How Much Will JJ McCarthy Play Today for MN Vikings vs Texans?

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JJ McCarthy - Minnesota Vikings Training Camp
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

It’s finally here. This afternoon at 3:00 p.m. CDT, the Minnesota Vikings and their redshirt rookie quarterback, JJ McCarthy, will take the field at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Houston Texans for their first of three 2025 preseason games.

The next handful of days will be the biggest of McCarthy’s training camp and preseason. Today, we will see JJ start under center against the Texans. Later this week, the 2024 No. 10 overall pick will get a bunch of reps in joint practices against the New England Patriots.

From there, it sounds like JJ McCarthy will turn his attention to week one of the regular season, in Chicago, on Monday Night Football. According to Ben Goessling (Star Tribune), Minnesota’s new QB1’s “probably not going to play next week vs the Patriots”, in the Vikings second preseason game vs New England.

“I do think Kevin O’Connell wants to get JJ McCarthy work in a game, or in game-like settings. He’s not probably going to play against the Patriots after those joint practices, but he will get some work. The fans will get a chance to see him on Saturday and then they’ll have some things to go off of.”

Ben Goessling – Access Vikings Podcast (Star Tribune)

Because starters almost never play in the third and final preseason game, Saturday afternoon is likely to be the only time we will see JJ McCarthy running the Minnesota Vikings offense, until week one of the regular season on September 8.

How much will JJ McCarthy play today for Minnesota Vikings?

So, how much will we see McCarthy play today? Up until Saturday morning, there was no indication, outside of educated guessing from insiders, like Goessling, who predicted a “decent” amount of JJ this afternoon.

But how much is a “decent” amount. Well, Texans beat reporter for Houston’s local NBC affiliate, Aaron Wilson (KPRC) — who has had a knack for breaking Vikings news periodically in the past — is hearing it won’t be much. According to Wilson, JJ McCarthy will get just 8-10 plays.

Related: Former QB Says MN Vikings Wanted Him to Play Worse

Even if the MN Vikings want to play JJ McCarthy more than one or two drives, they don’t want to play the rest of their starters any more than that, especially on the offensive line. And if the starters aren’t in the trenches, then there’s no chance the future of the franchise will be in the game either.

The last time we saw McCarthy play, it was one year ago, in Minnesota’s first preseason game of 2024. In that home contest against the Raiders, a then newly drafted JJ looked phenomenal, completing 11-of-18 passes for 188 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Vikings inactives vs Texans mostly on defense

Kevin O’Connell is starting many of his healthy veterans against the Texans, including center Ryan Kelly and right guard, Will Fries, meaning McCarthy will play behind four of his five starting offensive linemen, absent only Christian Darrisaw. Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson and Jordan Mason will all play too.

In contrast, the Vikings’ defensive starters, which have reportedly been leaps and bounds ahead of their offensive counterparts so far during Minnesota Vikings training camp, will get the night off. More than likely, we will not see any of the players listed below until week one of the regular season.

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