The Minnesota Vikings have moved forward with a roster revolving around J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback and tabled consideration of Aaron Rodgers — even if the door remains open at least a little.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah confirmed Wednesday that the Vikings had extensive conversations about and with Rodgers, the four-time NFL MVP award winner who was recently released by the New York Jets.

The plan all along has been to turn the offense over to McCarthy this season, even if the injury that erased his rookie year and set up Sam Darnold for his breakout performance was entirely unexpected.

“When we pooled the resources we did to draft J.J. and you go through that long process and all those things, that’s the outcome we want and that’s the outcome we’re headed toward,” Adofo-Mensah said.

But given the interest Rodgers had in joining them, the Vikings felt he was an option — even at age 41 — worth exploring. Coach Kevin O’Connell had a pre-existing relationship with Rodgers and spoke at length with him about where both the team and the player were at, Adofo-Mensah said.

“Given where we are scenario-wise, we didn’t think it was the right move at this point,” Adofo-Mensah said in the first public comments the Vikings have made since free agency began two weeks ago.

One of the complications in this case is the salary cap value to the Vikings of having McCarthy on a rookie deal that would be diminished by bringing in Rodgers on a contract that would undoubtedly be bigger than the $10 million they paid Darnold to be the bridge last year.

But if they’re suddenly unsure about McCarthy’s health or development later this summer, assuming Rodgers doesn’t pick the Pittsburgh Steelers instead, the Vikings could also revisit this.

“For me to sit here and say that anything’s 100%, forever, that’s just not the job, right?” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re responding to scenarios and different information as it comes, so obviously things can change. But right now, we’re really happy with our (quarterback) room.”

McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft, said this week on the ”Up and Adams Show” on FanDuel TV that the Vikings have not actually informed him he will be the starter.

“I’m happy they didn’t, because I try to earn it every single day, and I never want that to be given to me,” McCarthy said in that interview.

McCarthy also said he considers himself 100% healthy after rehabilitating from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, which has matched the team’s assessment.

The NFL competition committee is recommending making the dynamic kickoff rule permanent and moving touchbacks to the 35-yard line in hopes of generating even more returns.

The competition committee released several potential rule changes for 2025, including an expansion of instant replay that will be considered next week at the league meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. Any rule change must be approved by 24 out of 32 team owners.

Teams submitted several proposals last week that also could be voted on at the league meetings, including banning the “tush push” and changing playoff seeding rules.

Figure skating

American figure skater Alysa Liu assumed the lead after the short program on the opening night of the world championships in Boston, proving that the Olympian is much farther along in her comeback from retirement than almost anyone thought.

The 19-year-old from Clovis fought back tears after scoring her international-best 74.58 points for her program. Mone Chiba of Japan was second with 73.44 points while U.S. teammate Isabeau Levito, the reigning silver medalist, was third with 73.33 points.

“Outside of scores, I think I skated the best out of any competition,” said Liu, who retired after the 2022 world championships, only to announce early last year that she would be making a comeback with an eye on the Milano-Cortina Olympics.

Three-time defending world champion Kaori Sakamoto was fifth with 71.03 points as she tries to become the first to win four consecutive titles since Carol Heiss in the 1950s and ’60s.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

VCU has hired Bryant’s Phil Martelli Jr. as its new men’s basketball coach.

The hiring comes less than a week after Ryan Odom left to take over at Virginia. VCU reached the NCAA Tournament but lost in the first round to BYU last week.

The son of the former longtime Saint Joseph’s head coach, Martelli had won 43 games in two seasons with the Bulldogs. That included getting Bryant to the NCAAs this year after winning the America East regular-season and tournament titles.

The Bulldogs lost in the first round of the NCAAs to Michigan State in the program’s second-ever March Madness bid.

TENNIS

The high seeds were falling at the Miami Open.

Soon after unseeded wild card Alexandra Eala stunned No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek in a straight-set women’s quarterfinal, men’s top seed Alexander Zverev got bounced by No. 17 seed Arthur Fils of France, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a fourth-round men’s match. Fils will face Jakub Mensik in today’s quarterfinals.

Eala, ranked 140th, is on the verge of becoming the first star player to ever come out of the Philippines after topping Swiatek 6-2, 7-5.

Eala became the third wild card to reach the Miami Open semifinals, following Justine Henin in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka in 2018.