EAGAN, Minn. -- In an ideal world, J.J. McCarthy would have spent his first training camp as the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback throwing to one of the NFL's best receiving trios: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor. In the real world, however, that happened for only two of the Vikings' 18 open practices during the 29-day camp.
Instead, McCarthy has worked with eight different receivers on the first team. Prompted by injuries to Jefferson (hamstring) and Nailor (hand), along with Addison's three-game suspension (stemming from a 2024 DUI citation) to start the regular season, the carousel carried multiple implications.