CHICAGO -- After starting the season 2-0 behind backup quarterback Carson Wentz, the Minnesota Vikings should have starter Kyler Murray available to them next week. Murray is expected to clear concussion protocol "pretty early in the week," coach Kevin O'Connell said Sunday after the Vikings' 9-3 victory over the Chicago Bears.
O'Connell did not announce that Murray would be the starter for the Vikings' next game, Sept. 27 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but that has been the assumption around the team after Murray participated in all three practices last week on a limited basis.
"He's doing great," O'Connell said. "He's feeling well."
Murray suffered his concussion on the 11th play of his debut game with the Vikings last week, but his symptoms were minor enough to allow him to practice. Wentz has completed 23 of 39 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns since replacing Murray, without committing a turnover, and he made two throws in the fourth quarter Sunday that helped the Vikings drain clock while protecting a one-score lead.
Wentz hit receiver Jordan Addison on a 15-yard pass over the middle to convert a third down and later threw a 19-yard floater to tight end T.J. Hockenson on 2nd-and-10. Those completions helped the Vikings run 5 minutes, 8 seconds off the clock before taking a 6-point lead on Will Reichard's 39-yard field goal.
"It was ugly out there," Wentz said. "I'm not going to lie. But I'd rather win ugly than look good and come up with an 'L.'"
But there has never been any indication that Wentz has been playing his way into a full-time starting job. The Vikings' offense has finished with less than 300 total yards in both games this season, and Wentz has taken six sacks and had one interception overturned by a penalty. He had another likely interception dropped in Sunday's rainy conditions at Soldier Field.