J.J. McCarthy expected to return from hand injury in season finale vs. Packers
McCarthy has dealt with a plethora of injuries this season, including having to miss last week's game with a right-hand injury.
Analysis
J.J. McCarthy was a full participant in practice Thursday and is on track to play Sunday against the Packers in the season finale. Stacy Revere / Getty Images
EAGAN, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy is on track to start Sunday’s season finale against the Green Bay Packers.
McCarthy missed last week’s game with a right-hand injury. He practiced in full Thursday for the first time since exiting the Week 16 game against the New York Giants with the injury.
“I felt like the ball was spinning,” McCarthy said after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ll take it day to day.”
Earlier in the season, head coach Kevin O’Connell suggested that McCarthy needed a full week of practice to give him the best chance at optimal performance. The circumstances are different this late in the season. O’Connell said Monday the team would love to get McCarthy one final opportunity.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for the 2024 first-round pick. McCarthy, 22, has missed seven games due to three injuries: a high-ankle sprain, a concussion and currently a hairline fracture in his throwing hand. He struggled early in the season, then found his footing from Weeks 14-16. Improved accuracy and decisiveness provided optimism about McCarthy’s trajectory. He called having to miss the Week 17 victory versus the Lions “extremely tough.”
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns,” McCarthy said. “But at the end of the day, it’s a beautiful picture and a beautiful story that I’m really starting to understand the meaning of. And the reasoning behind it. And we’re not done yet.”
Green Bay has secured its playoff bid, so it may not play most of its starters. Regardless, this is an opportunity for McCarthy to give a closing statement on his first season as a starter ahead of a critical offseason. The current Vikings regime has not won a playoff game. Flipping that will likely be the expectation in 2026, which will require a particular baseline level of play at the quarterback position.
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