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J.J. McCarthy, the second-year quarterback who struggled in the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night, is expected to miss the team’s Week 3 game with a sprained ankle, coach Kevin O’Connell said Monday. Veteran backup Carson Wentz is likely to be the Vikings starter next Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, O’Connell said.

“I don’t likely see this as being any short-term IR thing, but I do want to see — and Tyler (Williams) and our medical group want to see — how he responds to treatment this week,” O’Connell said.

“It happened on the second-and-20 scramble where he was able to get towards our sideline. He just happened to get rolled up,” O’Connell explained. “In the moment, didn’t think it was significant. When he came off that series, there was somebody in the blue tent. We evaluated it right there and got him taped up and he went back in the game. It’s one of those things, hearing from our medical staff, that’s much worse today than it probably was in the moment with adrenaline and everything.”

McCarthy, 22, was the 10th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft but missed his entire rookie season due to a meniscus injury he suffered during the preseason. Veteran Sam Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

This season, with Darnold off to Seattle on a big-money free-agent deal, McCarthy has been the starter from the get-go. On “Monday Night Football” in Week 1, he looked overwhelmed through the first three quarters against the Chicago Bears before leading the Vikings to an impressive come-from-behind victory in which he threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the fourth quarter.

On Sunday against the Falcons, however, McCarthy was poor again, completing just 11 of 21 passes for 158 yards and three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble). He was sacked six times and appeared to come up limping after a late-game hit.

This story will be updated.

(Photo: Stephen Maturen / Getty Images)