Vikings' J.J. McCarthy Says Ankle Still Not '100%,' Provides Injury Return Timeline

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy offered an update on his injured high ankle sprain on Wednesday.

"It's getting there," he told reporters. "I wouldn't say it's 100 percent. ... We've got to be smart and understand there's a lot of things that go on. I'm just going to do what I'm told and try to get better."

McCarthy, who was limited at practice on Wednesday ahead of Sunday's matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, added that "a lot of well-respected second opinions" from medical professionals offered an initial recovery timeline of anywhere from two to six weeks, and "we're still in that."

The second-year quarterback first suffered the injury on Sept. 14.

His backup, Carson Wentz, is also dealing with an injury to his shoulder, though he was a full participant in practice on Wednesday. Head coach Kevin O'Connell has said he wants McCarthy to be 100 percent recovered before he returns to play.

"I think the big thing is just getting him back on the grass in uniform, practicing, getting real live reps of a pass rush and taking drops and applying some of the things that he's worked really hard on as of late as he's kind of gotten to that phase of his rehab," O'Connell told reporters regarding McCarthy. "Then when he does that, instant dialogue about what he's able to do and what it felt like and, 'Hey, let's log that away.' And then if he doesn't do the same thing, it's going to be [the same]. I'm having a blast coaching him. It started last week when he was able to really start ramping up a little bit as he gets there and that one-on-one work and then obviously the work he does with [assistant coaches] is going to be critical."