For the first time in about a year, former Michigan football quarterback J.J. McCarthy played in an NFL preseason game, this time as the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.
McCarthy played in one preseason game last year, throwing a couple of touchdown passes before suffering a season-ending achilles injury.
4/7 passing
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 9, 2025
30 passing yards
3 total first downs@jjmccarthy09 led the #Vikings to a FG in his only drive this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/WBXawpqB4K
After a year of rehab, as well as Minnesota passing on the chance to sign Aaron Rodgers or keep Sam Darnold, McCarthy is the projected starter.
The Vikings drafted him 10th overall in the 2024 NFL draft after all. They need to see if he was worth that investment, especially while still on a rookie contract.
Saturday McCarthy got the start and led Minnesota to three points. He was 4-for-7 for 30 yards. He also ran for a first down on fourth down. McCarthy completed his first four passes, three of which went to Jordan Addison.
But the next three attempts were incomplete. One was batted down. His quarterback rating was 67. Preseason footbal is hard to judge, though. Minnesota planned on giving McCarthy just one series. A touchdown would have been nice, but a field goal is a positive way to start the season.
Vikings fans should feel good about J.J. McCarthy's preseason opener
Some Vikings fans might be worried. Rival fans will surely chirp about McCarthy who only had one completion of longer than 10 yards, but he did his job, and did it well.
I'd be encouraged if I were a Vikings fan. There has been chatter about McCarthy struggling in training camp, but he was out most of the season with an injury. He's now a second-year player without much on-field experience, so yes, there will be growing pains.
The talent is obvious and we didn't see anything on Saturday that made it feel like McCarthy wasn't ready to be Minnesota's starting quarterback.