After suffering a high ankle sprain last weekend in a 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, young quarterback J.J. McCarthy has progressed enough that he was able to return to the practice field for the Vikings.

Kind of.

Though he wasn’t able to actually participate with his teammates on Friday afternoon at TCO Performance Center, McCarthy stood alongside head coach Kevin O’Connell on the sideline, listening while he delivered the play call to veteran quarterback Carson Wentz in the huddle.

That’s as much as McCarthy will be able to be a part of in the short term.

“He’s handling his responsibilities from a rehab standpoint,” O’Connell said. “We’re kind of through the initial wave of that, as far as getting the swelling down and all those things.”

That’s a step in the right direction for McCarthy after suffering the injury while while being dragged down from behind by linebacker Kaden Elliss on a scramble near the sideline. He finished the game without issue before being diagnosed with a high ankle sprain in the aftermath.

Asked if McCarthy was still wearing a walking boot, O’Connell replied, “I know he was in it on the practice field as a precaution.” In that same breath, O’Connell seemed to indicate that McCarthy had graduated beyond that step when he’s simply walking around the locker room.

When will McCarthy return to the field? That remains to be seen.

Though the Vikings still haven’t provided a timeline for McCarthy’s recovery process, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s on the shelf for the next month.

After the Vikings host the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, they will travel to Dublin to play the Pittsburgh Steelers, then to London to play the Cleveland Browns. The bye week will come immediately following the international trip across the pond, then Vikings host the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The good news for the Vikings is that McCarthy won’t land on injured reserve in the meantime.

“I do feel good about where he’s at in the early stages,” O’Connell said. “I can say I feel pretty strongly as of right now that we’re on the daily kind of work to get healthy and get him back to 100% as soon as we can.”

It remains to be seen if McCarthy will be back under center for the Vikings when they play the Eagles on Oct. 19 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Briefly

In addition to McCarthy ruled out for the game against the Bengals, the Vikings have also ruled out center Ryan Kelly (concussion) and left tackle Justin Skule (concussion). Meanwhile, left tackle Christian Darrisaw (knee), safety Harrison Smith (illness), edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion), and linebacker Austin Keys (groin) are being listed as questionable.

Related Articles

Vikings vs. Bengals: What to know ahead of Week 3 matchup

The growth spurt that turned Carson Wentz into an NFL prospect

Vikings vs. Bengals picks: Carson Wentz or Jake Browning?

The Loop NFL Picks: Week 3

Max Brosmer is suddenly the backup for the Vikings. How is he staying ready?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday the U.S. military has carried out its third fatal strike against an alleged drug smuggling vessel this month.

Related Articles

Man accused of trying to kill Trump says prosecutors haven’t proven assassination attempt

Missouri judge strikes down ballot summary for anti-abortion measure backed by Republican lawmakers

Trump DOJ argues Michigan effort to shut down underwater pipeline interferes with US foreign policy

Judge blocks USDA from collecting data about SNAP applicants in 21 states

Trump signs proclamation imposing $100K annual fee for H-1B visa applications

Trump in a social media posting said the strike killed three and was carried out against a vessel “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.” He did not provide more precise details about the location of the strike.

The U.S. twice this month carried out strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels that had originated from Venezuela.

After years of planning and construction, the nationally recognized Playwrights’ Center has officially moved to St. Paul’s Creative Enterprise Zone and is ready to open to the public this weekend.

The center, founded in 1971 and previously headquartered in a former Minneapolis church, provides significant economic and creative support for both emerging and established artists. Through a multimillion-dollar campaign launched in 2023, the organization transformed a century-old industrial building just off Raymond and University avenues into a bright, modern creative workspace, said executive director Robert Chelimsky.

“It’s quite something, seeing these rooms come to life,” he said.

A public celebration of the Playwrights’ Center’s new home (710 Raymond Ave.) begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, with remarks from the organization’s leaders and others; state Rep. Kaohly Her and City Council member Molly Coleman are scheduled to speak. Guided tours of the building will be offered throughout the afternoon, and new-play readings — it’s the Playwrights’ Center, after all! — will take place at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Food and drinks will also be available.

The center’s 2025–26 season officially begins in October with the PlayLabs Festival, showcasing new plays by JuCoby Johnson, Cristina Luzárraga and Yilong Liu. Tickets to shows (Oct. 24, 25, 26, 30, 31 and Nov. 1) are free and available at pwcenter.org/public-season.

The lobby of the Playwrights’ Center, now open in St. Paul’s Creative Enterprise Zone and shown in Sept. 2025, will be open to the public. (Courtesy of Playwrights’ Center)

In its previous Minneapolis building, Chelimsky said, the only time the Playwrights’ Center was able to open to the public was right before readings, when audience members could stand in the lobby. Now, with more than double the square footage, parts of the space will be open to the public more regularly, which Chelimsky hopes will contribute to a bustling sense of creative energy.

“There are different types of working spaces throughout the building, and it’s wonderful to see artists already using these spaces,” Chelimsky said. “And if people are just in the neighborhood and want a place to sit for a while or meet up with a friend, we’ve got space that they’ll be able to take advantage of, in the midst of this center with artists working on their craft.”

And the Playwrights’ Center is opening in the middle of a busy weekend in the Creative Enterprise Zone. Culminating on Saturday, the Chroma Zone mural festival is showcasing new works of large-scale wall art painted by artists throughout the summer. And on Sunday and Monday at nearby Dual Citizen Brewing, a Catalan-culture nonprofit is hosting a two-day celebration of traditional food and music from Catalonia. FilmNorth’s new hub for local filmmaking opened in the neighborhood earlier this summer, too.

“Being part of the creative and artistic energy of this neighborhood — it feels like such a vital time to be right here, and we’re so grateful to be able to be part of it,” Chelimsky said.

Related Articles

Ahead of upcoming 20th anniversary show, Ananya Dance Theatre is physically and morally powerful as ever

Fall arts and entertainment: New musicals include ‘Purple Rain’ and a Winter Carnival musical

Obituary: Steven Kent Lockwood, 79, turned Park Square Theatre into a St. Paul arts institution

Here’s the first look at the unknown actor playing Prince in the ‘Purple Rain’ musical

After spending decades as an actor, Reed Sigmund tries his hand at directing

Matt Wallner’s season appears to be done after the outfielder suffered a left oblique strain in Wednesday’s game. He was placed on the 10-day injured list on Friday before the Twins took on the Cleveland Guardians and, while he could technically return since the stint was backdated, it seems unlikely.

“It was something we (were) hoping would be a day or two,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s not going to be a day or two. … I think ultimately it very likely closes the book … on his season. It’s not the way anyone wants their season to end, but his goal now is to make sure he’s going into the offseason as healthy as possible.”

It’s been an up and down season for Wallner, who hit .202 with a .776 OPS. His 110 OPS+ is 10 percent better than the league average hitter and is third among Twins players who played in at least 50 games, behind just Byron Buxton and Harrison Bader, but well below his career average 127 OPS+.

“(He) had some really good periods of time where I think he was feeling really good, he was locked in, he was productive,” Baldelli said. “Some times where he had to work through his swing, but he battled well.”

Wallner hit a career-high 22 home runs, but drove in just 40 runs — a majority of them himself, hitting just .177 with runners in scoring position. He had 68 hits on the season, 41 for extra bases, a statistical oddity.

His strikeout percentage dipped to the lowest its been in his career and his walk percentage was at its highest, but his batting average on balls in play dropped more than 160 points from a season ago.

“It was up, down, up, down throughout the whole year,” Wallner said last week. “I’m just trying to be more consistently like I always am and, again, building myself for next year.”

Wallner was one of the Twins’ most productive hitters at the start of the season but suffered a hamstring strain while running to first base on April 15 that kept him out a month and a half. He returned at the very end of May and for the first time in his major league career, stuck in the majors for the entire season, a point that Baldelli felt was important to make.

“There’s something to not needing any sort of actual true reset which, the last two years, even though his numbers ended up better at the major league level, he needed a break, and time off and time to go work in St. Paul to get what he needed to find,” Baldelli said. “But to be able to find that while not needing that break, I think, is important and I think that’s what he did in a noteworthy fashion this year.”

Briefly

To fill Wallner’s spot on the roster, the Twins called up outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. … The Twins will send Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober to the mound in their doubleheader on Saturday with Ryan starting the 1:10 p.m. game and Ober the night game, which begins at 6:10 p.m. The first game was originally scheduled to take place on May 20, but was washed out because of rain.

Related Articles

Byron Buxton’s big season is paying off, quite literally, for Twins star

Taj Bradley falters as Twins lose to Yankees, drop series

Twins nearly claw all the way back but fall to Yankees

Twins Bailey Ober looks to get back to his ‘old self’ in offseason

Simeon Woods Richardson, Austin Martin shine as Twins beat Yankees