National Football League

Vikings Name Starting QB For Week 2 vs. Bears With Kyler Murray Injured

18 Sep 2026, 19:14 · FOX Sports

Carson Wentz will pick up where he left off.

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell announced on Friday afternoon that Wentz will start at quarterback for the team's Week 2 road matchup against the Chicago Bears (Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX), as Kyler Murray continues to recover from a concussion. J.J. McCarthy will be the backup quarterback.

Wentz stepped in for Murray in the first quarter of Minnesota's Week 1 victory over the Green Bay Packers after Murray took a pair of hits to the head area.

After trailing 22-10 with 5:09 remaining in the third quarter, the Vikings went on a 29-0 run to win the game, 39-22. Wentz threw for 133 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, while posting a 123.5 passer rating and completing 63.2% of his passes (12 of 19).

Wentz is in his second season with the Vikings. He started five games for the team last season in place of McCarthy, who opened the season as the starting quarterback but then missed time due to an ankle injury, before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Wentz posted an 85.8 passer rating and completed 65.1% of his passes across those five games.

The Vikings are the sixth team the 33-year-old Wentz, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, has played for. Following five seasons with the Eagles (2016-20), Wentz had one-year stints with the Indianapolis Colts (2021), Washington Commanders (2022), Los Angeles Rams (2023) and Kansas City Chiefs (2024) before joining the Vikings in 2025.

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