Vikings confirm the worst with J.J. McCarthy injury update

After some were hoping he would only have to miss a few weeks of the upcoming 2024 campaign, the Minnesota Vikings shared a J.J. McCarthy injury update on Wednesday that the fan base didn't want to hear.

The Vikings announced that McCarthy underwent a full repair to fix his torn meniscus, and he is expected to miss the entire 2024 season. Following the rookie quarterback's impressive performance this past weekend, the news is just packed with pure devastation for Minnesota's tortured fan base.

If the focus for the Vikings wasn't already on 2025, it certainly is now. Hopefully, McCarthy's development isn't impacted significantly by his injury, but that won't really be known until Minnesota returns to the practice fields for its OTAs in the spring of 2025.

Minnesota Vikings are Sam Darnold's team in 2024 after latest J.J. McCarthy injury news

With the disappointing news about McCarthy's season-ending knee surgery, the Vikings will now turn to former top-five draft pick Sam Darnold to lead the team from under center during the upcoming season.

Minnesota has spoken highly of Darnold all offseason long, and he will have plenty of tools to utilize in 2024, including Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones, T.J. Hockenson, and an excellent play-caller in head coach Kevin O'Connell.

Are the Vikings the team that will finally be able to get Darnold to live up to his full potential, or will he prove, once again, to not be the quarterback that everyone believed he could be when he was a 2018 first-round draft pick?

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