Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy expected to miss Sunday's game vs. Bengals with an ankle injury

Ben Goessling, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 15, 2025

Published in Football

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MINNEAPOLIS — Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy sustained an ankle injury in Sunday’s 22-6 loss to the Falcons and is expected to miss next week’s game against the Bengals, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced Monday.

Carson Wentz, signed as the backup on Aug. 24, would start at quarterback instead. Bengals starting quarterback Joe Burrow will miss the game and is expected to be out for weeks with a toe injury.

O’Connell said McCarthy’s injury happened on a second-and-20 scramble in the third quarter, when he was taken down as he went out of bounds near the Vikings sideline.

“He just kind of got rolled up on,” O’Connell said. “In the moment, we didn’t necessarily think it was that significant when we came off after that series. There was somebody in the blue [medical] tent, so he got it evaluated right there, got it tape up and went back in the game. Hearing from our medical staff, it’s one of those things that tends to be much worse today than it probably was in the moment, with adrenaline and everything.“

O’Connell said he didn’t think the injury was severe enough for McCarthy to land on injured reserve, which would keep him out for a minimum of four weeks, but he didn’t have a concrete timetable for when the quarterback would return.

O’Connell added that he wanted to see how the injury responds to treatment through the week.

“Tough news there,” he said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

With McCarthy out, the Vikings will turn to Wentz, who started one game each of the past two years for the Rams and Chiefs. He was the runner-up in the NFL MVP voting in 2017, when he led an Eagles team that won Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium after Wentz tore his ACL. He was out of Philadelphia after the 2020 season, and his last year as a full-time starter was in 2021 for the Colts, when he threw 27 touchdowns against seven interceptions.

Wentz got the majority of the practice snaps last Thursday when McCarthy was gone to be with his fiancée as she delivered the couple’s first child.

“Carson stepped in and did a great job,” O’Connell said. “I know the guys will have a ton of confidence in him, as well as Max [Brosmer] being a snap away.”

McCarthy, who was sacked six times by the Falcons, joins the long list of injured Vikings players coming out of the game. Offensive linemen Ryan Kelly and Justin Skule are in the concussion protocol, and running back Aaron Jones is likely to be out this week with a hamstring injury, O’Connell said. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw has not yet returned to game action after having knee surgery last October.

The Vikings defense came into Sunday’s game with its own injury issues. Linebacker Blake Cashman (hamstring), outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion), cornerback Jeff Okudah (concussion) and safety Harrison Smith (illness) were out.

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