Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray was knocked out of the team’s season opener against the Packers after taking a devastating hit from Green Bay safety Javon Bullard.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed he was in the concussion protocol following the contest. However, it sounds like the signal-caller is progressing quickly, as he also mentioned that Murray would be a limited participant in practice today.
“Kyler is going to be a limited practice participant today,” O’Connell said. “Working through the protocol. We’ll see how he responds and continue to rely on the medical folks in that regard.”
He later added, “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 from the standpoint of that limited participation. It’s a little bit more of a vague thing at the quarterback position just because they’re in red jerseys until game time anyway. So we’ll kind of just deal with it as it comes to us.”
Almost No One Expected Murray To Be In The Lineup For Week 2
With the nature of Murray’s injury, the overwhelming consensus was that he would be on the shelf for Minnesota’s Week 2 clash in Chicago. Very few players clear concussion protocol in time to play the next week, and Murray’s came via a brutal hit.
“I assume it’s going to be Carson Wentz [starting] for the Vikings,” Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio said on Tuesday. “It just looked like one of those concussions where he’s probably not going to be back in a week. Helmet coming off, he gets hit hard. Probably not coming back in a week.”
When speaking to reporters on Monday, O’Connell also seemingly hinted that they were preparing for Wentz to get the start. It now seems like the door is very much open for Murray to beat the timeline and be back in action for Minnesota, though.
KOC Confirms Murray Will Have Until Friday To Clear Protocol
O’Connell also provided insight on the latest Murray would need to be cleared in order to play on Sunday.
“I think Friday,” O’Connell said. “Having the ability to go through the next couple of days for sure, see where he’s at. At the same time, deferring so much to those medical professionals that he’s talking to. He’s got to be medically cleared before we even have the conversation about playing in the game. The protocol is kind of the guiding light behind all this.”
It still remains to be seen whether Murray will clear concussion protocol in time for Sunday’s noon kickoff in Chicago. Honestly, it would be quite a remarkable recovery considering how dire things were looking last week. He still feels like a long shot to play at this stage.
However, the fact that he’s seemingly progressing rapidly is definitely a good sign for Vikings fans. Fear over a multi-week absence was seemingly premature.
Vikings’ Kyler Murray Gets Great News Ahead of Week 2 Matchup In Chicago