Vikings' J.J. McCarthy misses practice with knee soreness after solid preseason debut, to have more tests done

Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy came into the facility Monday and reported knee soreness, leading to the team holding him out of practice. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said McCarthy had "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," via ESPN .

The severity of the injury is not yet known at this time.

"Out of precaution, we're going to continue an evaluation on him and get some more testing done," O'Connell said. "[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."

McCarthy had played in Minnesota's preseason opener two days before reporting soreness, making a strong debut by completing 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns (one each to Trent Sherfield and Trishton Jackson ), along with an interception. He has been operating as the No. 2 quarterback behind Sam Darnold throughout the offseason. For his part, Darnold went 4 of 8 for 59 yards during the preseason game.

Minnesota will already be dealing with the absence of one important player early on this season, as tight end T.J. Hockenson is still working his way back from an ACL tear suffered late last season. The Vikes could also be without wide receiver Jordan Addison , who is expected to receive some sort of suspension after his DUI arrest earlier this summer. If McCarthy has to miss any time, it could delay his progress in eventually usurping Darnold for the starting role under center.