JJ McCarthy has barely been fit to begin his NFL career. After suffering a torn right meniscus in the preseason last year, he missed his entire rookie campaign. Then, after just a game and a half of healthy play this year, he picked up an ankle injury in the second half against the Atlanta Falcons. This caused him to miss three games, but he’s finally set to return against the Detroit Lions today.
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Doing simple math, this will be just McCarthy’s third career start. Because of this, pundits like Adam Schefter are keeping a close eye on the young QB. After all, there could be a ton of pressure on him to stay healthy and deliver.
Schefter went on to list three reasons why he’ll be watching McCarthy closely today. Reason one: Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold are excelling on their new teams, and the Minnesota Vikings and their fans desperately want to see the horse they bet on win the race in some capacity.
“[The Vikings] made a big offer to Sam Darnold. They wanted to keep Daniel Jones. Sam Darnold knew that he was better off getting a starting job in Seattle than staying in Minnesota to compete with JJ McCarthy,” Schefter stated on NFL on ESPN, adding,
“Daniel Jones knew he was better off, and he was right, competing with Anthony Richardson rather than JJ McCarthy. So, the presence of JJ McCarthy enabled both guys to leave.”
In hindsight, it was the wrong decision. But there’s still plenty of time for McCarthy to prove his worth. Nevertheless, it must be tough watching Darnold and Jones excel for franchises that desperately needed a QB. Now, it’s the Vikings who desperately need one if McCarthy fails to produce wins.
“[J.J. McCarthy] has been healthy for two games in two seasons. … This will be his third NFL start. There’s a lot of pressure.”@AdamSchefter weighs in on the pressure McCarthy and the Vikings feel to succeed pic.twitter.com/0WuWnbmIOk
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) November 2, 2025
Schefter then listed his second reason why he’s going to be watching McCarthy closely today.
“There’s a lot of pressure. We’ve already seen what some of the quarterbacks in that draft class are doing. Look at Drake Maye. Look at Bo Nix. Look at Caleb Williams. Look at Jayden Daniels. Minnesota’s waiting on JJ McCarthy,” said the analyst.
The players listed are all second-year QBs who have proven their worth already in the NFL. Maybe Williams still has a ways to go, but he’s shown flashes, and under Ben Johnson, he could evolve into a franchise quarterback. Meanwhile, the Vikings still don’t really know what they have with McCarthy. He led the team to a comeback win in Week 1, but other than that, he’s been MIA due to injury.
This led Schefter to list his final reason why he’ll be watching McCarthy today: expectations.
“I think because some of these celebrated quarterbacks have left, people are expecting a lot from him.”
It’s hard to deny that this is indeed the reality Minnesota is dealing with. It’s not McCarthy’s fault for letting Darnold and Jones walk. It’s also not his fault that the team is putting so much stock in him, yet he hasn’t been able to produce. Injury has held him back, and we still don’t know what type of player he truly is.
Maybe we’ll find out more about McCarthy today, though. That’s why we’ll be watching the Vikings vs. Lions game just as closely as Schefter. It’ll be interesting to see how the young QB responds to adversity and if he can lead the team to an upset win. There’s still time for the 3-4 team to turn things around and make a playoff run. But a loss today would possibly cement the idea that this is a rebuilding season for Minnesota.
