Is Kyler Murray Playing in Week 2? Vikings QB in Concussion Protocol After Packers Hit
Kyler Murray waited all offseason for this. Eleven plays into his Minnesota Vikings debut, it was over.
Murray took a big hit from Packers defensive back Javon Bullard in the first quarter Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium and did not return. He is in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Eleven plays. That is the entire sample size on the Kyler Murray era in Minnesota so far.
The good news, and there is real good news here, is that Murray appeared fine afterward. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported Murray “was chatting with teammates and coaches” in the locker room following the game. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said afterward, “I don’t have a lot to update, other than I did just see him and he seemed to be doing pretty well.”
That is about as encouraging as a concussion update gets on a Sunday night. It is also not a timeline.
The protocol is the protocol
Here is the honest answer on Week 2: nobody knows yet, including the Vikings. The concussion protocol has five stages and a player has to clear every one of them, plus get signed off by an independent neurological consultant. A guy can look and feel perfectly normal on Sunday night and still be stuck in stage two on Thursday.
If you want a read, though, the early signs point toward Murray having a legitimate shot at clearing in time for Chicago. Players who exit protocol inside a week almost always look the way Murray reportedly looked in that locker room: alert and talking, without symptoms. That is meaningfully different from the guys who get carted back and sit for a month.
But the Vikings have zero reason to rush him, and that is the part that matters most.
Carson Wentz just made this easy
Because Carson Wentz went out and played the best half of football he has played in years.
Wentz finished 12 of 19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. He did not turn the ball over. He did not try to be a hero. He ran the offense O’Connell handed him and let Minnesota’s 22-0 fourth-quarter run bury Green Bay in a 39-22 win.
That is the profile of a backup quarterback who keeps a team afloat rather than sinking it, which is exactly what a team wants when its starter is sitting in a dark room. The numbers are not eye-popping and they do not need to be. Three touchdowns, no giveaways, a blowout win over a division rival.
So Wentz projects as the Week 2 starter at Soldier Field, and the Vikings can approach that game without a hint of desperation. If Murray clears Thursday, great. If he does not, Minnesota rolls with a veteran who just proved he can run this offense competently.
The bigger picture is uncomfortable. Murray, 29, the former No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma, came to Minnesota for a reset. A new coach, a new scheme, and a roster built to win right away. He got eleven plays before a defensive back knocked him out of his own debut.
None of that is his fault. Bullard’s hit was a football play. But Murray has dealt with durability questions for most of his career, and the first snap count of his Vikings tenure landing in double digits before a head injury is not the opening chapter he wanted.
Expect the Vikings to be cautious and vague all week. Expect Wentz to take the majority of first-team reps through Wednesday regardless. And expect O’Connell to give you nothing until Friday’s injury report, because that is how every coach in the league handles this.
If Murray clears, he plays. If he does not, Minnesota has a bridge that just threw three touchdowns.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.