The Minnesota Vikings ended their 2025 season with a 16-3 win over the Green Bay Packers. Somehow, through everything that went wrong, they finished above .500 with a 9-8 record.
But now some big questions are on the table. No. 1 among them is quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who had an injury-marred season and didn't look great in most of his 10 starts. His place as the starter in 2026 is tenous, as it should be, and it's entirely possible he's bumped to No. 2 on the depth chart by a notable offseason addition.
McCarthy started the season finale fine, going 13-for-22 for 174 yards in the first half. Then he completed his first pass of the second half to Justin Jefferson for an eight-yard gain.
McCarthy had been deemed good to go for the game despite an injury to his throwing hand in his previous start, Week 16 against the New York Giants, and he had shown no apparent ill effects.
But McCarthy suddenly signaled toward the sideline and walked off the field after the completion to Jefferson, clearly favoring his throwing hand. In a flash, he was done for the day, and Max Brosmer finished the game.
Former Minnesota Vikings starter spotlights a core issue with J.J. McCarthy
On KFAN's "Power Trip Morning Show" on Monday, radio sideline analyst Ben Leber was asked for his thoughts about McCarthy pulling himself out of the game with a "hand thing" and the former Vikings linebacker did not sugarcoat his response.
"I don't love it. I know that there are situations where, you might not be able to...you might have to alert the training staff that 'hey, something's going on, something doesn't feel right', so there are certain circumstances where you'll be like, 'yeah, I need this looked at'.
But to pull yourself off, mid-series, after one pass play, in which it seemed everything was fine, in the second half of the game, when it seemed like you were throwing the ball fine. I don't love the optics of it. I don't love what it kind of means for him. I mean, for a guy that has battled injuries and has this mark on him as far as a reputation of not being healthy."
Leber then talked like a former player, which is a meaningful part of the optics he referenced.
"I don't know. I would have gutted through it. Me, personally, I would push through it as much as I could, get through this series, and if you have a couple throws where you are errant, and you are inaccurate, and it looks like you can't grip the football... I would choose to have them pull me off the field, or evaluate it when the defense is on the field, and then have them deem 'let's get you out' versus taking myself out of the game."
McCarthy had a towel over his hand at one point, and Leber didn't care for that aspect.
"I don't love the theatrics of it, I don't love the optics of it... You don't need to place a towel over your hand; it's not melting. There's not a bone sticking out, it's not disfigured, it's not harming anybody by looking at it."
Leber then arrived at the broader bottom line with McCarthy, separate from whatever his shortcomings are as a quarterback.
"I think he's got a lot to learn about just the body language, the behavior, the outward optics of how things look."
Fans were puzzled by McCarthy pulling himself out of the game against the Packers so suddenly, and seemingly without any great incident.
Leber was on the field in his job as the radio sideline reporter, and he seemingly was equally taken aback/confused by it in the moment. It's also fair to assume more than one of McCarthy's teammates weren't sure what to make of it when Brosmer suddenly came into the game.
There is a bit of a question about whether McCarthy should have even played against the Packers if his hand injury was still that bad. But he was out there, and he looked fine right up until he essentially tapped out.
That last sentiment about "tapping out" is what it may have looked like to McCarthy's teammates. And that, more than anything, is what Leber seemed to refer to when he talked about optics.
The wrong message was sent when McCarthy left the game on his own. To his teammates, it may have seemed as if continuing in the game was not meaningful enough to him to tough it out until the end of that offensive series, when he could've had his hand looked at. If the medical staff takes him out at that point, as Leber referenced, then so be it.
There are certain messages a starting quarterback cannot send. The message sent by taking yourself out of a game in the middle of a series, with no obvious indication of anything that should've driven it, is obvious. McCarthy has now crossed that line, quite possibly in irretrievable fashion.