Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will practice on Wednesday, but he’ll be wearing a little extra protection on his right hand.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters at a press conference that McCarthy will be wearing a bandage on the hand. McCarthy hit his hand on a helmet while playing against the Ravens last Sunday.
O’Connell said that the team does not expect the issue to affect McCarthy’s practice participation and that he remains on track to start against the Bears in Week 11. McCarthy missed five games with an ankle injury before returning to start the last two games.
Rookie Max Brosmer is the No. 2 quarterback for the Vikings and John Wolford is on the practice squad as the third quarterback.
The Vikings are getting their center back on the practice field this week.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell announced in his Wednesday press conference that Ryan Kelly’s 21-day window to return from injured reserve is opening on Wednesday.
Kelly has been out since suffering his latest documented concussion in late September.
O’Connell noted that Kelly will wear a new helmet and is also likely to use a Guardian Cap. As noted by Kevin Seifert of ESPN, Kelly has had five documented concussions in his career.
The Vikings signed Kelly to a two-year deal in March after he’d spent his first nine pro seasons with the Colts. Kelly has not started all 17 games in a season since 2022.
Kelly can be activated at any time during his 21-day practice window.
After the Vikings committed eight false starts in Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, their running back Aaron Jones said that the Ravens were “playing a little game” on the defensive line to cause some of the issues.
Jones said that the Ravens were making “move calls” that could be taken for Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s cadence, but head coach Kevin O’Connell said he did not hear anything like that from players during the game. On Monday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he agreed with his colleague that “it wasn’t anything we were doing.”
“I went back and I watched it, because we didn’t have a gameplan for that,” Harbaugh said, via a transcript from the team. “If we did, I would’ve been happy, but we’re not going to do anything illegal. If you stem, you make a move call, which is what you do; you’re allowed to say, ‘Move.’ You’re not allowed to say ‘set,’ or ‘hut,’ or anything else. Or a cadence, which we never have done. But then I watched all of them, and [on] none of them did we stem. Not one did we move.
Harbaugh suggested the Vikings’ own pre-snap shifts and cadence variations had a hand in the unusual number of false starts for the home team and that leaves it as an issue for O’Connell to address as they move on with their season.
Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard had to leave Sunday’s loss to the Ravens with a shoulder injury, but it does not look like he is going to miss an extended period of time.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said at a Monday press conference that there was “good news” after further evaluation of the shoulder. O’Connell said they will “see how he does throughout the week” and that he could potentially play against the Bears in Week 11.
Greenard has 31 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble while starting every game for the Vikings so far this season.
O’Connell also said that safety Theo Jackson has cleared the concussion protocol and should return to action this week.
The Vikings outgained the Ravens on Sunday afternoon, but three turnovers and 12 penalties helped Baltimore pick up a 27-19 road win.
Eight of those penalties were false starts, which is the most by a home team in the last 16 seasons. After the game, running back Aaron Jones suggested that “move calls” being made by the Ravens defense contributed to the rash of early jumps.
“Yeah, they’re playing a little game there, too,” Jones said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. ‘So, that’s what they get paid to do. And we just got to lock in a little more.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said he wondered if that was happening during the game, but “did not get any indication from our guys they were doing that” and said it is up to the Vikings to “correct whatever the issue was” with both the penalties and the turnovers.
