Before heading into an offseason that could be full of changes, the Minnesota Vikings will take the field one final time in the 2025 campaign when they face the Green Bay Packers in a Week 18 matchup on Sunday.
After he missed last week's contest against the Detroit Lions with a hand injury, the Vikings revealed on Friday that J.J. McCarthy will return to the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Packers.
The start will be McCarthy's 10th of the season, and it will come against a Green Bay team that is expected to rest several notable starters as they get ready for the first round of the playoffs.
Minnesota Vikings playing with fire by starting J.J. McCarthy against Green Bay Packers
As much as some will convince themselves to believe that Minnesota is making a good decision to start McCarthy this weekend, the team is taking a huge risk by putting him back out there in a meaningless matchup.
The second-year quarterback has already missed several games this season due to multiple injuries, and if the Vikings are planning to move forward with him as their starter again in 2026, then having him suit up to face a divisional opponent in a meaningless contest doesn't seem like the greatest decision in the world to make.
Now, it's not as big of a risk if Minnesota's intentions in the upcoming offseason are to find someone else to be the team's starting quarterback for the 2026 campaign. But we don't know yet if that's what the Vikings are planning to do, so it would seem smarter at this moment to prevent McCarthy from suffering any additional injuries.
At the very least, Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell probably just wants to start a quarterback who can throw for more than three net yards this weekend, which could be said for Vikings rookie signal-caller Max Brosmer in the team's Week 17 win over the Detroit Lions.
Sunday will be the final time that we will see McCarthy starting a game this season. Will he get more opportunities with the Vikings in 2026, or will Sunday's game just be the beginning of the end for his time as a starter in Minnesota?