The Minnesota Vikings‘ offense has struggled to start the team’s Monday night bout against the Buffalo Bills.
Through the first quarter, quarterback Carson Wentz went 1/5 for just 3 yards passing as the Vikings put 0 points on the board.
Speaking to Lisa Salters on ESPN’s broadcast heading into the start of the second quarter, O’Connell issued a pretty clear message to Wentz: calm down.
Kevin O’Connell Urges Carson Wentz to ‘Calm Down’
“We’re trying to get him settled down right now.” O’Connell said to Salters. He’s a veteran player. He’s played a lot of football. We just need him to calm down, get a completion, get our run game going a little bit.”
The Vikings HC also stressed that he loved what the defense was doing, and still retains confidence in his starting QB.
“I love what our defense is doing, competing. We have the field position now. We’ve got to do something with it. But we’ll get Carson settled down. He’s a veteran, got all the confidence in the world in him.”
Could the Vikings Find a New QB Before the Trade Deadline?
Wentz is playing in Week 9 as a fill-in for incumbent starter Kyler Murray, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, which some believe was merely a semi-excuse for a soft benching of the former 1st overall pick back in 2019.
After O’Connell’s comments to, the former Super Bowl champion subsequently went 1/2 for 2 yards passing in a drive that saw the team once again go three-and-out.
If Wentz does poorly for the rest of the game and loses, further questions will arise as to whether the Vikings ought to make a last minute deal to acquire a signal caller before the trade deadline passes at 4pm on Tuesday.
Kevin O’Connell Issues 2-Word Command to Carson Wentz After Shaky Start