Thanks to suffering an injury near the end of the second quarter, J.J. McCarthy only got to participate in the first half for the Minnesota Vikings in the team's Week 16 matchup against the New York Giants on Sunday.
McCarthy's throwing hand was injured after getting rocked by Giants pass rusher Brian Burns, which also resulted in the quarterback fumbling the ball and New York safety Tyler Nubin scooping it up and running it 27 yards the other way for a touchdown.
A few moments later, the TV broadcast showed a clip of McCarthy wincing in pain after Vikings trainers examined his hand. He then walked to the locker room with Minnesota's training staff right before the end of the first half, and he was ruled out for the rest of the contest before the team returned to the field in the third quarter.
Minnesota Vikings fans have legitimate reasons to be concerned about J.J. McCarthy after latest injury in game against New York Giants
With McCarthy's early exit on Sunday, he has now missed at least a portion of a game due to an injury three different times this season.
He missed five matchups earlier this year because of an ankle injury he suffered in Week 2, he was out of action for Minnesota's Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks after suffering a concussion in Week 12, and now his status for the rest of the 2025 season might be in doubt depending on the severity of his hand injury.
After sitting out his entire rookie year in 2024 with an injured knee to go along with all the time he's missed this season due to injury, it is completely fair for Vikings fans to be concerned about McCarthy's durability moving forward.
Minnesota was hoping to use the final five games of the season to evaluate its young quarterback to see if they want to continue with him as the team's starter in 2026, but following his latest injury, that evaluation might already be over.