McCarthy misses night practice due to knee soreness

Kevin O'Connell called it 'routine' but said they are doing tests on the rookie's knee

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By Matthew Coller

EAGAN — The night practice is supposed to be about good vibes surrounding the Minnesota Vikings. This year that hasn’t quite been in the cards. Hundreds of fans had to wait a week when the event was initially pushed back due to weather and then when they showed up to TCO Performance Center on Monday night to see first-round rookie JJ McCarthy, they were not given that opportunity to due knee soreness that the young quarterback experienced following the preseason win over the Raiders on Saturday.

“He just came in [Monday] with some routine soreness that a lot of guys after their first preseason game come in with,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “And it was something we want to be smart about at this point.”

O’Connell said that the team was planning to do "testing” on McCarthy’s knee and that it wasn’t clear whether he would travel for joint practices in Cleveland. The hope, the head coach said, was to work McCarthy in somewhat with the first unit this week.

“Before he participates we want to make sure we have a good understanding of where he’s at,” O’Connell said.

The Vikings’ head coach noted that they didn’t identify a specific play that caused McCarthy to have enough soreness to miss Monday night’s workout.

“Hopefully we can maintain the plans that we had for him and he’s done a great job throughout training camp,” O’Connell said.

The team is set to travel to Cleveland in the middle of the day on Tuesday. O’Connell said he expects to be able to provide an update on McCarthy’s status then.

As far as implications of the injury go, there wasn’t a lot of evidence to point toward McCarthy coming from behind to win the QB1 job in Week 1 against the Giants but if he misses the joint practices that would solidify Sam Darnold in that spot. If he misses the week and then returns to work, the only thing he will have missed out on is some reps against very good competition in Cleveland and more game action. If the young QB has to sit out any longer than that, it will be an unfortunate setback to what has been a best-case-scenario start to his career.

The rest of the night practice

The most notable takeaway from the on-field performance at TCO Stadium was that several veteran players who have been out were back on the field. Running back Aaron Jones, outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard and defensive tackle Jerry Tillery were all practicing.

Rookie Dallas Turner was there in a sweatshirt but did not practice. O’Connell did not mention the reason for his absence.

Andrew Van Ginkel had the highlight of the night with an interception. He stepped in front of a pass underneath that was headed for Justin Jefferson. Also kicker Will Reichard continued his streak of nailing every practice kick.

Stephon Gilmore’s visit

The veteran cornerback was in town on Monday but left without a contract. It sounded like the Vikings were trying to sell Gilmore on the team’s atmosphere and his familiarity with Brian Flores from their time in New England.

“I think it’s a positive for guys to get a sneak preview at what they may be joining if things work out,” O’Connell said. “As far as where we’re at right now [with Gilmore], nothing to update there other than that it was a very positive visit.”

KOC’s takeaways from the preseason game