Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered a hairline fracture in his right hand in Week 16, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. He’ll miss this Thursday’s game against the Lions as a result.
McCarthy will not require surgery, but his status for Week 18 is in question, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced (via Matthew Coller). With that in mind, it’s possible McCarthy’s season is over.
McCarthy went 9 for 14 for 108 yards and an interception before exiting early in a 16-13 win over the Giants last Sunday. Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer finished the game. He’ll start in Week 17 against a Detroit team clinging to slim playoff hopes.
Brosmer made the first start of his career in Week 13 in Seattle, which trounced Minnesota 26-0. The Seahawks picked off Brosmer four times and held him to 126 yards on 19 of 30 passing.
This is the latest in a growing line of injuries for McCarthy, a former Michigan national champion whom the Vikings chose 10th overall in 2024. McCarthy missed his entire rookie season after tearing his right meniscus. The Vikings had a capable veteran on hand in Sam Darnold, who enjoyed a long-awaited breakthrough season. Although Minnesota finished an excellent 14-3, the team let Darnold walk in free agency in the wake of a blowout loss to the Rams in the wild-card round.
After inking a three-year, $100.5MM deal with the Seahawks, Darnold has transferred his 2024 success to Seattle. He has been among the NFL’s most effective signal-callers for the second year in a row, and the Seahawks are currently the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Meanwhile, thanks in part to subpar QB play, the Vikings are 7-8 and out of playoff contention. The team tried last offseason to retain Daniel Jones, who ended 2024 as a Darnold backup, but he took a lesser offer from the Colts. Jones’ thinking was he’d have a clearer path to playing time in Indianapolis, which proved true.
The Vikings entered the season committed to McCarthy, though they added a credible No. 2 in Carson Wentz in late August. McCarthy’s run as their starter hasn’t gone according to plan so far. The 22-year-old already missed a combined six games with a high ankle sprain and a concussion before going down with a hand injury. When healthy, McCarthy has completed just 57.3% of throws with 6.6 yards per attempt, 11 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a 71.2 passer rating. His 33.9 QBR ranks 31st among 32 qualifying signal-callers. Wentz out-performed McCarthy before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in late October.
Considering McCarthy’s on-field struggles and expansive injury history, the Vikings may require him to compete for the starting job in 2026. Depending how aggressive the Vikings are in looking for a quarterback in the offseason, the aforementioned Daniel Jones, Wentz, Tua Tagovailoa, Kyler Murray, Mac Jones, Anthony Richardson, Aaron Rodgers, and Joe Flacco are among pending free agents or trade candidates who could pique the interest of O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
So fragile.
Glass Joe the QB
he’s not merely a terrible QB, he’s also injury prone too.
This is 100% the fault of the Vikings. They never should’ve started McCarthy right out of the gate. They could’ve signed a legit QB for him to learn from, but instead they threw him to the wolves and now blame him for getting devoured.
It’s better he played now. If they had signed a vet QB and sat JJ another year, they’d just suck next year when JJ finally got his chance. He’s just bad.
He’s definitely not bad. Since returning and having a semblance of good offensive line play he’s been quite good.
You mean, when he got to play the worst defenses in the NFL? What a shock…
Not every team has a good defense, blood. I guess we are forgetting POW against Chicago too.
Chicago’s defense is bad…?
Quite good? Improving from his earlier play doesn’t make his new play quite good.
He’s averaged 173 yards a game with 5 touchdowns and 2 INT in 3 games. That’s still bad overall. Over 17 games that’s 2,950 yards, 28 TDs and 12 INTs. That’s not good in today’s NFL.
Actually he averaged 210, he played barely half a game in the 3rd. That 3500 yds, 34 TDs. That’s quite good.
No, it’s not good. He didn’t play the second half because he got hurt AGAIN. That’s part of the calculation, you can’t just ignore his injuries and give him more time. In the last 3 games, he averaged 173. He doesn’t get credit for missing a half.
And remember, in this example, we picked the BEST 3 game stretch of his season, against some of the league’s worst defenses. Using that logic, it’s not good. If you used Dak’s best 3 game stretch and extrapolated it out for a full season imagine his numbers? Or really any other NFL QB besides like Cam Ward and the other busts, but JJ is still at the bototm.
You can’t just pick his 3 best games, ignore his injuries, and then compare it to someone’s full season of work. If the comparisons are equal between JJ and other NFL QBs, he’s been absolutely horrible.
He could improve, sure. But if the best case scenario is that in 2 years he’s Bryce Young (average QB in a bad division) or in 5 years he’s Sam Darnold (good QB that can’t win a playoff game) the Vikings need to move on. You don’t win a Super Bowl with an average or good QB. You need an elite one. Keep trying to find that guy, don’t settle for injury prone garbage.
Elite QBs don’t grow on trees though. There are like 3 in the league this season.
He needed to sit at least three full seasons if they ever wanted him to have a chance. They ruined him pretty bad.
Maybe he’ll pull a Darnold in five years or so.
They play the Lions on Thursday, not Sunday, in case someone wants to fix it.
Indeed they are playing on Christmas Day — and Detroit must win to keep alive any chance of a wild card playoff spot.
You mean Detroit WILL win . Max is not going to lead the Vikes to a victory. Might as well let Max start against GB as well no reason to bring JJ back for one game.
Did I stutter? Detroit must win, any other result means Green Bay clinches a playoff spot.
You absolutely did not say that you flipping JA. you said and let me make this clear because you must not know what you meant. Your own word was MUST win. So sorry that you confused yourself.
JJ is injured, but is 9 healthy?