By A to Z Sports,Tyler Forness

Copyright yardbarker

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy got some bad news ahead of the Week 3 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He suffered an ankle sprain that will likely keep him out against the Bengals and could keep him out for 2-4 weeks, which could mean he could miss both games overseas.

It’s brutal news for the Vikings, who have struggled massively in trying to get their offense off the ground in their 1-1 start. Outside of the fourth quarter against the Bears, they have scored just 12 points and turned it over four times. This isn’t ideal for the Vikings in any sense, but if anyone can handle not having their starting quarterback, it’s head coach Kevin O’Connell. It could also open the door for multiple narratives to begin forming.

J.J. McCarthy’s injury could open door for Max Brosmer

With McCarthy likely not playing on Sunday, that opens the door for Carson Wentz to get another opportunity to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He’s been a journeyman backup for the last few seasons, and his experience will give the Vikings a high floor. He will at the very least be able to operate the offense at an NFL level, something that McCarthy has struggled to do so far.

Working with and maximizing backup quarterbacks has been something that O’Connell has been given a lot of credit for.

“I think you’ve got to first and foremost always give credit to the player, or players, for being ready,” said O’Connell in November of 2023, the day after Josh Dobbs’ miracle win over the Atlanta Falcons. “It’s a lot to use mental reps and walk-through reps and things to say you’re ready to go play, but this league – everything is happening very, very fast. There are no do-overs when you get out there. So, I think it’s a credit first and foremost to those guys, but then the coaching staff having those guys ready to roll. It hasn’t just been yesterday. It hasn’t just been this past week. It’s been, really, all season. “It’s on us as coaches to have a game plan that our guys can absorb and then go thrive in, whether they get the reps or not, and then players making it come to life by their execution. It’s 100 percent a player’s ability to go do that. We try to harvest an environment around here where every player on our team should feel like that – whether they’re on the practice squad or they’re one of our marquee guys that we’ve leaned on from the very beginning.”

O’Connell knows how to maximize a player who hasn’t had a lot of time in the system, as he led Josh Dobbs to back-to-back wins. Wentz has been with the Vikings for three weeks, and you know that O’Connell will have Wentz ready to go.

If Wentz starts to struggle, the Vikings could end up giving third string quarterback and UDFA Max Brosmer an opportunity. After a fantastic preseason, there are already some saying he could be the next Brock Purdy. Now, some of that is in jest, but it’s not an impossibility. The Vikings are huge on Brosmer, and he will be the backup for Wentz.