{"id":72828,"date":"2023-12-19T01:52:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T01:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=72828"},"modified":"2023-12-19T01:52:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T01:52:07","slug":"kevin-oconnell-announces-vikings-starting-quarterback-for-week-16-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/kevin-oconnell-announces-vikings-starting-quarterback-for-week-16-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin O\u2019Connell Announces Vikings\u2019 Starting Quarterback for Week 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Vikings weren\u2019t able to make history and become the first team in NFL history to notch wins with four different starting quarterbacks in a seven-game span, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN. But they did see some encouraging signs from the offense with Nick Mullens at quarterback.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin<\/p>\n

Mullens did enough to hold on to the starting job, though. At least for another week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be starting Nick Mullens at quarterback [in Week 16],\u201d said head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell on December 18 via the team\u2019s official X feed. \u201cI thought Nick did a lot of really good things in the football game on Saturday. Moved the team, we had our first 100-yard rusher (Ty Chandler), Nick over 300 yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Nick knows we \u2026 need to try to limit those, and eliminate those critical, critical errors where we turn the ball over in the red zone with chances for points twice there in the football game \u2026 My expectation is Nick\u2019s going to go out and play really well for us this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler alluded to the decision earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuarterback Nick Mullens is expected to make another start for the #Vikings on Sunday vs. the #Lions,\u201d Fowler posted on X on December 18. \u201cMullens passed for 303 yards last week vs. Cincinnati.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fowler\u2019s report comes on the heels of a positive review from O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Nick Mullens stepped in, led us to a very efficient day,\u201d O\u2019Connell said via the team after the 27-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. \u201c The biggest thing is Nick showed that he can execute our offense and really move the football team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Nick Mullens played well enough to give us a chance to go to overtime on the road and win a game. And as a team, we just didn\u2019t do enough in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell noted that they still had plenty to work through. He explained that at least one of Mullens\u2019 two interceptions was the result of the quarterback trying to \u201cdo too much\u201d to make a play.<\/p>\n

It was Mullens\u2019 first game alongside Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson.<\/p>\n

Vikings Star Justin Jefferson Praises Nick Mullens<\/h2>\n

\"Nick<\/p>\n

\u201cNick did a fantastic job today,\u201d Jefferson said via Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul on December 16. \u201cEspecially \u2026 with the week of preparation, him being the starting quarterback. And I feel like he came out today with confidence. And I feel like we were all together, and he leaned on each one of us to help him throughout the game. So he did a fantastic job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jefferson finished the game with seven receptions and 84 yards on 10 targets in the loss to Cincinnati. It was his most productive day since Week 4, though he only finished one of the two games he appeared in in that span due to injuries.<\/p>\n

Still, Cincinnati\u2019s 298 total yards of offense in Week 15 were their second-most this season. It falls behind only their Week 3 effort against the Los Angeles Chargers.<\/p>\n

They still had Kirk Cousins under center for that contest.<\/p>\n

Nick Mullens Could Have Short Leash<\/h2>\n

\"Jaren<\/p>\n

There was a chance that fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall could have taken over at quarterback had Mullens continued to falter.<\/p>\n

Hall entered the season as the No. 3 option behind Cousins and Mullen. But he was elevated to No. 2 behind Mullens \u2013 and ahead of trade acquisition Josh Dobbs \u2013 for Week 15. O\u2019Connell said they wanted to prepare the rookie \u201cas if he was playing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fowler reported before the game that Mullens was on a short leash.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vikings are in ride-the-hot-hand mode at quarterback,\u201d Fowler wrote on December 16. \u201cJoshua Dobbs caught fire after landing in Minnesota at the trade deadline but has cooled down, paving the way for Nick Mullens, this week\u2019s starter. But it wouldn\u2019t shock to see rookie Jaren Hall reenter the lineup at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vikings want to bring Hall along slowly, but they like his upside and poise,\u201d Fowler continued. \u201cHe\u2019s now the No. 2 quarterback behind Mullens, with Dobbs as the emergency No. 3. If Mullens cools down, Hall will be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a previous report from December 13, Fowler noted the short turnaround factored into the decision to start Mullens.<\/p>\n

His performance in Week 15 earned him another chance. His future \u2013 and that of the Vikings at the position \u2013 appears to be unsettled for the rest of the season, though.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Vikings weren\u2019t able to make history and become the first team in NFL history to notch wins with four different starting quarterbacks in a seven-game… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}