The Minnesota Vikings named Kyler Murray the starting quarterback over JJ McCarthy before the offense took its first snap of the preseason, and things have only gotten worse for McCarthy two games into August.
After a lackluster showing in the opener against the New York Giants, in which Carson Wentz soundly outplayed McCarthy, the third-year quarterback stepped into Game 2 vs. the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday and struggled both mightily and in specifically disconcerting ways.
“Observations from the field glasses: JJ McCarthy plays one quarter and went 5-for-10 with a 50-yard completion to Tai Felton,” Judd Zulgad of SKOR North reported via X. “However, once in the red zone, McCarthy was absolutely throwing Mason Miller fastballs and the Vikings got no points.”
Alec Lewis of The Athletic elaborated on McCarthy’s misses in meaningful situations during his action on Saturday.
“Holy cow. JJ McCarthy misses a wide-open Myles Price on a 4th-and-1. Just way too high and hot,” Lewis wrote on social media. “Same on the Tai Felton two plays earlier.”
Aaron Leming of Windy City Gridiron shared video of the fourth-down pass in question and drew unfortunate, but fair, comparisons to how Vikings fans trying to protect McCarthy amid his troubles mirror how some Chicago Bears fans reacted during the struggles of their last two first-round quarterbacks prior to the arrival of Caleb Williams.
“The comments defending McCarthy are eerily similar to how we saw things unfold with both [Mitchell] Trubisky & [Justin] Fields when it was clear they were not the guy,” Leming posted.
Ravens Defense Pounded Vikings QB JJ McCarthy in Second Preseason Game
GettyMinnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy.
One point to note is that McCarthy didn’t get a lot of time to operate down-to-down against the Ravens’ defense due to poor play by the Vikings’ offensive line reserves.
“To be fair to JJ McCarthy, he’s under pretty constant pressure behind the Vikings’ No. 2 line,” ESPN’s Kevin Seifert wrote on X. “The Ravens have sacked him once and hit him on 3 other plays. In 4 possessions, the Vikings have 90 net yards on 18 plays. (The Ravens have 14 yards on 9 plays. Preseason vibes.)”
Lewis seconded that sentiment, noting that team doctors had to check on the injury-prone McCarthy who missed all of his rookie season and seven games in 2025 due to health concerns.
“JJ McCarthy is getting absolutely obliterated back there. Not easy to watch,” Lewis said. “Trainers just came over to him on the sideline after that third down attempt to Myles Price.”
Kevin O’Connell Left Open Possibility That Carson Wentz Starts Season as Vikings’ QB2
GettyMinnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz.
It is fair to mention that McCarthy’s struggles are coming during the preseason while mostly surrounded by reserve players or guys who won’t end up on a 53-man NFL roster. But that is also the situation for Wentz, who was much better than McCarthy again on Saturday, just as he was last week.
All told, Wentz is 18-of-25 for 173 yards, one TD and zero interceptions across two preseason outings. Meanwhile, McCarthy is 9-of-17 for 115 yards. Each QB has taken two sacks.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said last week that McCarthy had been taking on all the QB2 work in practice and preparing as though he is one snap away at all times from starting. However, O’Connell also left open the possibility that Wentz could win the backup job before the regular season begins.
“We’ll see how these next couple weeks play out, and we’re gonna do what’s best for our team,” O’Connell said.
It is unlikely that Minnesota has made any definitive decisions at this point, but it’s hard to imagine that Wentz hasn’t made up significant ground on McCarthy across the first two preseason outings.
Wentz was also arguably better in five starts for the Vikings last season than McCarthy was across the 10 starts he made.
Vikings QB JJ McCarthy in Danger of Another Demotion After Disastrous Outing