Getty Head coach Kevin O'Connell of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings quarterback room is inching closer to full health after weathering a string of injuries the past four weeks.
Veteran Nick Mullens was designated to return to practice on Wednesday, November 15, opening up a 21-day window for Mullens to be activated to the 53-man roster after landing on the injured reserve list with a lower back injury on October 11, per the Star Tribune.
Following Kirk Cousins‘ season-ending Achilles injury on October 29, Josh Dobbs has steadied a Vikings team that appeared to be in dire straights. Before Dobbs, Minnesota was down to only rookie Jaren Hall the week Cousins joined Mullens on the injured reserve list.
Dobbs was thrust into playing just five days after he arrived in Minnesota when Hall suffered a concussion in the first quarter of Week 9’s win over the Atlanta Falcons.
The Vikings did not have another player designated to wear the “green dot” on offense that week after emergency quarterback Cam Akers, a running back, ruptured his Achilles late in the game.
Had Dobbs gone down, there’s no telling what may have happened.
Mullens’ return provides some insurance from that happening again after the Vikings trotted out Sean Mannion, a practice-squad elevation, as their only backup in a Week 10 win over the New Orleans Saints.
If Mullens is deemed healthy enough to be activated from injured reserve, he will back up Dobbs against the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football this week. Hall is considered close to clearing the concussion protocol and could also be a candidate to dress on Sunday.
Josh Dobbs Leaves Vikings Coach Kevin O’Connell Speechless
GettyHead coach Kevin O’Connell (left) of the Minnesota Vikings talks with quarterback Joshua Dobbs (right) before an NFL game against the Atlanta Falcons in November 2023.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has been a coordinator since 2018, but even he is just starting to see the possibilities his offense has with a dual-threat quarterback like Dobbs.
During Week 10’s win over the Saints, O’Connell was captured on the sidelines, scratching his head at a scrambling touchdown that Dobbs improvised.
“I don’t even know what just happened,” O’Connell joked on the sidelines in the clip shared by the NFL’s official X (formerly Twitter) account.
.@josh_dobbs1 literally left @Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell speechless. 🤷♂️ (via @NFLFilms)
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Vikings Offense Evolves With Josh Dobbs
GettyQB Josh Dobbs of the Minnesota Vikings on the field after the game against the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 12, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Vikings have won two straight games with Dobbs, who also didn’t have Justin Jefferson for both games and K.J. Osborn last week.
Minnesota has had to change its approach. Dobbs is not the pocket passer that Cousins is — but O’Connell is finding new ways to succeed on offense by playing to Dobbs’ strengths.
“It was a pretty outstanding day from Josh,” O’Connell said in a November 15 news conference. “And the best thing about it is we’re all still getting to know each other and getting the comfort level where we can continue to apply layers to this thing to be the most successful we can be on offense.”
Dobbs has absorbed the Vikings offense seemingly overnight, and O’Connell has helped him by giving him the go-ahead to make plays with his feet when the play doesn’t pan out as designed.
“Coming up on our 11th game now, we’ve got a lot of time on the practice field logged that maybe Josh wasn’t there for, but he’s been a quick study on some of that stuff,” O’Connell said. “We’re trying to kind of meet in the middle on that and continue to evolve, I think is the word. There’s no rule that says you have to stay the same for the whole season.”