J.J. McCarthy Breaks Silence On Need For Surgery

Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy shared a post acknowledging his need to undergo surgery on his injured knee Tuesday (August 13).

"Love you Viking nation. I’ll be back in no time. Amor fati," McCarthy wrote.

Head coach Kevin O'Connell later confirmed reports that McCarthy suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee during a virtual press conference Tuesday.

"It has been determined that J.J. does have a tear in his meniscus, in his right knee. He will need to undergo a procedure, obviously that will hopefully take place in the near future here," O'Connell said via Vikings.com . "But as far as a timeline on the injury, that will be determined during the procedure, based upon whether it can just be a cleanup or potentially a repair. That won't be able to be determined until that procedure takes place. I would just be speculating on a timeline for a return at this point."

McCarthy, 21, reported the soreness to medical officials on Monday prior to O'Connell's decision to rule him out of the team's night practice, which served as the final training camp session open to fans. The rookie quarterback threw for 188 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 11 of 17 passing, while also recording 18 yards on two rushing attempts, during the Vikings' preseason win against the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday (August 10).

O'Connell removed McCarthy, who came in after starter Sam Darnold , from the game late in the third quarter after the rookie hit his set play count of 30 snaps.

"Out of precaution we're going to continue an evaluation on him and get some more testing done. [He is a] very important player, obviously, so we want to make sure we're smart before he participates, making sure we have a good understanding of where he's at," O'Connell said Monday via ESPN , later referring to McCarthy's situation as "some kind of routine soreness that a lot of guys after their first preseason game sometimes come in with, and it was something we wanted to be smart about."

McCarthy was selected by the Vikings at No. 10 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, three months after leading the Michigan Wolverines to a College Football Playoff National Championship. The 21-year-old threw for 6,226 yards, 49 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on 482 of 713 passing during his collegiate career.

Veteran quarterback Sam Darnold , who signed with the Vikings in the offseason prior to McCarthy being drafted, was long pegged as the team's starting quarterback for the 2024 season. Darnold, a former No. 3 overall pick, threw for 297 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 28 of 46 passing while serving primarily as a backup for the San Francisco 49ers in 2023.