Bengals’ Week 3 game against Vikings gets another curveball thrown at it on top of Joe Burrow’s injury
An unexpected quarterback matchup is in store for us.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ first full game without a now-injured Joe Burrow will be against a team without their own starting quarterback as well.
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell does not expect J.J. McCarthy to play in Sunday’s Week 3 matchup against Cincinnati, which means backup Carson Wentz would start.
McCarthy, Minnesota’s first-round pick from the 2024 NFL Draft, missed his entire rookie season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. He’s started the first two games of this season and hasn’t missed a snap, throwing for 301 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions on 24-of-41 passing.
Wentz, the second-overall pick from the 2016 draft, was signed by the Vikings on Aug. 24 to become McCarthy’s backup. He finished third in MVP voting in 2017 with the Philadelphia Eagles, but has only started nine games since 2022 and has now been on five different teams in as many years.
Despite the current trajectory of his career, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has a lot of respect for the QB his team is now preparing to game-plan against.
Zac Taylor reacts in real time to J.J. McCarthy news
Taylor learned of the report during his weekly Monday press conference in which he spoke on Burrow’s injury and Jake Browning starting in his place. He’ll have to wait on facing McCarthy for the first time, but he’s seen his backup before.
“You know, my brother was in Philly when they drafted Carson and played (against) him a couple times, so he’s always challenging,” Taylor said of Wentz. “He’s dynamic with his legs. He’s got a big arm. He’s played in some big moments. He’s seen a lot of different looks. So there’s a reason they acquired him as the backup. He’s done a lot of really good things over the course of his career.”
Taylor last coached against Wentz in 2020 when the former Pro Bowl QB was still an Eagle. Cincinnati tied Philadelphia, 23-23, in that game, which was Burrow’s third-career game and start. Taylor was a part of the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff as an offensive assistant in 2017 when Wentz suffered a torn ACL against L.A. in Week 14 of that season.
A matchup between backup QBs is super rare just three weeks into the regular season, but that’s what we have in store for us when the Bengals play on the road against the Vikings this week. Wentz’s 94 starts outweigh the seven Browning has under his belt, but the latter has played more recently after leading the Bengals to a victory this past Sunday over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Both teams now have an entire week to best prepare their QBs for a full game, and the Bengals will have a much more experienced passer to get past to achieve a coveted 3-0 start to the year.
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