On his 11th regular season snap as the Minnesota Vikings' starting quarterback, Kyler Murray slid at end of a run and took a brutal, late and rightly penalized hit to the head from Green Bay Packers safety Javon Bullard.
Murray exited to the locker room immediately. The team soon announced, as expected, that he was in concussion protocol, and he was fairly quickly ruled out for the game.
Carson Wentz took Murray's place in the game and led the Vikings' offense to a field goal to finish the drive Murray was injured on. To address that question, J.J. McCarthy is the emergency third quarterback for Sunday's game and can only play if Wentz is injured and cannot continue.
It's too soon to know whether Murray will miss any time beyond Sunday's game. Recovery from a concussion is a very individually specific thing, based on severity, etc., and protocol steps are cleared when deemed appropriate by independent (aka, not team) doctors.
However, we can comfortably consider Murray a level of questionable for Week 2 against the Chicago Bears, pending further updates.
Update, 7:25 pm. Central time, Sunday, Sept. 13: According to ESPN's Kevin Seifert, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said he saw Murray after the game and the quarterback seemed to doing well.
But as expected so soon after, O'Connell couldn't offer an update in terms of Murray's return timetable.
Update, 9:25 a.m. Central time, Monday, Sept. 14: In separate reports, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and ESPN's Adam Schefter have each suggested Murray will miss Week 2 against the Chicago Bears.
Update, 1:32 p.m. Central time, Monday, Sept. 14: During his day after the game press conference, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said Murray was "feeling pretty good today" while confirming he's in concussion protocol. O'Connell added how what happens is in the hands of the medical people within the protocol, while adding, as expected, the situation will be taken "a day at a time."
Update, 7:31 p.m. Central time, Tuesday, Sept, 15: On "The Insiders", NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said, however obviously, that "we'll able to tell a lot" about Murray's availabiliity for Week 2 against the Chicago Bears by whether or not he's able to practice on Wednesday.
Update, 7:31 p.m. Central time, Tuesday, Sept. 15: Appearing on "Purple Daily" Tuesday, Darren Wolfson of KSTP Sports strongly hinted Carson Wentz will start against the Bears and "we can think about the possibility" of Murray returning in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Update, 1:50 p.m. Central time, Wednesday, Sept. 16: Before practice, head coach Kevin O'Connell confirmed Murray would be a limited participant in the day's session as he continues to move through concussion protocol.
Update, 2:59 p.m. Central time, Wednesday, Sept. 16: Per ESPN's Kevin Seifert, Murray being able to be a limited participant in practice means he has moved to at least the third phase of the five-phase concussion protocol.
Update, 8:34 p.m Central time, Wednesday, Sept. 16: When pressed on whether he has ruled Murray out for Sunday against the Bears before practice, O'Connell said, "have not."
Update, 9:20 a.m. Central time, Thursday, Sept.17: On "Good Morning Football", NFL Network's Ian Rapoport pointed to, in light of Wednesday's limited practice participation, how there's a "chance" Murray could start against the Bears in Week 2 if he continues to move through concussion protocol as he has been.
Update, 4:30 p.m. Central time, Thursday, Sept 17: Murray was again listed as a limited participant in Thursday's practice.
Updated, 8:32 a.m. Central time, Friday, Sept. 18: ESPN's Dan Graziano reported Murray did more during Thursday's practice than he did Wednesday, with a decison to start him against the Bears coming "once he is cleared."
Update, 12:27 p.m. Central time, Friday Sept. 18: Appearing on KFAN's "Power Trip Morning Show" Friday morning, Tom Pelissero of The Ringer said he doesn't expect Murray to play on Sunday against the Bears.
Update, 12:29 p,m. Central time, Friday, Sept. 18: Per ESPN's Kevin Seifert, Murray participated in practice again on Friday.
Update, 1:43 p.m. Central time, Friday, Sept, 18: Murray has been officially ruled out for Week 2 against the Bears.
Has Minnesota Vikings QB Kyler Murray ever suffered a concussion before?
This appears to be Murray's first documented concussion in the NFL, if not in his football life.
Here are the other injuries he has had in his pro career over seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals before signing with the Vikings.
- Right Foot, October 2025: Missed the final 12 games of the season; was placed on IR in November
- Torn Right ACL, December 2022: Missed the rest of that season and the beginning of the 2023 season; 13 combined missed games
- Right Thigh/Hamstring Strain, October 2022: Played the following week, then missed two games
- Left Hand/Wrist Bruise, August 2022: Zero missed games
- Right Ankle Sprain, October 2021: Missed three games
- Right Shoulder (AC Joint Sprain), November 2020: Zero missed games
- Right Thigh/Hamstring, December 2019: Zero missed games
This article will be updated as new information about Murray's injury is announced.
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