If a rough Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons wasn't enough, the start of the new week brought news that Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered an ankle injury during the game and would miss (at least) Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
McCarthy being declared out for Week 3 so early in the week suggested he was dealing with a dreaded high ankle sprain, and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported exactly that in addition to sharing that McCarthy is expected to be out for 2-4 weeks.
On Tuesday's episode of his podcast, Schefter reiterated his initial reporting on McCarthy's ankle injury, along with some additional thoughts on when he might be back in action.
"I'm told it's a high ankle sprain for J.J. McCarthy, it's 2-4 weeks, and if you look at the schedule, I think you can get a hint and glean some insight about when we could potentially see J.J. McCarthy back.
This week, they have Cincinnati at home. He's not gonna play. It'll be Carson Wentz....After that, the Vikings travel to Dublin to play the Pittsburgh Steelers, overseas. And the week after that, they play in London against the Cleveland Browns. And then, they have a bye.
So if you're J.J. McCarthy, and you have a high ankle sprain, and you're going on a bye. My first question is, is he even going to make the trip over there (to Dublin, then London)?
Or are they going to leave him home with his new baby, rehabbing his high ankle sprain, so that he can be ready, after the bye, when they play a home game on October 19 against the Philadelphia Eagles."
Adam Schefter questions if Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy will return before Week 6 bye
Schefter then noted how, with the 2-4 week recovery timeline in mind, for McCarthy missing the three games before the bye and ultimately having five weeks off makes sense. He also dismissed the lame conspiracy theories that have been out there, saying he knows McCarthy's injury is a "real high ankle sprain."
If not for the Vikings' two-week overseas trip after the Bengals' game, it might be plausible for McCarthy to miss only a game or two if he can get healthy.
But a long flight would not be great for that (or really any) injury. If he happened to be healthy on the early end of 2-4 weeks, having him make that trip by himself between the two overseas games would be impractical.
Schefter made it clear he's not reporting McCarthy's return date to be October 19, Week 7, against the Eagles.
But you don't even need to have a uniquely informed opinion to see that as a very likely scenario, given the uniqueness of the Vikings going overseas for back-to-back games in Week 4 and Week 5 and with the bye week following it.