Last week in the preseason opener against the Houston Texans, Sam Howell appeared to lock up the No. 2 quarterback job for the Minnesota Vikings with his performance.
Seven days later, any questions the Vikings have about Howell being the top backup behind J.J. McCarthy returned to being front and center after he delivered an abysmal showing in the team's preseason game against the New England Patriots.
Howell was on the field for Minnesota's first three offensive drives on Saturday, and he wound up completing the same number of passes to his own teammates as he did to the Patriots' defense. The 24-year-old quarterback finished the exhibition matchup, completing just 1-of-5 pass attempts for 13 yards and one ugly interception to New England cornerback Alex Austin.
Fellow Vikings signal-callers Brett Rypien and Max Brosmer had better performances than Howell on Saturday (not like it was a high bar to clear), but the team's No. 2 quarterback situation is clearly nowhere close to figured out with only one game left on their 2025 preseason schedule.
QB2 battle far from over for Minnesota Vikings after bad day from Sam Howell against the New England Patriots
Howell had a great chance to solidify himself as Minnesota's No. 2 quarterback on Saturday. But after his terrible performance, he might now have to play in the Vikings' preseason finale next week to earn the job.
As for the rest of Minnesota's roster in the team's exhibition loss to the Patriots this weekend, there were several players who put together notable performances.
Vikings running back Zavier Scott rushed for 28 yards on 10 carries and caught three passes for 44 yards as he competes with Ty Chandler for the team's No. 3 running back job.
Rookie wide receiver Myles Price might have just become Minnesota's new punt and kick returner with a day that saw him take a kickoff and return it 81 yards. And the Vikings' punter battle got even tighter as Oscar Chapman continued to make the case to take Ryan Wright's job.
The Vikings will finish up their 2025 preseason on Friday, August 22nd, with a road matchup against the Tennessee Titans. After that, Minnesota will have until Tuesday, August 26th, at 3 p.m. CT to put together its 53-man roster for the 2025 regular season.