Justin Jefferson exited Minnesota’s victory over Tampa Bay with an ankle injury, but it sounds like he won’t be sidelined for long.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters on Monday that the team received good news on Jefferson after he underwent more tests.
“It’s an ankle sprain — avoided anything long-term,” O’Connell said. “It’s just going to be about progressing throughout the week and where we can get him to from the standpoint of getting the swelling out and then what kind of work week he can have. But was very encouraged to get that news today.”
Jefferson had a pair of receptions for 32 yards before exiting Sunday’s contest.
In three games this season, he has 13 catches for 179 yards with two touchdowns.
Hosting the Jets in Week 4, the Vikings’ first injury report of the week is due out on Wednesday.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed that tight end Josh Oliver is going to miss extended time during his Monday press conference.
Word on Monday morning was that Oliver tore his biceps during Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers and O’Connell announced that he will have surgery to repair the injury. O’Connell called Oliver a “big part” of the team’s offensive plans and that it will be up to multiple people to fill in for his absence.
Oliver played 55 percent of the snaps over the first three weeks of the season and had three catches for 46 yards. He’s been with the Vikings since 2023 and had 59 catches for 631 yards and nine touchdowns in his first three years with the club.
T.J. Hockenson and Gavin Bartholomew are the other tight ends on the active roster.
Nolan Teasley was not the Vikings’ General Manager who drafted J.J. McCarthy, but he became the one who ended the quarterback’s time in Minnesota on Monday.
McCarthy was traded to the Giants in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick and Teasley explained the decision to cut ties with the 2024 first-round pick at a press conference on Monday afternoon. Teasley said that McCarthy, who was the third-string quarterback, did not request a trade, but that the Vikings believed that making a move was “the best path forward and the best decision.”
“We have a responsibility to make decisions that we believe are in the best interest of the organization, of the Vikings holistically,” Teasley said. “Sometimes, those decisions aren’t easy, but you just have to recognize when a different situation or a new opportunity presents itself it has the opportunity to present better outcomes.”
Teasley had spoken about McCarthy continuing to develop throughout the offseason and said that he continues “to believe that his story is not written in this league and that he has potential to continue to grow and develop and make a difference” as an NFL player, but that won’t be happening in Minnesota. He also called the fifth-round pick an asset that could potentially help the Vikings this season as they could move it again in a trade before the deadline.
After the 2023 season, the Vikings decided to abandon the veteran quarterback rollercoaster for a potential franchise quarterback.
The ride ended up being bumper cars without the bumpers.
Minnesota had earned the 11th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Four quarterbacks had been drafted in the first eight picks. As the clock ticked toward their pick at No. 11, the Vikings feared being leapfrogged by the Broncos at No. 12.
And so the Vikings gave up a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick to move up from No. 11 to No. 10. (They also received a seventh-rounder from the Jets as part of the deal.) They used the pick not to take Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, but to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
His rookie season was lost to a meniscus injury during the preseason opener. And while the 2024 season went well with free-agent Sam Darnold stepping in, the Vikings opted to go all-in with McCarthy for 2025, allowing both Darnold and Daniel Jones to leave via free agency.
McCarthy won his debut game on a Monday night in Chicago. A Week 2 loss in Atlanta resulted in an ankle injury that caused McCarthy to miss the next five games. He returned in Week 9 with an upset of the Lions in Detroit. Three straight losses followed, and a concussion in Green Bay caused McCarthy to miss what was a 26-0 low point in Seattle with undrafted rookie Max Brosmer at the helm.
But then McCarthy returned. He won three in a row, missed the Christmas Day win over the Lions (Brosmer got a little redemption, but not much, in the defense-driven performance), and won the regular-season finale against the Packers. While the Vikings’ postseason hopes were dashed after the shutout loss to the Seahawks, the Vikings finished strong under McCarthy.
Still, the two-year body of work wasn’t enough to keep the Vikings from pouncing on the opportunity to add Kyler Murray in free agency, on a bargain-basement deal (thanks to the Cardinals owing him more than $35 million in 2026). The competition between Murray and McCarthy lingered into training camp, with Murray getting the job in the days before the preseason opener.
At that point, it seemed that a fresh start for McCarthy would be beneficial for both sides. The vibes were clearly off, even though the team and the player did their best to conceal any dysfunction. The fact that McCarthy slipped behind Carson Wentz on the depth chart underscored the reality that it was just a matter of time before McCarthy would be gone.
Opportunity knocked after the Giants lost Jaxson Dart to a knee injury. Still, the Vikings got merely a fifth-round pick for McCarthy — after giving up the 11th pick in 2024, a fourth-round pick, and a fifth-round pick to get him (with the seventh-round pick in return).
It’s always prudent for a team that has made a mistake to admit it and move on. Doubling down helps no one. Still, there’s a price to be paid for acknowledging to such a major blunder.
And while no one knows what was happening behind the scenes, the early-season performances from Murray and Wentz suggested that maybe, at some point in 2026, the Vikings would have needed McCarthy to play. His absence puts more pressure on the team to make it work with Murray and/or Wentz (and, if necessary, with Brosmer).
The Vikings also need to quietly hope that McCarthy doesn’t become a competent contributor for the Giants. If he does, the Vikings would join the list of franchises that used a high pick on a rookie quarterback, failed to develop him, and folded the tents prematurely.
The J.J. McCarthy experiment in Minnesota has ended. In New York, it’s just beginning.
Per multiple reports, the Vikings have traded the tenth overall pick in the 2024 draft to the Giants. In return, the Vikings will receive a 2027 fifth-round pick.
The Giants have a clear need at the position, given the knee injury that will keep Jaxson Dart out for at least the rest of the regular season. On Sunday, the starter was Jameis Winston, with Jake Haener as the understudy.
In Minnesota, McCarthy lost the starting job to Kyler Murray before falling behind Carson Wentz to the third spot on the depth chart. From the moment McCarthy was benched, it seemed that he was on borrowed time in Minnesota — even though everyone involved was saying all the right things.
For the Giants, the move brings the former Michigan quarterback (coached by Jim Harbaugh) to the NFL team coached by John Harbaugh.
For now, Winston is the starter. Whether McCarthy gets an opportunity to play depends on whether Winston is injured — and whether Winston remains sufficiently effective.
