Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy‘s season-ending meniscus injury has rekindled debate surrounding the necessity preseason games — leading Kirk Cousins to offer his insight into the matter.
Cousins, who hasn’t played in a preseason game since 2021, addressed whether he would like to play this preseason — his first with the Atlanta Falcons after signing a four-year, $180 million contract with the team in March.
“I’d like to play,” Cousins said in an August 14 news conference. “If I’m playing, yes, they’re valuable I’m going to get something out of it.
“It’s good work. We can try as hard as we can to make practice feel like the real thing, but it doesn’t… But there will always be this debate as long as guys are getting hurt like what we had the other night,” Cousins said.
The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback added that for many players it’s a “big memory,” including himself as a former fourth-round pick whose future in the NFL was not guaranteed.
“I remember thinking,” Cousins said, per AtlantaFalcons.com. ” ‘Well, if they cut me, I got to wear an NFL helmet for one game,’ and it was a dream just to be out there.”
Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy Convinced Kevin O’Connell He’s the QB of the Future
Things have moved fast for McCarthy who shined in Saturday’s 24-23 preseason victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
The 21-year-old completed 11-of-17 pass attempts for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, leaving the organization optimistic about their future after moving on from Cousins in March.
That optimism hasn’t left head coach Kevin O’Connell, who confirmed McCarthy underwent a meniscus repair on Wednesday, August 14, and would be out for the season.
“As our fans either have already come to find out or will in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dialed in,” O’Connell said. “As excited as I was to draft him, he’s confirmed everything that I hoped to see, not only early on through training camp, first performance last Saturday, but he should — our fanbase and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we’ve got our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building.”
McCarthy’s surgery does, however, put a damper on the possibility of his emergence during the 2024 season. O’Connell maintained that McCarthy’s development will not be sidelined despite the injury.
“Now, it’s just about the unique aspect of continuing a very critical development process for him where maybe the physical reps aren’t going to be there in the short term. But this is going to be a small bump in the road,” O’Connell said.
“I really believe that J.J. has kind of confirmed to me and a lot of our coaches and players that we’ve got the right guy in the building for the future. And he did it in a short amount of time,” O’Connell added. “So, it’s what makes this news hard — because you know just how exciting it would’ve been daily, minute-to-minute process moving forward. But I think that optimism should be felt by anybody in our building.”
Vikings Are Riding Rollercoaster of Sam Darnold Moving Forward
McCarthy’s unavailability this season doesn’t change much. The Vikings strived to have Sam Darnold ready to start, and hopefully play well enough to keep the calls for McCarthy to start at bay.
If Darnold performed poorly, at least McCarthy could play at some point and inject excitement for the future this season.
Now, there’s no backup plan if Darnold plays poorly.
With a play-caller like O’Connell and the best supporting cast of his career, Darnold has the opportunity to thrive and potentially keep playoff hopes alive for this season.
However, it could also become a retread of last season when Cousins went down with a season-ending Achilles injury in October and the quarterback carousel that later ensued.
The Vikings must keep the pressure off Darnold for him to play within the system. If they cannot, he’s shown to play erratically, which could result in too many highs and lows for the Vikings to stomach.
Nick Mullens would be next up, but it would likely become a week-to-week call of who will be the team’s signal caller if Darnold cannot hold onto his job.
