The Pittsburgh Steelers are focused on Week 3, but their Week 4 outing against the Minnesota Vikings will be here in the blink of an eye. Once Mike Tomlin’s crew begins preparing for that contest, it looks like they’ll have to account for a different quarterback than expected.
In Sunday night’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota signal-caller J.J. McCarthy suffered an ankle injury. It’s since been deemed a high-ankle sprain, which can oftentimes take weeks to recover from.
ESPN insider Adam Schefter believes that’ll indeed be the case. As a result, that puts McCarthy’s availability for Week 4 in serious jeopardy.
Here’s why with @tyschmit:
Steelers Not Likely to Face J.J. McCarthy for Week 4 Game Against Vikings
Following their Week 3 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Vikings have a pair of international outings. One of them is against the Steelers in Dublin, Ireland. Schefter reports that not only could McCarthy miss that, but it’s on the table for him to sit out through the bye.
Schefter explained more on the “Adam Schefter Podcast.”
After that, the Vikings travel to Dublin to play the Pittsburgh Steelers overseas,” Schefter said. “The week after that, they play in London against the Cleveland Browns. And then, they have a bye. So if you’re J.J. McCarthy and you have a high-ankle sprain and you’re going on a bye, my first question is, ‘Is he even going to make the trip over there, or are they going to leave him home with his new baby, rehabbing his high-ankle sprain so he can be ready after the bye when they play a home game on October 19 against the Philadelphia Eagles?
Doesn’t that make sense on a two-to-four-week timeline, that J.J. McCarthy will not play Sunday? Then we play at Pittsburgh and at Cleveland — in Dublin and London — before a bye week.”
This would certainly be a noteworthy development. McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft, missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. Going down just two weeks into a de facto debut campaign is tough for any young field general. It also makes Pittsburgh’s job a bit more difficult.
Of course, it’s not like there isn’t plenty of tape of backup Carson Wentz out there.
What Would Pittsburgh Be Getting in Carson Wentz Matchup?
Wentz is a former first-round pick in his own right. Entering the league back in 2016, he was once an MVP candidate during his heyday with the Eagles. Injuries and inconsistent play derailed his tenure there, sending him to more of a journeyman path ever since.
Now on the Vikings, Wentz is in line to start for his sixth team in as many seasons. It’s something no other quarterback in NFL history has done. Since leaving Philadelphia, he’s appeared in 30 games (26 starts) for the Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs.
Wentz’s extended reps came in 2022 with Washington (8 games) and 2021 with Indianapolis (17 games, all starts). In that two-season span, he completed 62.4% of his passes for 5,318 yards, 38 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with an 89.6 passer rating. As a Commander, his -0.062 EPA/play ranked 43rd in the rbsdm.com database for quarterbacks. He was significantly better the year prior with the Colts (0.084, 24th).
At this stage of his career, Wentz is a reliable backup and capable spot-starter as needed. It sure looks like against the Steelers, he’ll be in the mix to get reps.
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and company have some notice, at least.
Steelers Get Huge News for Week 4 Game vs. Vikings