Vikings' J.J. McCarthy to miss 2024 season after knee surgery - ESPN

J.J. McCarthy's 2024 season is over before it officially began.

The Minnesota Vikings' rookie quarterback will be sidelined until 2025 after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, coach Kevin O'Connell said.

The news ruptured the increasing optimism around McCarthy's on-field progress and left the team with veteran Sam Darnold, who signed a one-year contract worth $10 million in March, as its likely 2024 starter. The other quarterbacks on the Vikings' roster are 2023 holdovers Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall.

Speaking Wednesday from the Cleveland Browns' practice facility in Berea, Ohio, where the Vikings will practice this week, O'Connell did his best to put an optimistic spin on the tough news.

«He's confirmed everything that I hoped to see early in training camp through his performance last Saturday,» O'Connell said, «but our fan base and everyone should just be excited about the fact that we've got our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building. And now it's about the unique aspect of continuing a very critical development process for him, where maybe the physical reps aren't going to be there in the short term, but this is going to be a small bump in the road.»

McCarthy was injured at some point during Saturday's preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders. The rookie reported ongoing soreness to team medical officials Monday.

McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick of the April draft, will be the fourth first-round quarterback in this century who did not play in a regular-season game as a rookie, joining Green Bay's Jordan Love (2020), Washington's Jason Campbell (2005) and Cincinnati's Carson Palmer (2003).

«Other quarterbacks in our league have gone through similar things