While there was a small glimmer of hope that J.J. McCarthy could be back under center this Sunday when the Minnesota Vikings take on the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, the Michigan alum has officially been ruled out and will miss a third straight game with an ankle injury, which obviously means Carson Wentz is set for a third consecutive start.
McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie campaign after suffering a torn meniscus during training camp, injured his right ankle in the third quarter of the Vikings' Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He was able to finish the game but reported soreness the following day and hasn't practiced since.
But just because McCarthy isn't actually practicing, that doesn't mean he hasn't been involved with the team over the last few weeks, which superstar wideout Justin Jefferson explained to the media earlier this week. And in that same presser, Jefferson made it crystal clear that McCarthy, despite all the talk of a QB controversy, will be the guy for Minnesota once he's healthy.
"He’s definitely in the mix. He’s in the back of the offense (during practice), making sure he’s getting all of those mental reps. He’s still communicating with the quarterbacks and communicating with C-Wentz about what he sees out there.
At the end of the day, he’s still our guy, and he’s still the quarterback that we lean on. So he definitely has to be in there mentally, physically. He definitely can’t sit back and just watch and go through the motions."
Justin Jefferson says J.J. McCarthy is still the top QB for the Minnesota Vikings
Getting an endorsement from arguably the best receiver in the game has to feel good for McCarthy, who, outside of his miraculous fourth quarter in Minnesota's wild Week 1 comeback win over the Chicago Bears, hasn't played great football.
As for Jefferson, who ranks seventh in the league in receiving yards heading into Sunday's matchup against the Browns, one could easily assume that the four-time All-Pro might be frustrated with all of the quarterback turnover his team has gone through the last couple of years.
Outside of one spot start for Sean Mannion in 2021, the only starter for Minnesota during Jefferson's first three seasons was Kirk Cousins.
But since Cousins went down with a season-ending Achilles injury during Week 8 of the 2023 campaign, the Vikes have had six different starting signal-callers, those being Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall, Sam Darnold, McCarthy, and Wentz.
Jefferson says it has been a challenge, but he also knows it's his job to go out and catch passes from whoever is under center that day, which, of course, he does as well as anyone.
"To be honest, that’s kind of been my whole entire career since I’ve been here. It’s just not really flinching on that type of deal. That’s something that I can’t really control. The only thing that I can control is going out there and catching the ball, winning on my routes, making sure that I’m open for the quarterback to see.
So it really doesn’t matter who’s out there throwing the ball. It’s been difficult, just trying to connect with one quarterback and getting that relationship, but at the end of the day, my job is to go out there and catch the ball."
This week, Jefferson will obviously be catching passes from Wentz. But following the Vikings' Week 6 bye, it may be McCarthy. We'll just have to wait and see how things play out.