Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell has a plan for Sunday’s game vs. Eagles that he won’t reveal for one main reason

Kevin O’Connell is keeping things vague across the board.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Sep 28, 2025; Dublin, Ireland; Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell at a press conference after an NFL International Series game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Croke Park.
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On the Monday coming out of the bye week, the hope was that the Minnesota Vikings would have a clearer picture at the quarterback position.

J.J. McCarthy was set to return to practice and even did some work during the bye week. On the flip side, Carson Wentz is also dealing with a left shoulder injury, and he returned to practice as well. Head coach Kevin O’Connell remained non-committal to either McCarthy or Wentz.

“We’ve got to prepare to try to win a game on Sunday,” said O’Connell. “And Carson, you know, as well, working with, you know, his left shoulder, he’ll practice as well. But we really want to get our team ready to go, and in the process of doing that.”

Kevin O’Connell has a plan for who the starting quarterback is

Despite being non-committal with his comments in the press conference, O’Connell alluded to having a starter already in mind for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I think there’s the decision that is the public one, and I think there’s the decision one with what we’re going to do for the game,” said O’Connell. “And those two things can be on different timelines, although I know that’s not the most comforting thing to share with you guys. But there is a, there is a feel of making sure that we’re preparing the quarterback position for the game, knowing that we’ve, we’ve won games with two different guys this year, and we’ve found a rhythm at times on offense that as much as that quarterback plays a huge role in it. We’ve got to make sure our offense is prepared to play with that true all 11 mindset.”

That first line from O’Connell resonates. The public decision and the game decision don’t always mesh. Sometimes, that’s to keep the opponent guessing, while other times, it’s about keeping the decision fluid due to a myriad of reasons.

With both players coming off of injuries, there are a lot of different ways that the week can go. One player may take a step backward in their recovery and change everything about how the Vikings want to go about their game with the Eagles. Saying it out loud doesn’t help the Vikings, because that uncertainty persists.

The most likely day we find out about the starting quarterback is Friday when O’Connell has his final press conference of the week. From now until then, we have a lot that can happen.

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