Sunday's game in London against the Cleveland Browns will be Carson Wentz's third start under center for the Minnesota Vikings in place of an injured J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy traveled with the team for the back-to-back international games, mostly so he could rehab normally with an eye on a return after the Week 6 bye.
ESPN's Adam Schefter initially reported McCarthy was dealing with a high ankle sprain, with a 2–4 week recovery timetable that naturally pushed his likely return to Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
That said, with weather conditions in London as a factor, McCarthy did not practice at all leading into the game against the Browns. Head coach Kevin O'Connell, as he should in a broad sense, chose caution with his young quarterback.
"He got through [the week] pretty well. Obviously, with the weather today, my hope was to try to get him some work during individual [drills], but with the weather and the tight field space -- we're working on a 100-yard field -- we wanted to be smart with that. But very much looking forward to spending some time with him next week and see where he is at coming out of the bye."
However, is there such a thing as being too cautious? There could've been a benefit to having McCarthy test his injury in less-than-ideal conditions, while stopping shy of having him push it in risky fashion.
The new report pretty much aligns with the previously known timetable for Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy
When the news of McCarthy's injury in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons came the day after, conspiracy theories came out suggesting it was not that severe an injury, and he could now sit out after struggling for most of two games. Schefter put that idea to bed when he said it was a "real high ankle sprain", and a new report reinforces that sentiment.
After being the driver of the Aaron Rodgers-to-Minnesota bandwagon until the wheels fell off of it, Dianna Russini of The Athletic will occupy a place of distrust for Vikings fans until further notice. But let's try to separate the Rodgers stuff from whatever she may report about the Vikings moving forward.
In her "What I'm Hearing" column heading into Week 5, Russini talked about the patience the Vikings are exercising with McCarthy.
"The medical staff projected a four-to-six week recovery, and coach Kevin O’Connell has been clear that McCarthy won’t play until he’s had a full week of practice. To this point, he hasn’t returned in any capacity, not even on a limited basis."
"That reality has led to some raised eyebrows around the league. A few have wondered whether Minnesota might be hiding behind McCarthy’s injury to buy more time after the first-year starter struggled in Week 2 against the Falcons. But O’Connell’s track record suggests otherwise. Since arriving in Minnesota, he’s been transparent, steady and consistent when it comes to injury updates, never the type to play games for a competitive advantage."
After stoking the aforementioned conspiracy theory fire, Russini finished with a firmer report about McCarthy's status.
"I’ve been told by multiple sources that McCarthy isn’t healthy, and while the target return has been Week 7 against the Eagles, it could still be longer."
Russini reports the Vikings' medical staff projected a 4-to-6-week recovery for McCarthy, which looks alarming at a glance, but it's not. When Schefter offered his thoughts on the matter, with the bye week in mind, it was tracking to be five weeks. The full extent of a six-week timetable would meet the technical definition of "could still be longer" than a target return date of Week 7 against the Eagles.
How long Wentz could start for the Vikings has come with the idea that it'd be hard to bench him if he's playing well. But the general uncertainty about McCarthy's injury, as is common with high ankle sprains, means Wentz may (at least) get a revenge game angle against the team that drafted him after the bye week.