One start from Carson Wentz and all of a sudden everyone hopped off the J.J. McCarthy hype train quicker than a bullet train.
McCarthy is dealing with a right ankle injury that's expected to keep him out until possibly their Week 7 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. During his first two starts, he threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns to three interceptions, adding 50 yards rushing and one touchdown.
It hasn't been a perfect beginning to McCarthy's career, but he's shown the grit that made him a winner at Michigan. Progress is still needed, but it appears he won't get the grace period to quite get there from those in the media.
A former NFL quarterback shares his concerns about Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy
While appearing on ProFootballTalk with Mike Florio, former NFL quarterback Phil Simms chimed in with his thoughts regarding McCarthy. Simms didn't hold back that he's got some concerns with the young quarterback.
"I would be worried about J.J. McCarthy. Yeah he had the great quarter in the fourth quarter against the Bears. Okay, but what really makes me think is the throwing part of it. He's not throwing the ball well when he was out there. It's a lot of work and it seems like unless he gets to throw it as hard as he can throw it, that's the only time he somewhat puts it on target, on time and everything like that. I think they got a lot of work to do if they want to turn him into what they call a franchise quarterback. He's going to need a lot of work."
This shouldn't be too much of a surprise, as many in the media have spent the offseason and the regular season criticizing McCarthy. While he got his praise in the Week 1 win over the Chicago Bears, he got the opposite reaction in Minnesota's Week 2 blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The noise has intensified after Wentz led a 48-10 commanding win over the Cincinnati Bengals, and their head coach, Kevin O'Connell, was noncommittal about when McCarthy would come back, moving Vikings fans to think there might be a quarterback controversy. Many have seen it as if Wentz has the hot hand; he will keep the job. That isn't necessarily the case.
O'Connell has praised McCarthy for how he has done up to this point and wants to make sure he has success when on the field. This is more about not rushing him on the field if he isn't 100% healthy and practicing than anything.
Unfortunately for Vikings fans, this is going to last a while until McCarthy is back in the lineup. Buckle up for a fun few weeks of watching sports media tear down a young man who has only two starts to his career.