EAGAN, Minn. — Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell on Monday announced J.J. McCarthy suffered an ankle sprain against the Falcons in Week 2 and is not expected to be available for Minnesota’s Week 3 game vs. Bengals. O’Connell said the Vikings anticipate Carson Wentz starting and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer will back up Wentz. O’Connell said McCarthy suffered the ankle …
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Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy attempts to make a pass surrounded by Falcons defenders during the second quarter. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune) 4. Vikings have short-yardage power outage The Vikings’ much-ballyhooed upgrade in the straight-ahead, short-yardage power department is lacking. They ran 11 plays with fewer than three yards needed for a first down or touchdown. They converted only three …
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MINNEAPOLIS — They knew this was possible. When head coach Kevin O’Connell and the other Minnesota Vikings’ decision-makers chose to go this route for 2025, they knew he could be standing here postgame at the lectern, looking like he’d just lived through four hours of misery. Young quarterbacks tend to be a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Your strategy may …
Read More »J.J. McCarthy has played eight quarters in the NFL. Seven of them have been bad. The Vikings’ fourth-quarter comeback in Week 1 was fun, but it masked the other problems that were evident from McCarthy and the offense. The McCarthy we saw from the first three quarters in the opener against the Bears showed up in Week 2. He struggled …
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Colin Cowherd has flipped his opinion of J.J. McCarthy faster than McCarthy led the Vikings to a comeback victory over the Bears in his NFL debut on Monday night. But it’s not because he suddenly believes McCarthy has all the traits to be a great player. “I don’t know how good J.J. McCarthy is. I don’t know how good Bo …
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EAGAN, Minn. — It’s worth going back in time. To the early spring of 2024, and to the free-agency period that altered the course of the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons organizations. In Minnesota, you had a leadership group determined to go the young quarterback route. There was no anger or frustration directed at veteran, incumbent quarterback Kirk Cousins. The …
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EAGAN, Minn. — There are often important little Easter-egg-like nuggets hidden in Kevin O’Connell’s news conferences. They’re easy to miss. His discernment regarding what to say — and what not to say — is exceptional, but every so often, he’ll provide a pivotal tidbit. This happened on Wednesday. He was asked about young quarterback J.J. McCarthy and how the second-year …
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Imagine what kind of numbers J.J. McCarthy would’ve put up against the Bears if he played all four quarters the way he did the fourth quarter. Hindsight is 20:20, but we do know that McCarthy’s one magical quarter was enough to win him the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. Not just rookie of the week. McCarthy took home …
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Down 15 points with less than 12 minutes to play against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night, Allen rallied his Bills for an improbable 41-40 victory to kick off the season. Allen quarterbacked the Bills to three straight scoring drives to garner the win, first hitting receiver Keon Coleman for a 10-yard touchdown off a tipped pass, then rushing it …
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NFC Players of the Week under O’Connell 2025 Week 1 at Chicago: J.J. McCarthy (Offensive) 2024 Week 16 at Seattle: Andrew Van Ginkel, OLB (Defensive) 2024 Week 14 vs. Atlanta: Sam Darnold, QB (Offensive) 2024 Week 3 vs. Houston: Jonathan Greenard, OLB (Defensive) 2023 Week 14 at Las Vegas: Ivan Pace, Jr., LB (Defensive) 2023 Week 9 at Atlanta: Joshua …
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