Vikings TE Irv Smith Jr. (thumb) expected to be ready Week 1

Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy has shed the walking boot, as he tries to expedite his return from a sprained ankle suffered in a Week 2 loss to the Falcons. Coach Kevin O’Connell, however, isn’t inclined to rush McCarthy back to the lineup.

O’Connell made it clear on Monday that McCarthy will play not only when he’s physically ready, but when he’s entirely ready.

“First and foremost, he’s got to get healthy,” O’Connell told reporters, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. “And then, I don’t think it’s one of those things where it’s, hey, he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re going to throw him out there and say, ‘Hey, go figure it out’ type of thing.”

Related players: Carson Wentz

The story went on to say O’Connell has denied that the injury amounts to a “soft benching” of the second-year quarterback, the coach said “there is value” in McCarthy watching Wentz play. The story added it seems likely Wentz will get the next game, against the Steelers in Ireland, and perhaps the one after that, against the Browns in London, before a decision is made as to whether it will be Wentz or McCarthy after the bye — when the Eagles come to Minnesota.

The Rams ultimately lost a heartbreaking game against the Eagles in which they had a double-digit lead and had two kicks blocked, but the silver lining is that their offense looks like an elite unit with room to get even better. When Matthew Stafford got traded to the Rams in 2021, Sean McVay started to shift from the under-center, compressed formations, run-heavy offense that he ran with Jared Goff. The offense became more spread out, used shotgun and pistol more, and passed at a higher rate because it had Stafford. The offense started to shift back last season to McVay’s original approach, going under center on 45 percent of plays, which ranked second only to the Detroit Lions.

So far, this season, they’ve shifted even more in that direction, going under center on 65 percent of snaps.

Related players: Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams

Part of the reason for this shift is in direct response to Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who has influenced the league’s 2-high meta, the story explained. The trend of keeping two safeties deep to stop explosives left them vulnerable upfront, so McVay countered with more under-center, gap-scheme runs and using more play action when throwing. The story said despite the loss, the scheme worked as intended against Fangio’s defense. The Rams had the second-highest success rate that any offense has had against Fangio’s Eagles defense (54.8 percent) and ran for the third-most yards against them as well, the story went on to say.

Doctors believe Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. is expected to be sidelined two to four weeks due to the dislocated shoulder injury he suffered Sunday night vs. Kansas City, per sources.

Related players: Cam Skattebo, Devin Singletary

We reported this news Monday with the expectation Tracy was going to miss some time. Looks like Skattebo is poised to have a much bigger role with Tracy out. Skattebo led the team in rushing yards and was a check-down option, leading the team in receptions and receiving yards as well against the Chiefs.