Vikings Seek Perfect Conditions for JJ McCarthy Return

The Minnesota Vikings play the Cleveland Browns in London on Sunday. It’s their second-straight international game after having dropped a contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin for Week 4. They will also be without starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy once again, but his return to practice has been murky as well.

McCarthy suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons. He finished the game and then was placed on the shelf. The thought has been that the bye week would give him time to recover for Week 7, but he wasn’t up to suggested practice reps this week either.

McCarthy makes trip to Europe as a spectator for Minnesota Vikings

During the Week 4 game against Pittsburgh, sideline reporter (and one of us) Jamie Erdahl reported that the Vikings intended to have J.J. McCarthy run the scout team offense on Thursday and Friday in London. Not only did that not happen on Thursday, but he remained out on Friday as well. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert had an update from head coach Kevin O’Connell.

“He got through [the week] pretty well. Obviously with the weather today, my hope was to try to get him some work during individual [drills], but with the weather and the tight field space — we’re working on a 100-yard field — we wanted to be smart with that. But very much looking forward to spending some time with him next week and see where he is at coming out of the bye.”

Kevin O’Connell – ESPN

It was a dreary day in the English countryside on Friday, and rain did trickle down. However, the idea that weather conditions will be perfect the rest of the season aren’t rooted in reality either. McCarthy made the trip overseas with the idea that he would return to practice. That was not the case.

It has been 19 days since the Vikings played the Atlanta Falcons. McCarthy’s original timeline was suggested as 2-4 weeks. If he returns after the bye, it will have been 35 days or five weeks exactly. Realistically though, he’ll need to get a week’s worth of practice reps first.

Minnesota is smart to control the environment in which McCarthy returns to play. They need him to be the signal caller they banked on, and bringing him back sooner puts him behind a decimated offensive line as well. However, it also seems as though the injury isn’t exactly healing to the timeline they had hoped and that he isn’t as far along as would have been assumed even last weekend.

In his first two starts McCarthy threw for 301 yards with a 58.5% completion rate. He has two touchdowns and three interceptions. Without Christian Darrisaw as his left tackle, things were often a mess up front. The Vikings line remains worse off now though, and McCarthy will need to feel comfortable moving on his ankle.

Can Carson Wentz extend his Vikings run?

With McCarthy on the sidelines it has provided an opportunity for Carson Wentz to run the show. His performance on Sunday may be the greatest act of sorcery yet if he can coax the Vikings into a win. He’ll be starting behind three backup linemen with a center who has never played the position.

Beyond that, the Browns defense was already licking their chops. Myles Garrett is good to go, and cornerback Grant Delpit had a soundbite of his own to share.

“I see those kind of opportunities every week, especially with a non-starter that’s just becoming the starter on a new team and stuff. And he actually has a history of turning the ball over a lot. So that’s something that we’ve got to exploit, make him uncomfortable and go get that thing.”

Grant Delpit – Cleveland.com

In an ideal world Wentz is playing behind the overhauled Minnesota offensive line and thriving with the amount of offensive weapons at his disposal. The former isn’t a reality though, and he’ll have to make quick work of what should be an unrelenting Browns pass rush.

Through two starts he has split outcomes with 523 yards on a 66.7% completion rate. He has four touchdowns and two interceptions. If the Vikings want a winning record going into the bye week, it will largely be due to the performance of Wentz as he steps in for McCarthy once again.