Are The Minnesota Vikings Lying About JJ McCarthy’s Ankle Injury So They Can Bench Him?

Minnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy is expected to miss between 2-4 weeks with an injury. The team announced Carson Wentz as the starting quarterback for this coming Sunday as their 22-year-old first-round pick recovers from a sprained ankle.

Some people are not convinced.

There is growing suspicion that the Vikings are hiding behind a phantom injury. That the NFL franchise is actually using this “ankle sprain” as an excuse to bench McCarthy for Wentz after poor play.

JJ McCarthy showed his inexperience.

The first two games of McCarthy’s career yielded mixed results. Although Minnesota beat Chicago in Week 1 behind a fourth-quarter comeback, it was more of a collapse by the latter than a triumph by the former.

The Vikings’ quarterback completed only 13 of 20 pass attempts for 143 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Could be worse. Could be better. A win is a win.

Week 2 was rough. McCarthy completed 11 of 21 attempts for 158 yards with two interceptions in a blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

There are going to be growing pains with a first-year signal-caller. He was always going to be a little bit of a project on the professional level of football. It is far to early to judge.

With that being said, Minnesota might prefer a more seasoned veteran at quarterback in this current moment of time anyway. Wentz will likely make NFL history as the first quarterback to start a game for six different teams in six different seasons this weekend.

Are the Minnesota Vikings lying about his ankle injury?

Kevin O’Connell said on Monday that JJ McCarthy “came in sore” with an ankle sprain. The Vikings do next expect to have him available on Sunday against the Bengals. They are preparing to play without him for the next few weeks.

Although McCarthy was hit and rolled up on multiple times throughout the loss to Atlanta, some people believe Minnesota is lying about the severity of his injury as an excuse to bench him for Wentz.

However, I highly doubt that O’Connell would bench McCarthy after just two professional starts, including a fourth quarter comeback. He and Minnesota committed to their second-year rookie throughout the entire offseason.

It appears as though JJ McCarthy suffered his ankle sprain at the start of the fourth quarter.