Report: JJ McCarthy Injury Setback is More Concerning Than Vikings are Leading On

When news broke regarding JJ McCarthy’s recent knee procedure, which reportedly took place to address swelling in the rookie’s knee, our immediate instinct as Minnesota Vikings fans was to panic.

Given what we have been through, especially at the quarterback position, who can blame us? In response, the Vikings went on the offensive, telling reporters that nothing about McCarthy’s recovery timeline had changed.

Those inside the organization also downplayed immediate reports that JJ had to undergo an additional surgery. Instead, they rebranded it as nothing more than a precautionary injection to prevent and reduce some swelling. It was a first-class performance in spin and propaganda… and it worked, for the most part.

To be clear: Source said it was just an injection for McCarthy. No second surgery.

— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) November 13, 2024

Minnesota Vikings more concerned about JJ McCarthy than they are leading on?

So, is that the end of the story? The Minnesota Vikings 1st round pick now goes back to attacking his rehab and we see him open up training camp and the 2025 preseason as QB1. Right? Well… not so fast, say those who have a line or two that leads into TCO Performance Center.

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Three of those people do a podcast together twice per week for SKOR North. All of Phil Mackey, Judd Zulgad and Darren Wolfson have been covering the Vikings for the better part of two decades, or more, and all three have major connections within the organization. What are they hearing from those sources? That the Vikings are more more concerned than they are leading us to believe they are.

Mackey: “JJ McCarthy had a procedure. It was not necessarily planned or expected. The Vikings are telling everyone to calm down, this is not a story. I have heard [from sources] that there is some concern about the timeline. Not, like, panic and freak out. But that it’s not a foregone conclusion that the timeline is going to stay where it is. So just I’ll throw it to you guys, starting with Doogie here. What’s your level of panic or concern? Or, should we all just take a deep breath and trust the Vikings here, that there’s really nothing to worry about.”

Wolfson: “Somewhere in the middle. I mean, I’m a skeptic by nature. So, you know, ‘journalism 101’, why is this person lying to me? I can’t necessarily trust, at face value, exactly what Kevin O’Connell said on Wednesday. This was not expected at all so certainly it’s some level of setback. [But it was] more so an injection.”

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“We had heard, potentially, surgery. But now, hearing more so an injection. I guess it’s how you interpret that. But it’s certainly a story. He started to ramp up his activity, his rehab, and swelling occurred. They did not anticipate this. It’s not unheard of, but they certainly did not anticipate this. There has to be some level of concern. Yes, there is concern. Not panic, [but] there is concern.”

Purple Daily – SKOR North

So clearly, those who know important people within the Minnesota Vikings organization are not buying the story the organization is selling, when it comes to this “not expected” injection or procedure that JJ McCarthy underwent recently. Wolfson went as far as calling it a “setback”.

Let’s talk about McCarthy’s recovery “timeline”

From there, long-time Vikings beat writer and former Star Tribune columnist Judd Zulgad took the microphone, and he was even more suspicious of Kevin O’Connell & Co. Judd reminds us that there was never really a timeline laid out for McCarthy’s recovery, in the first place.

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That reality has allowed KOC and purple propagandists inside TCO Performance Center to (possibly) shift this non-existent recovery timeline. Wolfson agrees. All three are highly skeptical of everything surrounding McCarthy, but specifically their insistence that this recent setback won’t affect when he returns.

Judd: “The interesting thing about the timeline, is the team will say, and can say, ‘you don’t know the timeline’. There’s never been a timeline. The only timeline, we think, is he’ll be set for the start of training camp in 2025, and be the quarterback, right? But, like, were they originally? If they were originally earmarking the start of OTAs, in May, and now it’s going to be June, they can just say that was our [original] timeline. So it is worth monitoring anytime a young man has two knee procedures done before he plays a game.”

Wolfson: “I’m in the middle. We absolutely need to monitor this situation. I am not ready to hit that panic button. But yes, semantically, Judd, I think you laid it out perfectly. You said it, two surgeries before he’s played in a regular season game. And I’m telling you, I can’t stress this enough, this was not anticipated. So it’s absolutely a setback. But you’re right. As far as we know, the timeline… we don’t have the timeline.”

Purple Daily – SKOR North

Look, there are going to be a bunch of KOC and Kwesi defenders on the internet who will yell at the clouds about how these Minnesota Vikings insiders are speculating or causing drama, when it isn’t there.

But in reality, they are right. It is incredibly concerning that JJ McCarthy had a setback during the recovery from major knee surgery, that had previously ended his season. And Wolfson makes it very clear that this WAS a setback and took the Vikings organization by complete surprise.

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We need to keep our antennas up on this situation. Not only does it affect whether or not JJ McCarthy will be able to start at quarterback next season, but it directly affects whether or not the Vikings bring Sam Darnold back for another year (or two?) of his services… Here is the entire episode of Purple Daily from today. The McCarthy conversation is their first topic.