The Vikings will not have one of their key contributors at running back for at least the next four weeks.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said in his Wednesday press conference that Jordan Mason is being placed on injured reserve due to a thumb fracture.
O’Connell noted Mason has already undergone a procedure to repair the injury and the team does not anticipate him being out longer than the four-week IR window.
Mason had 59 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown in the season-opening victory over the Packers.
As a corresponding move, the team is signing DeeJay Dallas to the 53-man roster off of its practice squad.
Additionally, veteran back Jerome Ford has been signed to the practice squad.
There’s some positive news on the injury front for Minnesota’s starting quarterback.
Kyler Murray is set to be a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters in his press conference.
Murray is in concussion protocol after taking a hard hit while sliding early on in Sunday’s victory over the Packers.
“We’ll see how he responds and continue to rely on the medical folks in that regard,” O’Connell said. “The good thing is the amount of reps he got from obviously competing and then being named the starter, he’s got a lot of reps logged away. But, yeah, really we’re taking it kind of period-by-period as far as the plan we have. But we want to be monitoring how he’s doing from a 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 anyway all the way up until game time. So we’ll kind of just deal with it as it comes to us.”
Murray was on the field for just 11 offensive snaps before exiting the contest. Carson Wentz came in and played the rest of the way, completing 12-of-19 passes for 133 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Wentz would be in line to start on Sunday against the Bears if Murray does not clear the protocol.
Bears coach Ben Johnson is done talking about his offense’s impressive Week 1 output.
When a reporter started to ask Johnson today about the Bears’ 59-37 win over the Panthers, Johnson cut off the question and said the focus is on Sunday against the Vikings.
“We haven’t put up any points this week,” Johnson said.
Johnson also brushed off talk that he was considering a two-point conversion on the Bears’ last touchdown so they could score an even 60 points.
“I said other people brought up going for two,” Johnson said.
Johnson is laser focused on this week rather than resting on his laurels from last week, and he said that’s how his players are acting at practice.
“The look in our guys’ eyes was the right look,” Johnson said.
The Bears had the most impressive offensive performance of Week 1 and one of their players’ contributions to it was recognized by the league on Wednesday.
Running back D’Andre Swift has been named the NFC offensive player of the week.
Swift ran 18 times for 124 yards and three touchdowns during Chicago’s 59-37 win over the Panthers. The three touchdowns are a single-game high for Swift, who also caught one pass for 10 yards during the win.
It’s the second time that Swift has taken offensive player of the week honors. He also earned the prize while playing for the Eagles in 2023.
One week into the 2026 season, Bills quarterback Josh Allen remains the favorite to be named the NFL Most Valuable Player. But there’s a new contender in second place.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ odds have skyrocketed after his performance in Chicago’s 59-37 Week 1 win at Carolina.
Allen’s odds improved from +600 to +500, while Williams is now just behind Allen at +600. Prior to Week 1, Williams was at +1200.
The next-best odds belong to Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson at +650, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow at +900, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy at +1200. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes at +1600, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott at +1800 and Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence at +1800.
Last year’s MVP, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, saw his odds drop to +2000 from his preseason odds of +1400 after the Rams’ ugly Week 1 loss.
