Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy held out of practice with knee soreness, status for 2nd preseason game uncertain

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was held out of Monday night’s practice after reporting right knee soreness to team medical personnel, according to coach Kevin O’Connell.

O’Connell told reporters that the rookie QB will undergo further testing on the knee and does not know whether McCarthy will travel with the team to Cleveland, reports ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. The Vikings are set to participate in joint practices with the Browns before their preseason game on Saturday.

“Out of precaution, we’re going to continue an evaluation on him and get some more testing done,” O’Connell said, via ESPN.com. “A very important player, obviously, so we want to make sure we’re smart before he participates, making sure we have a good understanding of where he’s at.”

McCarthy was expected to get more reps with the first-team offense in practice this week after playing well in Minnesota’s preseason opener versus the Las Vegas Raiders. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards with two touchdowns and ran twice for 18 yards. McCarthy was scheduled to play 30 snaps and was pulled from the game after he reached that number.

There is no indication whether McCarthy hurt his knee during the game. O’Connell says he could have continued playing versus the Raiders and believes McCarthy’s knee soreness is a routine ache after seeing his first preseason action, according to The Athletic.

“We’re trying to figure out when it happened, but he just came in with some routine soreness that a lot of guys after their first preseason game sometimes come in with,” O’Connell said. “It was something we wanted to be smart about.”

After starter Sam Darnold and McCarthy, the Vikings also have quarterbacks Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall in camp.