The Minnesota Vikings enjoyed a bye week this past weekend after getting off to a 3-2 start to the 2025 NFL season. The Vikings most recently took the field overseas against the Cleveland Browns in Week 5, picking up a narrow victory in a game that saw quarterback Carson Wentz deal with an injury but return to finish out the contest.
Wentz was only in the lineup to begin with thanks to an injury to starting quarterback JJ McCarthy, who got off to a rough start to his NFL career through two weeks, and on Wednesday, the team dropped an update on Wentz's status moving forward.
“From our buzz file…Wentz plans to practice this week despite a pretty painful shoulder issue. He wants to be available whether Vikings need him to start or not,” reported NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.
The Vikings' offense has sputtered when both Wentz and McCarthy have been out on the field, with the exception of an explosive performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3. Vikings fans would likely rather have both players healthy and available moving forward.
An interesting spot for the Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings got off to an encouraging start to their 2025 season with McCarthy under center, rallying from a double-digit deficit to knock off the Chicago Bears in Week 1.
However, McCarthy struggled mightily in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, leading the offense to just six points in that game, and thus far, the former Michigan quarterback has played poorly in seven out of his eight NFL quarters up to this point.
At first, it looked as though Carson Wentz might be the answer, given his electric performance in his first start vs the Bengals, but he too has since fallen back down to Earth, leading some to wonder what Kevin O'Connell's decision will be once both quarterbacks are healthy.
In any case, the Vikings are currently preparing for a big test at home against the spiraling Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET.
