After missing the past few weeks with a high ankle sprain, quarterback J.J. McCarthy returned to practice Monday at TCO Performance Center. It marked the first time he has practiced with the Vikings since suffering the injury last month.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) picks himself up off the turf after a play against the Atlanta Falcons late in the fourth quarter of a NFL game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. The Atlanta Falcons beat the Minnesota Vikings, 22-6. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Will he start for the Vikings against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium? That remains to be seen.

Asked if McCarthy would be available to play this weekend, head coach Kevin O’Connell chose not to speculate.

“I don’t necessarily want to put a percentage on where I think he’s at healthwise,” O’Connell said. “I think this week will be massive for our whole team to see J.J. back out there getting reps and working through the process of building that foundation back up.”

Though the Vikings were off on bye last week, meaning players were free to do whatever they wanted, McCarthy hung around the area to get work in. A good chunk of it centered on the fundamentals and techniques that go into playing the position at the highest level.

“It was great to get back on the grass,” O’Connell said. “We had some good sessions out there kind of getting back to a lot of the principles of lower body mechanics.”

That was an issue for McCarthy earlier this season. He didn’t always look comfortable when dropping back to pass, and while some of that stemmed from issues on the offensive line, the results spoke for themselves in the win over Chicago and in the loss to Atlanta.

Not only did McCarthy struggle to move the ball with consistency, completing 58.5 percent of his passes for 301 yards, he often held on to the ball too long. His average time from snap to throw is 3.15 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats, which indicates he wasn’t as decisive as he needed to be.

In comparison, veteran quarterback Carson Wentz has gotten the ball out of his hands much quicker. His average time from snap to throw is 2.55 seconds.

As he reflected on the past few weeks, O’Connell noted it has been valuable for McCarthy to see how Wentz has run the offense, especially when it comes to how everything functions from the standpoint of rhythm and timing.

As for whether it would be McCarthy or Wentz under center this weekend, O’Connell made it clear he would make the decision he feels gives the Vikings the best chance to beat the Eagles.

“We’ve got to prepare to try to win a game,” O’Connell said. “We really want to get our team ready to go, and in the process of doing that, J.J. has his plan of attack that we want to try to make sure we maximize.”

Briefly

The return of linebacker Blake Cashman could be coming sooner rather than later. After being placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury last month, Cashman recently had his 21-day practice window opened. That is an important step in him returning. Though it’s unclear if Cashman will be able to play Sunday, he’s trending in the right direction after returning to practice.

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CHICAGO (AP) — Latino leaders expressed dismay Saturday over recent immigration enforcement operations in Chicago that resulted in a fatal shooting during a traffic stop, the arrest of an immigrant at a barbershop and a tense standoff between protesters and agents at an immigration processing facility.

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Her husband was deported to Mexico. Unwilling to remain apart, she left the US to join him.

An Immigration, Customs and Enforcement officer fatally shot a man who tried to evade arrest Friday by driving his car at officers and dragging one of them, officials said. The man, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

On the same day, Willian Gimenez was pulled over while driving in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and detained by ICE agents. Kevin Herrera, Gimenez’s attorney, said he believes it was retaliation for his involvement in a lawsuit against Chicago leaders, Home Depot and an off-duty police officer for their actions toward immigrant workers.

Herrera said Gimenez has a work permit and is going through the process of pursuing an asylum claim.

In a statement Saturday, immigration authorities said Gimenez was arrested for being in the country illegally.

“No one is above the law. Gimenez Gonzalez is an illegal alien with charges for criminal trespassing and a history of not showing up to court, including when he failed to appear in immigration court in April of last year, after which an immigration judge ordered him removed from the country,” the statement said.

Law enforcement personnel investigate after the Department of Homeland Security said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man in the Franklin Park suburb of Chicago on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (Candace Dane Chambers/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

During a morning news conference outside an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Rep. Chuy Garcia, a Democrat, said the incidents are troubling.

“These incidents make us all ask, if ICE can kill one of our neighbors in broad daylight … if they can arrest someone for joining a lawsuit or simply for being Latino, what’s to stop them from getting any one of us?” Garcia said.

A planned 12-hour protest Friday outside the facility included several clashes between participants and officers wearing face coverings, helmets and later gas masks. The facility has seen regular demonstrations in response to increased immigration enforcement.

Rep. Delia Ramirez, also a Democrat, said she will demand a thorough investigation of the traffic stop that led to Villegas-Gonzalez’s fatal shooting and called for community unity.

Law enforcement personnel investigate after the Department of Homeland Security said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man in the Franklin Park suburb of Chicago on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (Candace Dane Chambers/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The Department of Homeland Security’s campaign, labeled “ Operation Midway Blitz,” targets so-called sanctuary laws in the state.

“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS said in a statement.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has been one of the most vocal opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Chicago.

The recent incidents have also raised fears in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods about celebrations for Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16.

By DAVID BAUDER

News organizations including The New York Times, The Associated Press and the conservative Newsmax television network said Monday they will not sign a Defense Department document about its new press rules, making it likely the Trump administration will evict their reporters from the Pentagon.

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Those outlets say the policy threatens to punish them for routine news gathering protected by the First Amendment. The Washington Post and The Atlantic on Monday also publicly joined the group that says it will not be signing.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reacted by posting the Times’ statement on X and adding a hand-waving emoji. His team has said that reporters who don’t acknowledge the policy in writing by Tuesday must turn in badges admitting them to the Pentagon and clear out their workspaces the next day.

The new rules bar journalist access to large swaths of the Pentagon without an escort and say Hegseth can revoke press access to reporters who ask anyone in the Defense Department for information — classified or otherwise — that he has not approved for release.

Newsmax, whose on-air journalists are generally supportive of President Donald Trump’s administration, said that “we believe the requirements are unnecessary and onerous and hope that the Pentagon will review the matter further.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the rules establish “common sense media procedures.”

“The policy does not ask for them to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is,” Parnell said. “This has caused reporters to have a full blown meltdown, crying victim online. We stand by our policy because it’s what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country.”

Hegseth also reposted a question from a follower who asked, “Is this because they can’t roam the Pentagon freely? Do they believe they deserve unrestricted access to a highly classified military installation under the First Amendment?”

Hegseth answered, “yes.” Reporters say neither of those assertions is true.

Pentagon reporters say signing the statement amounts to admitting that reporting any information that hasn’t been government-approved is harming national security. “That’s simply not true,” said David Schulz, director of Yale University’s Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic.

Journalists have said they’ve long worn badges and don’t access classified areas, nor do they report information that risks putting any Americans in harm’s way.

“The Pentagon certainly has the right to make its own policies, within the constraints of the law,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement on Monday. “There is no need or justification, however, for it to require reporters to affirm their understanding of vague, likely unconstitutional policies as a precondition to reporting from Pentagon facilities.”

Noting that taxpayers pay nearly $1 trillion annually to the U.S. military, Times Washington bureau chief Richard Stevenson said “the public has a right to know how the government and military are operating.”

Trump has applied pressure on news organizations in several ways, with ABC News and CBS News settling lawsuits related to their coverage. Trump has also filed lawsuits against The New York Times and Wall Street Journal and moved to choke off funding for government-run services like the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

David Bauder writes about the media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN

JPMorgan Chase will directly invest up to $10 billion in U.S. companies with crucial ties to national security.

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The investment plan revealed Monday will focus on four areas: supply chain and advanced manufacturing in critical minerals, pharmaceutical precursors and robotics; defense and aerospace; energy independence, with investments in battery storage and grid resilience; and strategic technologies, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum computing.

The investment is part of the bank’s Security and Resiliency Initiative, a $1.5 trillion, 10-year plan to facilitate, finance and invest in industries critical to national security.

“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing – all of which are essential for our national security,” Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement. “Our security is predicated on the strength and resiliency of America’s economy. America needs more speed and investment.”

This summer, JPMorgan helped put together a deal under which the Defense Department agreed to invest $400 million in U.S. rare earth company MP Materials. The bank is also providing financing for MP Materials’ second magnet producing factory in the U.S.

The nation’s largest bank plans to finance approximately $1 trillion over the next decade in support of clients in these industries. JPMorgan Chase is looking to increase this amount by up to $500 billion, or a 50% increase, with additional resources and capital.

“America needs more speed and investment,” Dimon said. “It also needs to remove obstacles that stand in the way: excessive regulations, bureaucratic delay, partisan gridlock and an education system not aligned to the skills we need.”

JPMorgan says that it serves 34,000 mid-sized companies and more than 90% of the Fortune 500.

It plans to hire more bankers, investment professionals and other experts to help address its investment plan. It will also create an external advisory council that includes leaders from the public and private sectors to help guide the long-term strategy.