‘We’ll see how he turns over’ — Kevin O’Connell’s answer on Thursday night’s starting quarterback remains open ended

Kevin O’Connell gave himself an out to bench Carson Wentz.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Oct 19, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz (11) runs the ball during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles at U.S. Bank Stadium.
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The Minnesota Vikings have now lost their third game of the 2025 season, two and a half months before they did in the 2024 season, with a 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

There are multiple elements of the game we can point to in how the game went. The red zone offense was brutal, dropping from 66.7% to 52.4% on the season with a one-for-six performance in the most important area of the field. The biggest factor in those failures was quarterback Carson Wentz.

Going into a short week, the Vikings need to figure out what went wrong and fix it.

Kevin O’Connell undecided on starting quarterback vs. Chargers

We didn’t know who the starting quarterback would be against the Eagles until Friday after practice, and head coach Kevin O’Connell kept the door open on that topic.

“First and foremost, I thought he competed and got to see how he comes out [of this game] health-wise,” said O’Connell. “He took some [shots]. He had to use his legs there a couple of times on the last drive. We’ll see how he turns over. I know Max was ready to go today, and J.J. [McCarthy] was the emergency three, but J.J. was able to get some work last week. We’ll see how he feels as well. And on a short week, we’re going to put together the best plan we can. And that also includes the players available to us.”

It makes sense why the Vikings would want to keep the starting quarterback situation fluid. Wentz was objectively bad on Sunday afternoon. He was consistently missing throws deep down the field, not seeing the field well, and didn’t trust his eyes. That’s been littered all over his film this season, and it continued on Sunday.

If McCarthy, who is still recovering from the high-ankle sprain that he suffered in Week 2, ends up being ready, it could be exactly what this offense needs to get some consistency. Now, that’s a lot to ask for with a first-time starting quarterback who has only started two games in his two-year career. However, the Vikings need to do something to figure out the offense.

We can confidently say the answer is not Wentz.

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