MINNEAPOLIS — The emotions hit J.J. McCarthy just before he took the field for the Minnesota Vikings.

One day shy of the one-year anniversary of the quarterback’s rookie season being ended by a torn meniscus in his right knee, McCarthy was back.

Finally.

“I had a little teardrop, I’m not going to lie,” McCarthy said after the Vikings’ 20-10 preseason victory over the Houston Texans on Saturday. “Being out there before the national anthem. This game is the best game in the world and to be out there with this kind of group, with this coaching staff … it was absolutely terrific.”

McCarthy, a La Grange Park native who played three years in high school at Nazareth, played just the game’s opening series. But he was 4 of 7 for 30 yards while leading the Vikings on a 58-yard scoring drive that

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