’s timeline to return with two games remaining in the regular season. The Vikings held on for a 16-13 win on the heels of McCarthy’s injury.
Fitting potential ending to a rough first season for McCarthy
If that was the last play of McCarthy’s season, the strip sack marked a fitting coda to a debut campaign that’s been marred by poor play and injuries. The turnover was the second of the day for McCarthy. He finished Sunday completing 9 of 14 passes for 108 yards with no touchdowns, one interception and the lost fumble.
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And for the season, McCarthy now has more interceptions that touchdowns. If he doesn’t play again in 2025, McCarthy will have finished his first NFL campaign having completed 56.8% of his passes for 161.1 yards per game with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in nine starts.
This strip-sack by Brian Burns could be the last play of J.J. McCarthy’s debut NFL season.
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
It’s certainly not what the Vikings envisioned when they jettisoned Sam Darnold in the offseason in favor of McCarthy on the heels of a 14-3 campaign.
The Vikings selected McCarthy with the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. A meniscus injury in his right knee sidelined McCarthy for his entire rookie season as Darnold led the Vikings to the playoffs.
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But the Vikings faltered late in the season and in the playoffs with Darnold, and they opted to let him leave in free agency to the Seattle Seahawks while handing the offense over to their first-round quarterback.
Promising debut followed up by injury, poor play
McCarthy’s Vikings career got off on the right foot. He recovered from a poor start in a Week 1 Monday night matchup against the Bears to account for three fourth-quarter touchdowns and rally the Vikings to a 27-24 victory in Chicago. It was a prime-time debut performance against a bitter rival that provided hope in Minnesota that McCarthy might be the answer at quarterback.
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But since then, McCarthy’s debut season has produced a larger share of downs than ups. McCarthy threw no touchdowns and two interceptions in a Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and left the game with a high-ankle sprain. He missed Minnesota’s next five games.
McCarthy returned in Week 9 to lead another win against a division rival, this time a 27-24 defeat of the Detroit Lions. But Minnesota lost McCarthy’s next three starts to fall to 4-7, virtually ending any realistic hope of competing for the playoffs.
A concussion sidelined McCarthy for a matchup against Darnold’s Seahawks in Week 13. Darnold delivered an embarrassing 26-0 defeat of his former team as Brosmer played quarterback for the Vikings.
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The last vestiges of Minnesota’s slim playoff hopes were then squashed in Week 15 when the Bears beat the Cleveland Browns.
If McCarthy’s season is done, the Vikings can look to his last two complete starts to find hope for the future. He had his best two games of the season in Weeks 14 and 15 while leading the Vikings to a 31-0 win over the Commanders and a 34-26 win over the Cowboys. He tallied five touchdowns and one interception in those games.
And with Sunday’s win, the Vikings are now on a three-game win streak against the dregs of the NFC East. But the whole of McCarthy’s debut campaign will be marked by significant room for improvement, no matter what happens in the last two weeks of season. And it remains far from clear if the Vikings have found their quarterback of the future.