Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will miss his entire rookie season after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters prior to Wednesday's joint practice with the Cleveland Browns that McCarthy, the 10th overall pick of this year's draft, required a full repair of his meniscus that will sideline him for the duration of the 2024 campaign.
McCarthy reported soreness in his knee and was held out of practice Monday, two days after the former University of Michigan star completed 11 of 17 passes for 188 yards with two touchdowns and one interception against the Las Vegas Raiders in his preseason debut.
"As crushed as I am for our team and the excitement we had in our building - and our fanbase felt the same way, especially after seeing him perform really well the other day at U.S. Bank Stadium - I'm the most crushed for J.J.," O'Connell said. "But, as our fans either have already come to find out or will in the future, this guy is so motivated and so dialed in.
"Everyone should just be excited about the fact that we've got our young franchise quarterback, I believe, in the building."
McCarthy's surgery all but assures, barring injury, that Sam Darnold will be the Vikings' starting quarterback for Week 1 and beyond. Minnesota signed the seventh-year veteran to a one-year, $10 million contract in March after star signal-caller Kirk Cousins' decision to sign with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency.
Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2018 draft, has compiled 12,064 passing yards with 63 touchdowns and 56 interceptions over 66 career games (56 starts) with the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.
The 27-year-old made just one start in 2023, a 21-20 loss by the 49ers to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18 in which he completed 16 of 26 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown.
O'Connell said he expects McCarthy to be fully recovered in time for the 2025 season, when the 21-year-old will be the favourite to take over as Minnesota's starter.
"This is going to be a small bump in the road," O'Connell said. "Other quarterbacks in our league have gone through similar things early on in their journey and came back stronger and better than ever. That is not only not my expectation, I know that it's going to happen for J.J."
Cousins throws for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns in Falcons' OT win over Buccaneers
Kirk Cousins passed for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27.
Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. In all the confusion, the Falcons were called for delay of game as they lined up for a tying field goal, but it didn't cost them.
Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime, one week after he made a 58-yarder with 2 seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints.
The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and made sure Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again. Cousins connected with Drake London on a couple of passes before throwing one over the middle to Hodge, who split the secondary and raced untouched to the end zone to end the game.
Chiefs place top wide receiver Rice on injured reserve
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media Thursday the team was waiting for swelling to go down on Rashee Rice's knee before performing additional tests.
Three hours later, the Chiefs had enough information to know he'll be side-lined for at least one month.
The Chiefs placed Rice on injured reserve later Thursday, meaning he will out for a minimum of four weeks.
Rice was injured in last Sunday's 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and it was reported he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but a torn ACL would side-line him for the rest of the season.
The second-year receiver was injured on a bizarre play when he collided with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who inadvertently dove into Rice's knee as the two team-mates were attempting to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton on an interception return.
Rice was carted off to the locker room shortly after leaving the field and eventually ruled out of the game.
His injury is the latest blow to a Kansas City team that is already without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco, who is recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in Week 2.
It also leaves Mahomes without his top target, as Rice led the NFL with 24 receptions through this season's first three weeks.
No other Kansas City player had double-digit receptions entering Week 4, though Travis Kelce finally took on a larger role in the offence.
The veteran tight end had seven receptions for 89 yards against the Chargers after catching eight passes for 69 yards in the first three games.
Despite losing two of their top play-makers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.
'It was a good day' - Goff proud of setting new NFL record
Jared Goff was proud of making history, as he set an NFL single-game record by completing all 18 of his pass attempts to help the Detroit Lions to victory.
The Lions beat the previously unbeaten Seattle Seahawks 42-29 on Monday, with Goff eclipsing Hall of Famer Kurt Warner's 10-for-10 performance in 2005, the previous standard for most passes in a game without an incompletion.
The quarterback threw for 292 yards, including touchdown passes to Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown on his perfect evening, while also hauling in the latter's 7-yard toss for a touchdown in the third quarter.
That made him the first quarterback with a receiving touchdown since Zach Wilson in 2022, while he also became the first QB in NFL history with 15 or more pass attempts with no incompletions in a game.
Goff was aware that he was closing in on a perfect game, even if he had doubts at one point.
"I knew I did it in the first half last week, so I was aware of it then, and I was kind of aware of it today in the middle of the third quarter," he said.
"I couldn't think of one [incompletion], but then I threw the one out of bounds that ended up being offensive pass interference, and I was like, 'Does that count?' I didn't know if that counted or not.
"But yeah, it was a good day."
On his touchdown reception, he added: "No, I think that's my first one, too. Ever.
"And I'm saying all the way back to 7 years old, I think that's my first one."
Lions coach Dan Campbell did not realise how impressive Goff's performance had been after the game, choosing to give the game ball to Williams and safety Kerby Joseph for their strong play.
"I just gave the game ball to somebody else," Campbell laughed. "So, I feel awful right now.
"I knew he played a heck of a game. I did not realize he was perfect. I did not know he was literally 18 for 18.
"I thought what really kick-started him was that he had to move a little in the pocket, got spun around and hung with Jamo [Williams] and hit him on the hook for the first down, that was big because he was rolling after that."
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