Less than 24 hours after his team's Week 2 win over the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell announced on Monday that quarterback Kyler Murray has officially cleared the NFL's concussion protocol and he will be back in the starting lineup for next weekend's matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Murray was inactive for Minnesota's Week 2 contest against the Bears after sustaining a concussion in the regular-season opener against the Green Bay Packers. He was able to participate in all three of the Vikings' practices last week, but only on a limited basis.
Carson Wentz did a solid job filling in for Murray for the last two weeks, but now it's time for Minnesota to get back to its original plan for the 2026 season with Murray as its QB1.
Kyler Murray must follow the lead of Carson Wentz
During his time on the field in Week 1 and Week 2, Wentz didn't put up any sort of monster numbers. But the most important thing he did was turn the ball over zero times, and that played a large role in the Vikings coming away with wins in both of their first two games this season.
Holding onto the football is not something Murray did during his limited number of snaps with Minnesota in Week 1. His literal, first-ever regular-season pass in a Vikings uniform resulted in an interception.
So far this year, Minnesota has been able to win by playing defense at an elite level, controlling the clock with its rushing attack, and not turning the football over.
With Murray on the field, the Vikings are hoping that he can help them generate some more explosive plays through the air, but avoiding turnovers needs to remain a big point of emphasis.
Who is Kyler Murray facing in his return to the Vikings in Week 3?
In his second official start for Minnesota this season, Murray and the Vikings will be heading down south to take on the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers inside Raymond James Stadium.
Since entering the NFL in 2019, Murray has only faced the Bucs once in his entire career, and that was back in 2019 when he was a rookie. His team (the Arizona Cardinals) ended up losing, but he performed well, throwing for 324 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception.
Tampa Bay was a completely different team in 2019 compared to now, but that team's defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles, is currently the Bucs' head coach. So, Murray should feel good about the fact that he's already been able to have success against a defense led by Bowles.
After Minnesota was able to just earn victories over the Bears and Packers with Wentz taking most of the snaps at quarterback, all eyes will be on Murray next Sunday to see if he can help the Vikings improve to 3-0 for the second time in the last three seasons.
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