While J.J. McCarthy is close to a return, it won’t come this week against his collegiate head coach.
Carson Wentz will make his fifth straight start at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, led by former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, in Inglewood, Calif.
“J.J., the medical staff, myself, we’re all kind of encouraged with where he’s at and the progress he’s making, but he’s just not there,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “If this was a Sunday game, maybe it would be a little bit of a different story.”
Wentz’s time replacing McCarthy, who has a sprained ankle, has been a mixed bag. He has kept the Vikings (3-3) right at the .500 record he inherited, winning two of his four starts while throwing for 1,072 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.
Last week, Wentz completed a season-low 61.9% of his passes and had no touchdowns and two picks in a 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. However, he did throw for 313 yards.
Asked about McCarthy’s pending return as soon as next week, Wentz denied thinking about it.
“Mindset is to go win this game, at the end of the day,” Wentz said. “I’m focused on the here and now. I don’t have a lot of time or energy to think about beyond this one.”
After the Vikings were diced by Jalen Hurts for 326 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday, they will face another prolific passer on Thursday. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is coming off a career-best 420-yard passing performance with three touchdowns and two interceptions in 38-24 road loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
A large part of those stats can be attributed to Oronde Gadsden II’s breakout performance. The rookie tight end had his first career touchdown catch on Sunday while amassing 164 yards on seven catches, more than he had in his first four NFL games combined.
“Very talented,” Harbaugh said of Gadsden. “… Just a lot of drive and talent.”
Despite being hit on an NFL-leading 62 dropbacks, Herbert now leads the league in passing yards (1,913) and is tied for sixth in passing TDs (13).
His impressive showing, though, couldn’t stop Los Angeles from taking its third loss in the past four games. After a 3-0 start that consisted of a sweep of their AFC West foes, the Chargers (4-3) are now tied for second place in the division with the Kansas City Chiefs (4-3), trailing the Denver Broncos (5-2).
The potential good news for Los Angeles is that Herbert may be getting his left tackle back this week. Joe Alt, who moved from right tackle to left when Rashawn Slater went down with a season-ending injury in training camp, was a limited participant in practice on Tuesday. Harbaugh labeled him questionable to play after Alt missed the past three games with an ankle injury.
“He’s doing everything and anything he can to (play),” Harbaugh said.
Alt’s return would be a big help against a Vikings defense that ranks seventh in pass defense (184.0 yards per game) and allowed more than 200 passing yards for the first time last week.
For Minnesota, fullback C.J. Ham (hand) and offensive tackle Brian O’Neill (knee) were the only two players who didn’t practice on Tuesday. McCarthy, running back Zavier Scott (wrist) and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (neck) were limited, as was running back Aaron Jones Sr. (hamstring) as his 21-day practice window for a return was opened. Wentz (left shoulder) was a full participant.
Along with Alt, Chargers offensive tackle Austin Deculus (ankle), guard/tackle Trey Pipkins III (knee), linebacker Troy Dye (thumb), offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer (knee) and defensive back Elijah Molden (thumb) were limited on Tuesday. Running back Hassan Haskins (hamstring) and defensive lineman Jamaree Caldwell (illness) did not practice.