J.J. McCarthy is done for the season, and the Vikings are left to pick up the pieces (2024)

BEREA, Ohio — The Minnesota Vikings’ buses pulled up to the Browns’ practice fields outside of Cleveland, and coach Kevin O’Connell quickly got on with it. He found the scrum of reporters, stationed himself in front of a purple backdrop and relayed the news.

J.J. McCarthy, the symbol of a brand new organizational future, would miss the entire 2024 season. A surgical procedure, performed early Wednesday morning, indicated McCarthy’s meniscus needed a full repair.

“As crushed as I am for our team,” O’Connell said, “I’m the most crushed for J.J.”

As he spoke, the rest of the Vikings players plopped out of the bus. Some peered over at their head coach. Others prepared for practice, popping their helmet straps into place, applying tape.

Not all of them, it seemed, knew the news their coach was relaying. Once practice finished, safety Cam Bynum, when asked for his reaction to the McCarthy news, said he knew McCarthy would respond well whether the surgery required a short-term rehab or longer-term recovery.

His voice still tinged with hope, hope O’Connell had zapped hours earlier. The joy, excitement and belief that McCarthy singlehandedly had inspired with his training camp production and preseason debut were doused with a bucket of cold water.

Or at least postponed. Forty-five years of quarterback limbo felt like it could be coming to an end. And it still might. Just not yet.

As much as O’Connell’s job requires him to hold his head high and lead, which he continues to do, even he admitted how much this stings. Especially in light of what the organization has navigated now for months.

“Yeah, there’s been some things that, as I’ve said before, test your culture and foundation and locker room and building,” O’Connell said. “It really didn’t just begin this summer.”

Coach O'Connell gives update on J.J. pic.twitter.com/88OcZ6g1DV

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 14, 2024

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Still, it’s inarguable to say that the last few months have been the most challenging.

In July, Khyree Jackson, the Vikings’ fourth-round pick out of Oregon, died tragically in a car accident. The news shook the entire organization. Only time and being together, the Vikings staff felt, would honor Jackson and help them all heal.

The team arrived for training camp, and during an otherwise nondescript seven-on-seven rep, promising young cornerback Mekhi Blackmon crumbled to the turf with a torn ACL. The next day, Shaq Griffin, whom the Vikings signed as a veteran corner and locker room voice, tripped while deflecting a pass. Griffin’s injury was less severe, but the cornerback has yet to return to practice.

Shortly thereafter, I was chatting with a longtime Vikings staffer one day before practice and said, “What a brutal stretch.”

“I know,” they responded. “You just hope it’s not one of those years.”

All seasons are different. But in 2010, the Vikings dealt with an onslaught of mayhem: Sidney Rice’s hip injury required surgery, Brett Favre was investigated for allegations that he sent inappropriate messages to a former Jets employee, Randy Moss was acquired and subsequently released amid an outburst and the freaking Metrodome roof collapsed.

You just hope it’s not one of those years.

That comment was ringing in my ears Monday evening when O’Connell initially relayed the news regarding McCarthy’s knee soreness. This was a quiet night, one planned as a celebration of sorts. Sprinklers spit water onto the Vikings’ fields behind the team’s headquarters at TCO Performance Center. Fans filtered in for a practice underneath the lights.

The expectation had been that O’Connell would talk about how excited he was having rewatched McCarthy’s performance from Saturday. Instead, he spoke ominously about McCarthy needing to undergo further testing.

Even McCarthy’s closest friends and mentors were unaware of the news. When Michigan offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell was alerted to the fact McCarthy wasn’t practicing, he asked simply: “Why?” Most of the Vikings players didn’t know either. Center Garrett Bradbury noticed McCarthy was absent from practice and had no clue about the severity or specifics of any injury. He wasn’t the only one.

“He finished (the Raiders) game and he looked good,” left tackle Christian Darrisaw said. “He looked great, actually. I didn’t know what was going on.”

Bradbury heard Tuesday that McCarthy had torn his meniscus and would need a procedure. Before the Vikings departed for Cleveland, he spotted McCarthy in the training room and said, “Keep your head up.”

After the Vikings landed Tuesday night, O’Connell texted with McCarthy. One name that came up was Joe Burrow, a highly touted franchise changer himself who as a rookie underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL, MCL and damaged meniscus. Burrow, who once called McCarthy to pitch him on playing at LSU when McCarthy was a recruit, responded and has become one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.

“(McCarthy) has just been of the mindset that this is just a temporary thing regardless of what news he woke up to,” O’Connell said.

McCarthy woke up to the news Vikings staffers and players were still sorting through following the afternoon practice. Many walked off slowly, headed back toward the buses, looking deep in thought about how the team’s plan for the season had been so dramatically altered in such a short period of time.

“It’s tough,” Darrisaw said. “Especially after his first game out with the way he came out and competed — you see something special in the kid.”

“Put it this way: I think the kid has an unbelievably bright future,” said right tackle Brian O’Neill. “And we’re all pulling for him.”

O’Connell summed up their thoughts.

“I really believe that J.J. has confirmed to me and a lot of our coaches and players that we got the right guy in our building for the future,” he said. “And he did it in a short amount of time. It’s what makes this news hard.”

A season still has to be played, one that was always going to be about transition. The Vikings absorbed nearly $60 million in dead cap money, one of the highest taxes in the NFL this season. After trading up and landing edge rusher Dallas Turner, the team has only three draft picks for 2025. So the Vikings must move forward.

That is, if the hits ever stop coming.

As O’Connell completed a radio interview and began walking across the field toward the buses, reporters hounded him for details about second-year wide receiver Jordan Addison, who earlier in practice had twisted his ankle while landing after a contested catch attempt. O’Connell spoke optimistically but said Addison was being taken for imaging.

That line felt relevant again.

You just hope it’s not one of those years.

(Photo: Brad Rempel / USA Today)

Alec Lewis is a staff writer covering the Minnesota Vikings for The Athletic. He grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and has written for Yahoo, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Kansas City Star, among many other places. Follow Alec on Twitter @alec_lewis