Minnesota Vikings fans don't believe J.J. McCarthy is injured with Carson Wentz starting in Week 3

The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Atlanta Falcons 22-6 on Sunday night. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy looked lost against Atlanta for the entire game.

McCarthy completed 52.4% of his passes for 158 yards and two interceptions. He has not looked good in most of the first two games of the 2025 NFL season. Other than the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears, McCarthy has been very rusty. On Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that McCarthy is week-to-week with a high ankle sprain. Carson Wentz is expected to start for Minnesota.

Minnesota Vikings Fans Not Sold That J.J. McCarthy Is Injured

There are Vikings fans who believe that McCarthy is not injured. They feel like McCarthy is getting benched for his poor play in the first two weeks. Minnesota is lucky to be 1-1 on the season and not 0-2. Vikings fans feel like they could be better off with Wentz as the starting quarterback.

He’s not injured. They are giving that boy a week to learn and take a breather. He’s clearly overwhelmed. This is a way to do this without the media reaction of a benching

— ✈️ (@JetsDumb) September 15, 2025— Alex Harrison (@AlexHarrison12) September 15, 2025

An “ankle injury” pic.twitter.com/EWF5JgnUtE

— Frank J. Dyevoich⚖️🏈 (@Fantasy_Giant) September 15, 2025

The Vikings are facing the 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals this weekend. Cincinnati will be without Joe Burrow for the next three months with turf toe. Jake Browning will be the starting quarterback for Cincinnati instead.

A quarterback change because of an injury in week three for Minnesota feels very suspicious. Not a lot of people can recall when McCarthy got hurt in the game. If Wentz plays well against the Bengals in week three, there is a good chance that the Vikings could potentially hold out McCarthy for another week.

MORE NFL NEWS:

• Seahawks score an unprecedented kickoff touchdown that you've never seen before
• Dolphins, Patriots combine for history not done since Deion Sanders and Desmond Howard
• These 3 J.J. McCarthy stats are pretty concerning for the Vikings
• Ravens wanted to draft Shedeur Sanders, but he told them no
• Giants' James Hudson had an incredibly miserable drive of penalties
• Mac Jones might change the 49ers' plans for Brock Purdy