Kyler Murray Is Out for Monday Night — Carson Wentz Gets the Bills

MINNEAPOLIS

The Minnesota Vikings will play the biggest game of their season without their starting quarterback. Head coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters Thursday that Kyler Murray is out for Monday night's game against the Buffalo Bills with a strained hamstring, and that Carson Wentz will start at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Murray hurt the hamstring late in Sunday's 19-15 loss at Detroit — Minnesota's first loss of the season — and finished the game on it, going 17-of-29 for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and leading the team in rushing with 35 yards while moving gingerly through the fourth quarter. O'Connell sounded hopeful on Monday. Further testing and imaging changed the picture.

“For Kyler, his movement skills and the way he plays the game, we'd be putting him at risk of possibly turning this into a more significant injury than it is,” O'Connell said. “Kyler needs his mobility — it's a big, huge part of what makes him an effective player. If that puts him at risk of potentially adding to the grade of the injury, we can't do that. It's a long season. We hope to get him back and get him going.” Murray is considered week-to-week, and O'Connell said injured reserve is not a consideration.

Wentz has already saved this season twice

This is not new territory for Wentz in a Vikings uniform. In the season opener, Murray left with a concussion in the first quarter against Green Bay, and Wentz threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter alone — 12-of-19 for 133 yards — as Minnesota rallied to win 39-22. A week later he started in Chicago and managed a 9-3 win in the rain, going 11-of-20 for 143 yards. His season line: 23-of-39, 276 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions.

“Obviously, there's a ton of confidence in Carson,” O'Connell said. “He's had a major, major role in two wins this year against two really good teams. He's a steadying presence and a guy we know can go in and play good football. He has 100 games of experience. He's the perfect guy in a moment where you can't have Kyler out there at full strength.”

This is Wentz's second season in Minnesota. The 33-year-old — the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft — started five games for the Vikings in 2025 while J.J. McCarthy was hurt, before a shoulder injury ended his own season. Max Brosmer will back him up on Monday.

The question behind the injury

The injury is real — it was imaged, and the coach announced the ruling himself. But the conversation around Murray did not start on Thursday. Minnesota's offense ranks 27th in scoring and 29th in total yards. Since returning in Week 3, Murray has thrown for 1,004 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions in five starts, and Detroit held Justin Jefferson to five catches for 33 yards on Sunday. ESPN's Adam Schefter said this week that “it looks like there's a question at the quarterback position” in Minnesota. That is reporting, not a team statement — but it is not a question a 6-1 team usually has to hear.

Murray arrived in March on a one-year contract after Arizona released him, and he won the job over McCarthy in training camp. That deal left Minnesota with no long-term obligation if it didn't work. Monday night won't settle the question by itself — but it is now a question with a live alternative standing right next to him.

Monday night

Buffalo arrives at 6-1, fresh off a 36-10 win over Baltimore, and for the second straight week the Bills will face a backup quarterback. This time they know exactly who it is. If Wentz plays clean football and Minnesota wins, the Vikings are 7-1 — and the quarterback conversation gets louder, not quieter. If the offense sputters again, Murray's job waits for him the moment the hamstring allows. Either way, it starts Monday at 8:15 p.m. Eastern under the lights in Minneapolis.