JJ McCarthy's season-ending injury could prove to be a positive – San Diego Union-Tribune

Give JJ McCarthy an A+ for his response to his season-ending knee injury.

The young guy taught us football-loving musclemen a bit of Latin in the year MMXXIV.

“I love you, Viking nation,” McCarthy posted on social media last week. “I'll be right back.” Love fati.”

Love fati is Latin and means “don’t overreact if someone steals your tunic and sandals.”

According to the Daily Stoic, it leads us to say, “We will only use our emotions and efforts where they will have a real impact.”

You could forgive Kevin O'Connell of Carlsbad for saying:And you, Brute?” to the football gods.

Since last October, four of the Vikings' quarterbacks have missed games due to injuries. One of them was Kirk Cousins, whose right Achilles tendon ruptured last October, ending the starter's fine 2023 season and sending him to the Falcons as a free agent in March.

McCarthy, whose torn cartilage in his knee required surgical repair, completed a highly acclaimed training camp and threw two touchdowns (and an interception) in his only preseason game before the injury was announced.

But he's only 21, not a great age to take the NFL by storm.

The lean, 6-foot-3 athlete has gained 20 pounds this year after playing in the 200-pound class at Michigan. He was well-coached but encapsulated at Michigan, where the running game and defense dominated, and can now get going at a more measured pace.

I doubt O'Connell called the rookie's injury-related detour a “minor annoyance” or a tease.

The redshirt season gives McCarthy the opportunity to learn O'Connell's playbook and play wording inside and out before appearing in an NFL game where it matters.

He can take Vikings veterans Sam Darnold and Nick Mullens to heart without getting drawn into a “When will JJ play?” drama.

Patrick Mahomes said he benefited from backing up San Diego's Alex Smith in all but one game during his rookie season. Mahomes was selected at the same spot as McCarthy, No. 10 overall, in the draft and threw many more passes for Texas Tech than McCarthy did for Michigan.

Jordan Love said he benefited from his three-year stint as a player behind Aaron Rodgers, which paved the way for his prime last season as a first-time starter.

Proving that the NFL will pay you if you play well at quarterback for part of a season, Love received a big-money contract with the Packers this summer.

O'Connell learned as a quarterback under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and as an assistant coach under Sean McVay and Bill Callahan.

He said he's seen too many young quarterbacks thrown into the wild prematurely. Wisely, he insisted in recent months that Darnold would be the starter to open the season, regardless of McCarthy's performance.

Darnold, 27, is getting the best chance of success of his NFL career. Mullens, 28, knows the offense.

QB Secrets

It was unclear how McCarthy got injured, and it can be difficult to understand the differences in resilience among different quarterbacks.

McCarthy started 28 games for Michigan, including all 15 last year as a junior.

It was interesting that Michigan's quarterback coach mentioned a knee injury last year. Additionally, McCarthy limped through two Big Ten games. It seemed like coach Jim Harbaugh asked less of McCarthy as a passer to protect his health. Michigan still finished with a 15-0 record. When McCarthy was asked to pass more as a sophomore, he had some impressive moments.

When it was announced last week that McCarthy's injury was season-ending, two quarterbacks came to mind – both extremely tough, but very different in size and style.

One was Philip Rivers. He also quoted Latin.

The 17 games McCarthy is missing this season are 17 more than Rivers missed in his 15 seasons after replacing Drew Brees as San Diego's starter.

Now I know was the Latin phrase Rivers popularized in the NFL. It means, “Here I go, my goodness.”

Fran Tarkenton, quarterback of the Vikings Hall of Fame, also came to mind.

It's notable that he wasn't squashed like a bug by the giants of the NFL. He was listed at 6'0″ and 190 pounds, but looked smaller.

And yet he annoyed bears. And lions.

He would dare big, angry men to loot him by drifting backwards or to the side and forcing them forward. Then he would dodge, spin, feint, grab a hot dog from a vendor and drive the big guys to exhaustion.

How many games did Tarkenton miss due to injury in the 16th year of his career, also with the Giants?

One.

Then, in his 17th season, a botched audible put Tarkenton in a predicament where a Bengals pass rusher knocked him down and broke his right fibula. His 239th game was over, as was his 1977 season.

There's no telling how JJ McCarthy will do, but I doubt he or Kevin O'Connell will look at their rookie year as anything other than helpful a year from now.

Originally published: August 18, 2024 at 18:21