Fearing the Worst for J.J. McCarthy

What is wrong with J.J. McCarthy’s hand? Is it a bruise? Is it a nerve? Is there ligament damage? When a player tears their ACL, there is usually an MRI confirming it the very next day. I know the NFL is all about winning and sometimes it’s a strategy teams employ, not saying whether or not a player will start or the extent of their injury until they have to submit their final injury report. The most reasonable explanation as to why we don’t have more information about McCarthy’s injury could be chalked up to gamesmanship or that he is truly day to day. We will probably get more answers Tuesday when Kevin O’Connell talks to the press. However, if it was a season ending injury, we would usually know by now. Either way, there are a few worrisome thoughts that cross my mind.

If this turns out to be a significant long-term injury, McCarthy starts to fall into the realm of being an injury-prone player. It would be too early to confidently make that determination, in my opinion, as I am sure there is a curve when it comes to adjusting to the physicality of the NFL. However, it would be a concern going into next season. We also don’t know exactly when the injury happened, as KO said it was before McCarthy’s touchdown run. What we do know, is that the last snap he took before being ruled out of the game was one where he was absolutely demolished by Brian Burns.

Am I crazy?

Take what I am about to say next with a grain of salt because it’s just a feeling that I have based on an observation. But watching his reaction to the doctor squeezing his hand on the sideline and the look on O’Connell’s face, it kind of looked like he might have been faking it. Now, I’m not going to sit here and act like some tough guy, because I wouldn’t want to play anymore if I got hit like that either.

I don’t know about you, but to me, this is the look of a man who just had his soul snatched from his body. I think J.J.‘s life might have flashed before his eyes during this collision. Also, pardon the grainy picture I took on my phone from my laptop screen. I was trying to see what happened to McCarthy’s hand, so I had it slowed to half speed. I’m not usually one for schadenfreude, but it was entertaining hearing how amped former player and announcer for this game, Jonathan Vilma was when Burns laid the Smackdown on McCarthy. If you go back and watch the game replay, you’ll notice that Vilma saw the hit coming from a mile away and as soon as Burns made contact with McCarthy, he let out an emphatic BOOM! The timing with the slow-motion voice made it comical.

Please tell me I’m crazy

I find myself in a difficult position, because I hope I’m wrong about this. But if I am wrong, that means J.J. McCarthy is really hurt. However, if my instinct is right, then I’m afraid that might mean that J.J. McCarthy is a wimp. A crybaby. Soft. When I use those adjectives, they are within the context of playing in the NFL. If someone told me that I can play football in the NFL, but that sometimes I’m going to get hit by a 240-pound linebacker running at twenty miles an hour, I would, like most sane, rational, normal human beings, respond with “oh hell no.”

I think J.J. McCarthy has the potential to be an incredible NFL quarterback based on the flashes of greatness we have seen from him. However, just as important, we have to make judgments based on what we haven’t seen much of, which is J.J. McCarthy on the field. I really do wish him the best and think he is a genuinely decent kid. But, as the old saying goes, if you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. At the end of the day, he has to take care of himself and do what is right by his family, especially his son. I wouldn’t think less of him if he called it quits.

I will absolutely accept getting roasted in the comments on this one. I just feel like I’m not the only one thinking it and it has been bothering me for two days now. I’m probably just reading too much into it.

Until Next Skol.

• Jesse M.