EAGAN, Minn. – Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will not participate in Monday night's training camp practice at TCO Stadium.
The rookie reported to the facility Monday with "a little bit of right knee soreness," Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell told media members.
"It was something where he obviously finished the game [Saturday], threw a touchdown on his last pass, but out of precaution, you know, we're going to continue evaluation on him and get some more testing done," O'Connell explained. "Very important player, obviously. So we want to make sure we're smart about that before he participates [and make sure we] have a good understanding of where he's at."
McCarthy entered the game late in the first quarter and remained in action until throwing his second touchdown of the day with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.
He completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards and bounced back from an early interception to finish with a passer rating of 116.8.
McCarthy showed mobility, eluding pressure and scrambling twice for separate gains of 9.
His first pass attempt resulted in a gain of 18, but it was followed by an incompletion on a pass just beyond the reach of C.J. Ham. McCarthy's third pass was intercepted by Jack Jones, who adeptly undercut the route.
McCarthy's next pass popped for 24 yards and occurred one play before Kene Nwangwu scored on a 48-yard scamper.
The next possession included two scrambles by McCarthy, helping the Vikings get into range for a 36-yard field goal, but it was blocked.
A drive that began with a minute remaining in the first half resulted in a three-and-punt when a pass on third-and-6 gained 5.
In the second half, McCarthy impressively converted a third-and-9 with a pass to Nick Muse a play before perfectly placing a go ball to Trishton Jackson for a 45-yard touchdown.
McCarthy moved the chains on fourth-and-1 with a 10-yard pass to Jackson on the next drive before capitalizing on a coverage bust with a 33-yard touchdown to Trent Sherfield, Sr.
O'Connell said there wasn't a specific point in the exhibition game at U.S. Bank Stadium where McCarthy may have been injured. Jaren Hall taking over for McCarthy to finish the game had been predetermined and was not related to any physical concern.
"He could have continued playing. Kind of reached a good rep number there, right around 30 snaps, that I wanted to get for him," O'Connell noted. "And he obviously had a really positive performance. So we're trying to figure out maybe when it happened, but no, he just came in with some routine soreness that a lot of guys, after their first preseason game, sometimes come in with, and it was something we want to be smart about."
The Vikings are scheduled to depart Tuesday afternoon for Cleveland, where they will hold joint practices with the Browns Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the teams' preseason matchup Saturday.
"Hopefully we can maintain the plans we've had for him," O'Connell said. "He's really done a great job throughout training camp, whatever we've asked of him, just getting in there and really having high-quality reps throughout, whether it's from a learning standpoint or a performance standpoint."
