NFL Insider Reveals Interesting Update on Vikings Plans for JJ McCarthy

The Minnesota Vikings are in action on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers and Carson Wentz will be their starting quarterback.

That wasn’t the intention when the season began, but the redshirt rookie is still working his way back from a high ankle sprain and remains (mostly) unavailable for the fifth-straight game.

Thankfully, it’s finally looking like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for McCarthy. More than likely, we are going to see JJ next week against the Lions.

Vikings eyeing Week 9 return for JJ McCarthy

Timelines for McCarthy’s recovery have been all over the place since he first suffered the injury. Thursday on KFAN, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero confirmed JJ’s likely return next weekend in Detroit.

Here's the @TomPelissero clip from this morning where he discusses the likelihood that JJ McCarthy returns in week 9 vs the Lions on @PowerTripKFAN: pic.twitter.com/2WRuxXJEm0

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 23, 2025

“Expect might be a strong word, but certainly all the indications are pointing towards J.J. McCarthy being available for that game against the Lions. I think there are a bunch of different factors you have to take into account here. I know all the conspiracy theories, and the soft benching. The bottom line is this, the way that ruin a young quarterback is you put him on the field if he’s not healthy or he’s not prepared. J.J. McCarthy, at this point, is neither. I don’t me that pejoratively in terms of his preparedness. It’s the reality that he hasn’t had a full practice.

He hasn’t practiced on back-to-back days since before Week 1. The ankle is getting close. He’s clearly very close to being able to do it. They want to make sure he has all of the movements available to him. Then the preparedness is going out and having a full week of practice. It wasn’t realistic to say, you know after last week’s game and they put him through a workout. At least they were considering it, but on a short week you don’t even practice really. You might have sort of a practice on Tuesday, but it’s not a full go type of practice…You can get him a full week of practice and put him on the field.”

Tom Pelissero – KFAN

That line of thinking makes a good amount of sense. Logically you can’t argue with the fact that McCarthy has not been on the practice field. It’s unfortunate that his ankle has stifled the opportunity for that to take place. It would have been fun to see him return against his college coach, Jim Harbaugh.

Minnesota was committed to McCarthy at the beginning of the season. That was evident as they watched both Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones sign elsewhere. Regardless of how the first eight quarters of his career has looked, that shouldn’t change their line of thinking.

Of course it’s up to Kevin O’Connell and McCarthy to prove that the right decision was made. That remains to be seen. If he’s healthy and returns in Week 9 though, he’ll have ten more games to put together a level of tape that suggests he can be the future.

The Lions, especially in Detroit, are not an easy draw to return with. However, McCarthy is in the NFL now and kid gloves aren’t going to be used on any given gameday going forward.