For fans, the final preseason game signals that the start of the 2026 NFL regular season is right around the corner. For players, this is their final opportunity to impress the coaching staff before rosters are trimmed to 53 players by Sunday’s 5 p.m. CT deadline.
Friday night’s exhibition contest against the Broncos likely didn’t put a smile on many Vikings fans’ faces. Denver looked dominant throughout four quarters at Empower Field at Mile High, eventually securing the 34-6 win over Minnesota. Thankfully, the final score doesn’t tell the whole story.
In fact, the biggest story from the Vikings’ loss to the Broncos involves a player who didn’t even suit up on Friday night. Before kickoff, Alec Lewis of The Athletic announced on X that backup quarterback J.J. McCarthy would not play in the Vikings’ final preseason game.
Although nothing is guaranteed about his fate yet, the fact that the Vikings held McCarthy out of Friday’s contest says everything that fans need to know about the 23-year-old QB’s future.
Window is closing on J.J. McCarthy to prove himself with Vikings after missing Friday’s preseason loss to Broncos
McCarthy not playing against the Broncos is interesting because the Vikings named him the backup to Kyler Murray this season. That said, they did so in a way that didn’t leave out the possibility that Carson Wentz could overtake him before the start of the season.
An ankle injury is the reason McCarthy didn’t play; he’s been dealing with it since the second preseason game against the Ravens. According to Lewis, the Vikings hoped the young quarterback could play against the Broncos, but discomfort kept him from suiting up for the final preseason game. He is considered to be “day-to-day.”
The Vikings needed a passer to step up during training camp and the preseason to push Murray. And when that didn’t happen, the Vikings set up a competition between Wentz and McCarthy, which should have lasted through the preseason.m
In the NFL, the best ability is availability. An assortment of injuries has stopped McCarthy from being a reliable contributor for Minnesota. It would be surprising for head coach Kevin O’Connell to feel comfortable with McCarthy as the QB2, especially since Murray has yet to prove himself to the Vikings in the regular season.
If McCarthy drops to the third quarterback on the depth chart after being a top-10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Vikings will need to seriously evaluate his future with the team. Whether that means making calls to measure any potential interest in trading him away or considering outright releasing him, it feels like the McCarthy experiment is over.
As if the one-sided game against the Broncos on Friday wasn’t humiliating enough, now the Vikings have to figure out how to deal with a high-profile quarterback who isn’t panning out. If the clock was ticking on McCarthy, it is deafening after seeing him go from potentially being the starter to likely being Minnesota’s QB3.
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