The Vikings are not yet ruling out quarterback Kyler Murray for this Sunday’s game in Chicago, head coach Kevin O’Connell said on Wednesday. Murray is participating in limited fashion in Minnesota‘s first practice of the week, three days after suffering a concussion early in the Vikings’ season opener against the Packers.
“We’ll see how he responds and (will) continue to rely on the medical folks in that regard,” O’Connell said.
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It was a scary moment when Murray was hit in the head by multiple Packers defenders while sliding to the turf last Sunday. He appeared to briefly be knocked unconscious and was seen in the involuntary “fencing posture” that can occur after a hit to the head. After an obvious trigger of the evaluation portion of the NFL’s concussion protocol, Murray was examined in the locker room and ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Fortunately, the early reports were that he was doing well after the game and was able to participate in meetings on Monday.
Murray being able to practice in a limited fashion on Wednesday means he has progressed to at least the third phase of the NFL’s five-phase return-to-participation protocol, and possibly phase four.
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Phase 1: Symptom limited activity
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Phase 2: Aerobic exercise
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Phase 3: Football-specific exercise
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Phase 4: Club-based non-contact training drills
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Phase 5: Full football activity/clearance
In phase 3, the player is “allowed to practice with the team in sport-specific exercise for 30 minutes or less with ongoing and careful monitoring.” In phase 4, a player can participate in “non-contact football activities (e.g. throwing, catching, running, and other position-specific activities).” The “limited” designation comes with some uncertainty about exactly how much Murray will be doing in Wednesday’s practice.
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In order to have a chance to play in Sunday’s game against the Bears, Murray would likely need to reach full clearance for football activity (phase 5) by Friday, O’Connell said.
“I think Friday. Having the ability to go through the next couple days for sure, see where’s he at. But at the same time, deferring so much to those medical professionals that he’s talking to,” O’Connell said. “He’s gotta be medically cleared before we even have the conversation about playing in a game. That’s how we’ve handled all of these situations. Quarterback position or not, the protocol is the guiding light behind all this.”
If Murray is medically cleared, other factors could enter the Vikings’ decision-making process. However, O’Connell did indicate that missing some practice reps wouldn’t necessarily prevent him from playing in the game.
“The good thing is the amount of reps he got (this offseason), from competing and then being named the starter,” O’Connell said. “He’s got a lot of reps logged away. Really, we’re taking it period by period as far as the plan we have, but we want to be monitoring how he’s doing. That ‘limited participation,’ it’s a little bit more of a vague thing at the quarterback position, just because they’re in red (non-contact) jerseys anyway, all the way up until game time.”
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The other question might be related to re-injury risk. Former Vikings center Ryan Kelly suffered a concussion in Week 2 last year, missed one game, and was cleared to return in Week 4. He picked up another concussion in that game and missed almost two months. A month after his second return, he picked up a third concussion and ended up retiring Every situation is different, but being medically cleared doesn’t necessarily mean a player will (or should) be out there.
Carson Wentz replaced Murray in Week 1 and threw for three touchdowns in a Vikings comeback win. There have been no indications that the Vikings would choose to start Wentz over Murray for football-related reasons if the latter is healthy.
This remains a wait-and-see situation.
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This story was originally published by Bring Me The Sports on Sep 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN Vikings section. Add Bring Me The Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
