Kyler Murray will not play in Week 2. The Minnesota Vikings ruled out their new starting quarterback for Sunday’s road game against the Chicago Bears as he continues working through the NFL’s concussion protocol, head coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed Friday. Carson Wentz will start at Soldier Field, with J.J. McCarthy serving as the backup.
Murray signed a one-year, veteran-minimum contract with Minnesota in March and beat out both Wentz and McCarthy for the starting job over the summer. His tenure with the Vikings lasted all of 11 offensive snaps. In his regular-season debut against Green Bay in Week 1, Murray threw an interception on his first pass attempt, settled in to complete three of his next four throws for 18 yards, and added two carries for nine yards before a scramble turned everything upside down.
How the Injury Happened
With 6:16 left in the first quarter and Minnesota facing third-and-6, Murray took off running and was met by Packers defenders Lukas Van Ness and Javon Bullard. He was sandwiched on the hit, and players on the field described his body reacting in a fencing posture immediately afterward — a well-documented, if frightening, involuntary response to a brain injury. Murray walked off the field under his own power and was quickly diagnosed with a concussion and ruled out for the remainder of the game.
He was a limited practice participant on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, but limited reps were not enough. To play Sunday, Murray needed clearance from an independent neurological consultant, a step the Vikings and O’Connell confirmed he did not clear in time. O’Connell said he expects Murray to clear protocol early next week, putting him on track to potentially return for Minnesota’s Week 3 trip to Tampa Bay on September 27.
Wentz Steps Back In, McCarthy Waits
Wentz doesn’t need an introduction to this offense — he entered in relief of Murray in the first quarter against Green Bay and was the reason Minnesota walked away with a win. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, posting a 123.5 passer rating while directing the Vikings to 29 unanswered points in a 39-22 comeback victory. It was his best statistical showing since 2022.
Now he gets a full week of practice reps as the starter rather than an emergency call-up mid-drive. O’Connell named McCarthy, the team’s 2024 first-round pick, as Wentz’s backup for Sunday, with Max Brosmer expected to serve as the emergency third quarterback. Murray’s absence pushes the timeline for his second career start with Minnesota back at least one more week, and the Vikings now have to prove their offense can function at a high level with Wentz calling the shots for four quarters rather than three.
What the Odds Say About the Downgrade
The betting market has been unusually blunt about how it views this quarterback change. Chicago opened as roughly a 3-point lookahead favorite before Week 1 even kicked off. Once Murray went down and Wentz closed out Minnesota’s win, the number started climbing — and once Murray was officially downgraded and eventually ruled out this week, it kept climbing further. The spread has settled at Bears -5.5, with some books pushing it to -6, a swing of two-plus points directly tied to the change under center for Minnesota.
The moneyline has followed suit, with Chicago priced in the -218 to -250 range and Minnesota sitting anywhere from +180 to +205 depending on the book. The total, meanwhile, has come down to a range of 48.5 to 49.5 — a notable number for two teams that both scored heavily in Week 1, but one that reflects lingering uncertainty about how explosive Minnesota’s passing game looks without its intended starter for a full 60 minutes. Wentz was efficient in relief last week, but the market is pricing in real risk that a complete game plan built around him looks different than three clean quarters coming off the bench. With Minnesota and Chicago both sitting at 1-0 in an early NFC North measuring-stick game, this line move is one of the clearest examples this season of the market reacting directly to a single injury report.
