Week 17 opponent: What the Vikings are saying

What are the Minnesota Vikings talking about ahead of Thursday's Christmas Day matchup with the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis?

1. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said Tuesday quarterback J.J. McCarthy got further imaging done on the right hand he injured Sunday in Minnesota's win over the New York Giants, and it was discovered McCarthy has a small hairline fracture and will not play Thursday vs. Detroit. O'Connell said it will be undrafted free agent Max Brosmer making the start at quarterback on Christmas.

Brosmer has seen action in five games this year. He lost his only start at Seattle Nov. 30 when he threw four interceptions and no touchdowns in a 26-0 Vikings loss.

Brosmer did a nice job replacing McCarthy last week helping to lead Minnesota to a win. O'Connell said Brosmer learned a lot from that outing in Seattle in November and applied it against the Giants.

2. O'Connell and the Vikings might not have anything to play for in terms of the playoffs, but they can still finish 2025 with a winning record and win five straight to end the season to set themselves up with some momentum heading into the 2026 season.

"It's a chance for us to continue to put on display the growth of this team the mindset of this team despite circumstances," he said. These guys want to win every football game we have left and it's going to be a massive challenge. Dan is going to have his team ready to go. It's going to be physical. It's going to be 60 minutes of NFC North football, and this game means a lot to us and we're putting everything we've got into it."

• Lions at Vikings practice report: Dec. 23
• NOTEBOOK: Hutchinson wants to see defense get back to having fun
• 5 Lions named to 2026 Pro Bowl

3. Brosmer completed 7-of-9 passes for 52 yards and had no turnovers helping Minnesota to that win Sunday replacing the injured McCarthy.

He said this week the biggest difference between Sunday's performance and his four-interception game was the ability to lean on the run game against the Giants. Minnesota had 114 on the ground vs. New York Sunday. They rushed for 66 yards back in November against the Seahawks. It's something Brosmer said they'll need to lean on again Thursday against the Lions, who are allowing around 145 rushing yards on average over their last five games.

4. What does Brosmer see on tape from the Lions' defense?

"Physical front. Physical in the box. Really athletic on the outside in the structure of the defense in the shell," he said. "Staying on schedule is the recipe. Keeping the ball in our hands and staying on schedule. Not trying to do too much. Just take what they give you go all the way down the field and get points."

5. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson was asked about Detroit's banged-up secondary missing three starters.

"They've consistently been banged up late in the year in their secondary the past couple years," he said. "With that in mind it doesn't really change anything. We still need to go out there and play our own ball allowing us to go win and play freely.

"We know the attention is going to be on No. 18 (Jefferson) a majority of the game and that allows everyone to eat on those one-on-one matchups. Let's go out there and throw the ball up and go get it."