By Paddy Tierney

Copyright belfastlive

One of the biggest stars for the Minnesota Vikings is in danger is missing next weekend’s historic clash against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Croke Park through injury. Quarterback JJ McCarthy’s luckless run continues into the 2025 season as a high ankle sprain has already ruled him out of the week three showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Backup Carson Wentz is set get the nod at the US Bank Stadium, which comes just one week before the Vikings take on the Steelers in Dublin. Running back Aaron Jones is also sidelined with a hamstring injury with half a dozen other players being monitored ahead of this weekend’s game. McCarthy’s ankle injury came late in the third quarter during last Sunday’s 22-6 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons when he was tackled by Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss. McCarthy was the number 10 pick of the 2024 draft, but missed his entire rookie season with a meniscus injury. “Obviously tough news there, so we’ve got our work cut out for us,” said coach Kevin O’Connell. “It is crushing because you just want it to be a daily process of activating every aspect of the development and learning. “For JJ, he’s in a long process, a long journey right now where there’s going to be some ups and downs. “And as a team, I think our ability to play a little bit more consistent around him on the offensive side – these one-off kind of critical errors that end up being totally out of JJ’s control. We’ve got to find a way to eliminate those and limit them in any way possible.” The Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers will go head-to-head at Croke Park on Sunday, September 28. It will be the first time Ireland has hosted a regular-season NFL game with the Steelers as the designated home team. Croke Park previously hosted a pre-season tie between the Steelers and the Chicago Bears back in 1997 while the Aviva Stadium has regularly hosted College Football games. The capacity of Croke Park will be cut from 82,300 to around 76,000 for the game with temporary seating installed on Hill 16. Both teams are 1-1 after two games after the Steelers edged the Jets 34-32 in week one before losing 31-17 at home to the Seattle Seahawks last weekend. The Vikings picked up a 34-32 win over divisional rivals Chicago Bears in their season opener before last Sunday’s defeat to the Falcons.