Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will miss his team’s Christmas Day clash with the Lions due to a hand fracture, coach Kevin O’Connell announced on Tuesday.

McCarthy was knocked out of Minnesota’s Week 16 loss to the Giants with a hand injury suffered in the first half. Further imaging showed the young quarterback had suffered a “very, very small” hairline fracture in his throwing hand, O’Connell revealed, and it’ll keep him sidelined for the holiday contest against Detroit. While the coach doesn’t expect McCarthy to require surgery, Max Brosmer will start in his place for Week 17.

It’s another unfortunate health break for McCarthy. The 22-year-old missed his entire rookie season in 2024 with a knee injury. He took over the starting job for the Vikings this season but has only started nine of the team’s 15 games to this point; he missed time with a high ankle sprain and a concussion in 2025. Now we can add a hand fracture to the list.

McCarthy will not be the only starting QB to be missing on the NFL’s Christmas Day slate. The Chiefs will be forced to start Chris Oladokun against the Broncos after starter Patrick Mahomes and backup Gardner Minshew went down with season-ending knee injuries in back-to-back weeks. The Commanders will choose between either Marcus Mariota or Josh Johnson to line up under center against the Cowboys with starter Jayden Daniels done for the year. Now Minnesota must go with Brosmer against Detroit, which means all three of the football games on Christmas will feature at least one backup signal-caller.

In his nine games this season McCarthy has totaled 1,450 yards passing and thrown 11 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. The Vikings are 5-4 in the games he started but overall are 7-8 and will miss the postseason, a disappointing outcome after last year’s 14-win campaign.

Brosmer began the year as the third-string QB behind McCarthy and Carson Wentz. He’s made five appearances so far with one start. In that one start the Minnesota product completed 19-of-30 pass attempts in a shutout loss to the Seahawks. The Vikings hope Thursday will bring greater success against a less-than-stellar Lions defense, with kickoff slated for 4:30 p.m. ET on Netflix.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy to Miss Christmas Day Matchup vs. Lions With Hand Fracture.

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