The Vikings played a preseason game on Saturday without quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who will miss all of 2024 with a knee injury.
After the win at Cleveland, coach Kevin O’Connell was asked about whether the news will have a “galvanizing effect” on the team.
“I think guys are pretty confident in Sam Darnold,” O’Connell told reporters. “I do. When Nick Mullens got his opportunities last year, we were very explosive as an offense. His ability to run the show and really highlight a lot of different aspects of our offense with his understanding is something. That’s why Nick’s here. He’s a guy we really respect and respect his prep and his experience.”
Last year, O’Connell got plenty out of Josh Dobbs, who showed up cold two days after the Kirk Cousins injury, and Mullens. Almost enough to get to the playoffs. This year, with Darnold having the opportunities to prepare and no fear of getting benched for a rookie first-rounder, the Vikings could be better off offensively.
Still, it hurts to not have the kid who showed plenty of promise in his preseason debut.
“Nobody is more bummed out about J.J.’s situation than J.J. himself, just because he loves being with his teammates,” O’Connell said. “We’re going to get him back with the group as quickly as possible. It’ll be great to get home and see him post-op. I’m sure he’ll be at the facility day and night already, in meetings and everything. We’re going to really try to craft a plan for J.J. that allows him to not miss a beat from mental preparation and the standpoint of going through game plans throughout the season. Really starting to envision what that looks like for him as he kind of watches Sam go about it in year one of the system as well.”
It will be an interesting experiment for the Vikings. McCarthy won’t practice or play, but he’ll get a chance to learn the offense from the inside out before he has to execute it in a game that counts.
Still, by next year the stakes will be even higher. Most will project the Vikings to finish behind the Lions, Packers, and Bears in the NFC North. That’s happened only five times since the 1970 merger created the NFC Central, which 32 years later became the NFC North.
