Former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy suited up in an NFL preseason game Saturday for the first time in 364 days.
The Minnesota Vikings’ No. 10 overall pick in 2024 lost his rookie season to a knee injury suffered in last year’s preseason debut, but he was all smiles after Saturday’s 20-10 win over the Houston Texans.
McCarthy only played the team’s opening possession but led it on a 13-play scoring drive that ended in a 48-yard field goal.
“Unbelievable,” McCarthy said postgame of his first live action in nearly a year. “Had a little tear drop, not going to lie, being out there right before the National Anthem. This game is the best game in the world, and to be out there with this kind of group and this coaching staff, it was absolutely terrific.”
The Illinois native who went 27-1 as a starter at Michigan finished 4 of 7 passing for 30 yards against the Texans. He also tested his knee on a fourth-and-4, scrambling for an 8-yard gain to keep the drive alive. McCarthy is the frontrunner to start for Minnesota after last year’s starter, Sam Darnold, signed a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the Seahawks in free agency.
“I was kind of getting a little emotional last night,” McCarthy said. “The journey that any injured player goes on to be back out there, doing the thing that they love, it was really special, for sure. “You’re in the moment day-to-day for so long, especially during the rehab process, and finally get to the point where it’s like, ‘Wow, this is my second game,’ and I felt like I played the whole season.”
How much action McCarthy sees the rest of the preseason remains to be seen, but head coach Kevin O’Connell said he passed the first test.
“I thought he did a really, really nice job,” O’Connell said. “I would have loved to play him all day long but wanted to have him in there with some of the guys he’s going to be in there with and did not want to play that full group very long with such significant work coming up [in joint practices with New England on Wednesday and Thursday].”
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