Vikings Hope J.J. McCarthy Can Practice in Limited Capacity Before Browns Game

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell is optimistic that quarterback J.J. McCarthy will resume practicing ahead of Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns.

"My hope is … maybe not necessarily early on — we're going to handle Wednesday, probably in a unique way, from what could be kind of a hybrid day, but as we get into Thursday and Friday, I'm hoping we can at least get him out there and get him taking some drops and starting to get back in the normal rhythm of the practice week," O'Connell told reporters.

"Because you're really going back to, he had a 'fast Friday' before that Atlanta game, but you're really going all the way back to the Chicago game, to when he had a normal circumstance of practice to be able to stack days together. It will all depend on kind of where he's at with the benchmarks of being able to go out there and start moving around a little bit."

McCarthy is dealing with a high ankle sprain that has prevented him from practicing for the last two weeks.

Minnesota didn't miss him much in a dominant 48-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Leaning on Carson Wentz as the starter became more of an issue last Sunday as he threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns but had two interceptions in a 24-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers also sacked him six times.

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Beyond the fact that Wentz isn't a great QB1 option at this point in his career, McCarthy is missing valuable time he needs to keep growing as a quarterback. Having thrown for fewer than 200 yards in each of his two starts, the 2024 first-round pick remains a work in progress.

Granted, the Browns won't be a favorable matchup for whoever is lining up under center for Minnesota. Cleveland is allowing the fourth-fewest passing yards (152.3 per game) and has 11 sacks through four games as a team.

Still, McCarthy isn't going to improve as long as he's holding a clipboard on the sideline.