Why didn't JJ play?

I thought I read they tried his ankle in pregame and they decided to sit him? Edit: I'm reading now some sources doubt he was injured, is that correct? I can tell you KOC seemed very matter of fact about JJ's missing out on important reps this preseason in postgame....I do think he's nicked up a bit, which also low level frustrated O'Connell. I don't think they sat him to trade him, its an ankle injury. But I think he needs to acquaint himself with QB3.

Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) "Trading J.J. McCarthy can’t be ruled out, but from everything I know, the situation isn’t urgent, dire or toxic enough for the Vikings to just give him away. We shall see how the next few days play out."

Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) "Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy won’t play tonight against Broncos, multiple sources told The Athletic. The team had hoped McCarthy’s ankle would heal ahead of the game. McCarthy ultimately was not comfortable enough to go. The injury is considered minor, and he’s day to day."

There's also the possibility that they're being perfectly honest. That JJ's ankle just wasn't ready.

“We’re going to work through that as a staff and see where he’s at from a health standpoint first and foremost,” O’Connell said. “We don’t have any long-term concerns, still consider him day-to-day.”

McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 draft, suffered a sprained deltoid ligament in his ankle against the Ravens. He was held out of Wednesday’s practice in the hopes it would help him recover in time for Friday’s game.

McCarthy got just 17 snaps in the Vikings’ preseason opener against the Giants, and he was injured within 19 snaps against Baltimore. O’Connell said after the Ravens loss the team had hoped to play McCarthy more in that game.

McCarthy, who missed seven games last year due to multiple injuries, completed nine of 17 passes for 115 yards and took two sacks in his two preseason appearances. He oversaw seven drives that ended in six punts and one turnover on downs.

Candy ass...

he had salt in his ________

The ankle thing likely wouldn't have kept him out of real games. Much ado about nothing. I can see from McCarthy's perspective of why go out there with a bunch of fringe roster players and risk injuring it further. Just get ready for the regular season.

If the coaches are butt hurt about him passing up the opportunity to play two more meaningless drives... Not sure what to say. The already made the decision to have Murray as the starter and give JJ McCarthy a development year. Him playing 15 snaps in the final preseason game will have no bearing on his development this year.

I can understand the "It's a fake injury, hes's probably getting traded" conspiracy.

What I struggle with is the "He's a pussy for not playing through an injury in preseason" sentiment. Literally everyone who is slightly injured doesn't play in preseason. The amount of hate someone has to have in their heart for one person to create an entire fictional reality where normal is upside down is mind boggling.

So, apparently we’ve gone from “he needs every rep he can get to it’s no big deal”. Apologies if I’ve missed what I thought was a pretty much unanimous opinion across the board.

More concerning, is he was yet again unavailable. Pair this with no discernible advancement in areas we wanted to see growth in (during his quite limited reps) and the outlook is pretty bleak for a top 10 pick.

Well you know how the dudes want to play in the wnba? Nine is waiting for a wnfl where they can appreciate his giant p***y.

Hope they cut him.

JustInTime wrote:

So, apparently we’ve gone from “he needs every rep he can get to it’s no big deal”. Apologies if I’ve missed what I thought was a pretty much unanimous opinion across the board.
More concerning, is he was yet again unavailable. Pair this with no discernible advancement in areas we wanted to see growth in (during his quite limited reps) and the outlook is pretty bleak for a top 10 pick.

Yeah I've been a huge JJM defender but missing last night's game was just another bad look for him, among a string of others. Frankly he should've been treating last night's game like it was the Super Bowl because for his future on this team, maybe it was. And even if it wasn't, it's his last big chance to get live reps for probably a long time, and yet again he couldn't answer the bell. He's either the unluckiest bloke of all time, or there's other stuff going on.

JustInTime wrote:

So, apparently we’ve gone from “he needs every rep he can get to it’s no big deal”. Apologies if I’ve missed what I thought was a pretty much unanimous opinion across the board.
More concerning, is he was yet again unavailable. Pair this with no discernible advancement in areas we wanted to see growth in (during his quite limited reps) and the outlook is pretty bleak for a top 10 pick.

He needed every rep earlier this off-season when everyone wanted to see what type of growth he had made over winter/spring and we're hoping more reps would keep him elevating thru training camp.

Once they made the decision that Kyler is the starter, his rep count no longer matters. He'll get reps all season running the scout team. Had 30+ in the first two preseason games which is more than Kyler and about what Wentz got.

Again, is playing another quarter of preseason gonna make a difference?

pattersaur wrote:

He's either the unluckiest bloke of all time, or there's other stuff going on.

I've learned in life that both could be true...

To date, his NFL experience has been nothing but trying and difficult.

If he ends up Qb3? That's going to be rough for that new, young dad to work through.

MAD GAINZ wrote:

He needed every rep earlier this off-season when everyone wanted to see what type of growth he had made over winter/spring and we're hoping more reps would keep him elevating thru training camp.
Once they made the decision that Kyler is the starter, his rep count no longer matters. He'll get reps all season running the scout team. Had 30+ in the first two preseason games which is more than Kyler and about what Wentz got.
Again, is playing another quarter of preseason gonna make a difference?

Make a difference in what? Where he falls in the QB room? Probably not. Overall development, maybe? KO seems to think it’s critical to get every rep one can.

So, to me, when you’ve missed as many reps as this guy, and continue to miss reps the team wants you to get, and the current GM has zero stake in you, I’d call it a differentiator in your future.

A friend recently quipped “what does JJ stand for, Jinxed and Jeopardized”. JJ, you in danger girl.