EAGAN, Minn. – J.J. McCarthy will undergo surgery to repair a meniscus injury.
Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell provided that update on the rookie quarterback via virtual press conference Tuesday morning.
"It has been determined that J.J. does have a tear in his meniscus, in his right knee. He will need to undergo a procedure, obviously that will hopefully take place in the near future here," O'Connell said. "But as far as a timeline on the injury, that will be determined during the procedure, based upon whether it can just be a cleanup or potentially a repair. That won't be able to be determined until that procedure takes place. I would just be speculating on a timeline for a return at this point."
McCarthy did not participate in Minnesota's final training camp session open to fans Monday night after he reported to the facility earlier in the day with knee soreness.
O'Connell confirmed that the injury did take place during Saturday's preseason game against the Raiders, but there was not a pinpointed play during which it occurred.
"I credit J.J. for obviously being able to continue to play. He did not come out of the game from the injury," O'Connell said. "He finished his night with his second touchdown pass and at that point had reached the snap count I was hoping to get him for the game. At no time did he think it was something that would take him out of the football game, not allow him to play.
"Credit [Vice President of Player Health and Performance Tyler Williams] and his staff for, once J.J. did come in yesterday, going through a real thorough process and identifying what was going on," O'Connell added.
McCarthy will not travel with the team to Cleveland for Wednesday and Thursday joint practices and Saturday's game.
O'Connell emphasized the importance of supporting McCarthy and continuing with aspects of the development plan still possible, while also reminding that it remains unclear how severe the injury is.
"Look, I had a very clear-cut plan and really was going to continue through that with J.J. on the field – getting more and more reps and obviously coming off a performance like he had where we felt strong about where he was at in his development process," O'Connell said. "So really, you hurt for him in the short-term here, because he had such a daily process, focus, all those things I was really looking for in a young player at the position.
"First and foremost, we'll get this procedure done. We'll make sure we're doing the things for him to have the best possible recovery when that takes place. We do not know. Like I said, it would be speculating at this point [to determine a timeline]," he added. "Obviously we didn't want J.J. to get injured, but we don't know the severity yet, and that is honestly where we're at right now. We're hopefully having a shorter timeline rather than a longer timeline."
O'Connell stressed that McCarthy's long-term health will be made a priority and that he has "total, complete trust" in the Vikings medical team.
Asked whether the team will need to add another quarterback to the fold, O'Connell said it has yet to be determined.
"We're gonna take a look at it," he said. "We'll obviously have Sam [Darnold], Nick [Mullens] and Jaren [Hall] ready to roll, and as we move forward, based upon plans for either practice or the preseason games, that might be something we need to do, but at this time we're not there yet."
Darnold, listed as the Vikings No. 1 passer, started Saturday's game against the Raiders and impressed during his series that could have been "chaotic" considering technical issues with his in-helmet headset.
O'Connell on Monday detailed the positives of Darnold's outing.
"I think the arm talent, you know, he made some throws. And specifically, some of the anticipation – I mean, the dagger cut on third-and-10, kind of after we were right around midfield there … 'Speedy' (Jalen Nailor) is not even near his transition at the top of the route, and that ball's out on five-and-one hitch," O'Connell said. "The ability to layer it. I think it was [Robert] Spillane who was about 6, 7 inches from getting a fingertip on it. That throw was really impressive.
"I thought the under-center dropback throw, out of the bigger group – I think C.J. [Ham] was in there – and he just [acted] decisively, great fundamentals, technique, vision," he continued. "You know, when I called the play for another third-down conversion that wasn't on the call sheet, I happened to spit that one out, and it happened to be the one where Ty Chandler, just trying to be good in pass [protection], takes out his lead foot.
"I've actually never seen that before – a guy throw a field out-cut, losing their lead leg in the process," O'Connell added. "So that was just really, really impressive."
During his virtual presser Tuesday, he reiterated utmost confidence in Darnold moving forward.
"I thought Sam played really well in his 12 plays of work the other day … and that was a continued, pretty consistent performance from what we've seen on the practice field throughout training camp," O'Connell said. "My confidence level in Sam is very, very high at this point."
