EAGAN, Minn. \u2014 The brutal beginning to young quarterback J.J. McCarthy\u2019s career continues.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O\u2019Connell relayed news that McCarthy had reported symptoms of a concussion and underwent tests late Sunday night. The Vikings\u2019 medical staff decided that he should be placed in the protocol.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll go through that process this week,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cHe\u2019s been in meetings. He\u2019s here today in the building. We\u2019ll update you guys as we go.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell was not ready to declare McCarthy out for the upcoming game in Seattle against the Seahawks. Typically, though, the Vikings refrain from having concussed players return in less than a week\u2019s time. O\u2019Connell has also been open throughout this season about McCarthy\u2019s need for practice weeks with the full workload. He has missed too much time to perform without the full portion of reps.<\/p>\n
If McCarthy can\u2019t play this weekend, undrafted rookie Max Brosmer would likely start. The Minnesota Golden Gophers product, who has impressed coaches and teammates behind the scenes since he arrived this spring, has been the backup for multiple weeks. Minnesota also has veteran John Wolford on the practice squad.<\/p>\n
Another McCarthy injury underscores one of the many concerns regarding the 22-year-old. Last summer, he tore his meniscus and was placed on injured reserve for the full season. Earlier this year, following the Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, McCarthy reported ankle soreness. He was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, which put a damper on necessary development time. This potential absence could do the same.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell said Monday the team was not sure when the concussion symptoms first emerged.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not ideal,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cAnd really, that phrase can be applied to several stops on the journey so far, early on for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCarthy\u2019s performance this season has been historically poor by most meaningful measures. On Sunday, he completed 12 of 19 passes for 87 yards and threw two interceptions. Over six starts, he has completed just 54.1 percent of his passes, and the more advanced statistics paint a similarly grim picture. Among 854 qualified quarterbacks since 2000, McCarthy\u2019s EPA per dropback ranks 853rd, ahead of only former Raiders No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell.<\/p>\n
Minnesota\u2019s 4-7 record is not solely the result of McCarthy\u2019s struggles. Receiver drops have played a role. The offensive line has not been reliable. Special teams blunders have halted momentum, and the defense has not been able to create takeaways. Still, the frustration internally over the offense\u2019s dismal season has been evident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is frustrating,\u201d superstar receiver Justin Jefferson said Sunday. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating to lose. It\u2019s frustrating to be up here saying the same things every single week, expecting things to change the following week. And we\u2019re still in the same spot. We\u2019ve just got to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brosmer has many believers internally. In the preseason, he and the third-team offense held their own when matched up with the Tennessee Titans\u2019 first-team defense. Brosmer\u2019s decisiveness stood out during training camp. He quickly scanned the field and processed it effectively.<\/p>\n
His arc has conjured vibes similar to Brock Purdy\u2019s ascent in San Francisco. O\u2019Connell said Monday that his trust level in Brosmer is high. He recalled the preseason action and added, \u201cHe was moving the team, getting the ball out, seeing things at a veteran-level type of eye progression.\u201d<\/p>\n
These qualities have been absent in McCarthy\u2019s recent showings. In the short term, McCarthy\u2019s absence from games would offer Brosmer an opportunity. In the longer term, peering into the future of a franchise with a leadership group that has yet to win a playoff game, there will be some hard questions to answer when it comes to what the Vikings should do at quarterback to stabilize an aging team without the cap flexibility they had this past offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAGAN, Minn. \u2014 The brutal beginning to young quarterback J.J. McCarthy\u2019s career continues. On Monday, Minnesota Vikings coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[8851,349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-311448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-minnesota-vikings","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}