Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson engaged in a rare display of frustration late in Sunday’s 19-15 loss to the Lions. He also didn’t talk to reporters after the game, possibly to avoid saying things that would underscore what he was feeling in the moment.
Four days later, Jefferson spoke to the media — and the No. 1 topic was his apparent mood during Minnesota’s first loss of the season.
“It was wanting to win,” Jefferson said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN, “and I felt like we had plenty of opportunities to win that game and we only hurt ourselves in multiple ways. It’s just wanting better from the whole entire offense especially. And I feel like the potential and the guys that we have in that room is something very, very special. I feel like we’re wasting that if not going out there executing the plays that we have called and just not living to that standard that we feel like we live up to every single day.”
Jefferson, who always says all the right things about his quarterbacks, said all the right things about Kyler Murray, whose performance against Detroit largely contributed to the failure to score more than 15 points.
“I feel like Kyler has continued to grow,” Jefferson said. “I feel like Kyler is continuing to get comfortable with this offense. And I feel like the plays that are there are plays that he’s well capable of making. And those are plays that we’ve seen him make multiple times throughout the season, throughout practice and in training camp as well. So we definitely have faith in him. We have confidence in him to go out there and be that guy that we need him and want him to be.
“But all in all, it’s just executing our plays and just coming ready to play. And I feel like once he’s back out there and he gets more comfortable with the system, more comfortable with just throwing to these different type of receivers, then I feel like he’s going to look a lot better in [reporters’] eyes. But we see that every single day. We see that type of Kyler that we need out there on Sundays every single day. So just bringing that on Sundays. We’re behind him. We’re confident in him, so we just going to keep riding with him.”
For now, the Vikings will ride with Carson Wentz, while Murray is out with a hamstring injury. And Wentz has proven that, of all the quarterbacks who have played for the Vikings since Sam Darnold left for Seattle after the 2024 season, Wentz knows how to get the ball to Jefferson.
Soft bench or not, Wentz has an opportunity to stay on the field if he makes the plays that Murray didn’t on Sunday. Plays that, by the time the game was on the line, coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t allow Murray to try to make.
The one moment that resonates from Sunday’s game wasn’t anything Murray did or failed to do. It came from O’Connell’s decision to punt from the Minnesota 33-yard line on fourth and five with 3:01 to play. Given the manner in which the Lions were running the ball, the likelihood of getting another opportunity to score a touchdown was slim.
Put simply, if O’Connell didn’t trust Murray to gain five yards with the game on the line, O’Connell shouldn’t entrust the starting job to Murray.
For now, Murray technically can’t play due to injury. It’s hard not to wonder whether, if Murray had made the plays needed to outscore the Lions on Sunday, he’d be playing on Monday night despite the injured hamstring.
Bills Clips
On the day the NFL suspended former Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson for spitting on an opponent, Buffalo coach Joe Brady said the team would not be cutting Gardner-Johnson. After the game that Gardner-Johnson missed, the Bills cut him.
Meeting with reporters on Thursday, Brady explained the reversal.
“There was a lot to evaluate,” Brady said. “You know, we got together and figured out, ‘Hey, this is what we felt like this was the best thing to do for the Buffalo Bills.’ I have so much love for [C.J.]. Like, I really do. I loved getting to coach him. I loved being around him. I loved — I did love the edge, and his personality allowing him to be him, right?, and as a person. So that didn’t make the decision easy at all.
“But we also have to be an organization that, you know, it’s unfortunate obviously what happened, you know? But it also opened a door and an opportunity for guys the other day, and that was a part of evaluation. And seeing how those guys kind of played, and you know with a lot of the roster moves. And, again, this wasn’t — we didn’t come out of the game post Vegas and say, ‘This is what we were going to do. We’re just gonna do this the following Monday.’ We were, you know, the plan was him being here and we were going to evaluate it after the game in Baltimore. And we felt like with some of the moving parts we had to do it was the best interests of the football team.”
Gardner-Johnson’s suspension opened the door for Damar Hamlin to start the game against the Ravens. And Hamlin apparently did well enough to help the Bills realize that, all things considered, the “best interests” of the Bills meant the Bills were better off without the “high maintenance” Gardner-Johnson.
The Bills have a lengthy injury report to begin Week 9, with the club playing the Vikings on Monday night.
Receiver DJ Moore (shoulder), receiver Keon Coleman (shoulder), tight end Dalton Kincaid (chest), and offensive tackle Spencer Brown (back) were all limited. Returning from injured reserve, defensive back Jordan Hancock (hamstring) was limited as well.
Offensive tackle Dion Dawkins (rib), defensive lineman Greg Gaines (calf), running back Ty Johnson (illness), receiver Joshua Palmer (hamstring), and offensive lineman Alec Anderson (ankle) all did not participate.
Cornerback Dee Alford (ankle), linebacker Joe Andreessen (knee), outside linebacker Bradley Chubb (chest/thumb), defensive lineman Ed Oliver (knee), outside linebacker TJ Parker (knee), guard Ar’maj Reed-Adams (back/elbow), defensive lineman T.J. Sanders (shoulder), and receiver Tyrell Shavers (knee) are full. Shavers is still returning from the physically unable to perform list.
Kyler Murray’s hamstring injury is serious enough that it will sideline him for at least a week.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters in his Thursday press conference that Murray is out for Monday night’s game against the Bills with a hamstring strain and is considered week-to-week.
Carson Wentz will start Week 9, which will be his second start of the season.
“For [Murray], his movement skills, and the way he plays the game, we do feel like we’d be putting him at risk of possibly turning this into a more significant injury than it is by trying to have him work through it here early on,” O’Connell said. “So, Carson will start the football game and Max [Brosmer] will back him up.”
While it didn’t seem like O’Connell was too concerned about Murray’s availability earlier in the week, further testing revealed the extent of the issue.
“I think hamstrings are always unique,” O’Connell said. "[Y]ou always have to understand that whatever that picture or that imaging says, sometimes it’s an injury you can really hone in on. That’s why I wanted to be certain before I went speculating on Monday just because I wanted to be sure it wasn’t something that would prohibit him from playing — until it was.
“I’m not going to get into the details of the grade or the injury or the level medically speaking, but just knowing that Kyler needs his mobility — it’s a big, huge part of what makes him an effective player. If that puts him at risk of potentially adding to the grade of the injury, we can’t do that. It’s a long season. We hope to get him back and get him going.”
O’Connell noted injured reserve is not a consideration for Murray with this injury.
Wentz stepped in and played after Murray suffered a concussion earlier this season. Wentz completed 23-of-39 passes against the Packers and Bears for 276 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“Obviously, there’s a ton of confidence in Carson,” O’Connell said. “He’s had a major, major role in two wins this year against two really good teams. He’s a steadying presence and a guy we know can go in and play good football, that’s why we feel so great about having him here.
“He’s going to throw a lot of completions. He’s going to put the ball in play. He’s got such a high, high understanding of not only the offense but what he’s looking at on the other side. He has 100 games of experience. He’s the perfect guy in a moment where you can’t have Kyler out there at full strength to go in there. And we feel very strongly about when Carson’s in there, we’re going to get really effective quarterback play.”
Minnesota’s offense has struggled to generate yards and points this season, with the club ranking No. 27 in scoring and No. 29 in total yards. We’ll see if Wentz can provide a spark to change that on Monday night.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen and running back James Cook can both reach a big career milestone on Monday night against the Vikings.
Allen and Cook may both reach 5,000 career rushing yards: Allen currently has 4,991 rushing yards in his career, and Cook currently has 4,966, so Allen needs nine yards against the Vikings and Cook needs 34 yards to reach 5,000.
Allen is averaging 39 rushing yards per game this season and Cook is averaging 101, so it’s likely that they’ll both reach the 5,000-yard milestone on Monday night.
Allen would be the fifth quarterback in NFL history with 5,000 career rushing yards. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is the NFL’s all-time quarterback leader with 6,666 career rushing yards. Behind Jackson are Michael Vick with 6,109, Cam Newton with 5,628 and Russell Wilson with 5,568. Allen probably won’t catch Jackson, who, though currently injured, is a year younger and will keep adding to his yardage total. But the 30-year-old Allen has a great chance of continuing to rack up rushing yards long enough to move ahead of Vick into No. 2 in rushing yardage among quarterbacks in NFL history.
Cook is in his fifth year in the NFL and is on closing in on his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season. He ranks 15th among active NFL players in career rushing yards, and Allen ranks 14th.
The Bills said they’d be keeping safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. And now they’re not.
Tuesday’s surprise move to release the veteran defensive back directly contradicts the comments made publicly by coach Joe Brady, on the same day Gardner-Johnson received a one-game suspension for spitting on an opponent during the Week 6 game against the Raiders.
“Look, C.J.'s a member of the Buffalo Bills,” Brady said on October 19. “We brought him here for a reason, and we know that he knows that he has to play better. He knows he has to be better for this team, and, you know, just like everybody else, right, we’ve got to learn from this stuff, and we have to improve and find ways to get better as the season goes.”
And now Gardner-Johnson is gone.
As one source explained it to PFT, the Bills decided that Gardner-Johnson was simply too “high-maintenance” — and that the talent and production didn’t justify the headaches.
Plenty of other teams could have told the Bills what would happen. Gardner-Johnson has hopscotched around the league, from the Saints to the Eagles to the Lions to the Eagles (again) to the Texans to the Ravens to the Bears to the Bills.
He has been good enough to get more chances, but not good enough to keep him around in light of the issues that he brings with him.
The Bills hoped to harness his attitude in order to give the defense a lift. In the end, however, the baggage outweighed the boost.
And now Gardner-Johnson becomes a free agent again. Plenty of coaches believe they can be the one to speak to a player’s better angels. As to Gardner-Johnson, the demons have won, far too often.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s suspension is over, but he will not be returning to the Bills.
Buffalo announced that Gardner-Johnson has been released on Tuesday afternoon.
Gardner-Johnson was suspended for Week 8 after spitting at an opponent during Buffalo’s Week 6 win over Las Vegas.
Via Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network, Gardner-Johnson’s release was related more to the inconsistency in his play than the spitting incident, with the team feeling there were too many “what the hell is he doing?” plays.
Damar Hamlin is in line to start at safety with Gardner-Johnson’s release.
In six games, Gardner-Johnson recorded 26 total tackles, two passes defensed, and one interception.
How can the Vikings bench Kyler Murray without benching Kyler Murray?
They can rely on an injury through which he otherwise would be able to play.
It’s hard not to look at the current status of Murray’s hamstring “tightness” as cover for a soft benching of Murray. That gives the Vikings a chance to let Carson Wentz, who played well enough in most of the Week 1 win over the Packers and all of the Week 2 win over the Bears.
While the Vikings will never admit to that strategy, consider this undeniable fact: On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips was asked for an assessment of Murray’s play “in the past couple weeks.”
“I don’t really want to get into, like, overarching, ‘Hey, this is this is the . . .,” Phillips said. “You know, the fact of the matter is, you know, we lost the game against a tough [Lions] football team on the road. It’s a division game. It stings, but we’ve got to get better moving forward. And, you know, we’ll see as the week goes on, where we’re at in that spot . . . but, yeah, we’ve got to get better. We’re going to actively pursue every avenue we can to make that happen.”
This implies, if taken literally, pursuing every avenue toward acquiring an upgrade via a trade — whether that’s Jacoby Brissett, Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins, or even Justin Herbert.
It all comes down to whether the Vikings are content to keep doing what they’ve been doing, or whether they’ll make a move aimed at significantly upgrading a position that, in recent weeks, has not been good enough.
Yes, they’re 6-1. That’s better than anyone could have expected them to be. But it’s not because Murray has turned the clock back to the early years of his career. His passer rating (86.6) is toward the bottom of all qualifying quarterbacks (and, in fairness, that’s higher than the numbers generated by Brissett, Jones, and Herbert).
It’s the lowest number for any season of Murray’s career, and the overall performance is less than what the Vikings need to maximize their current formula.
Especially since he’s not getting the ball to receiver Justin Jefferson. That’s something Wentz did consistently in 2025, making Wentz the preferred option to J.J. McCarthy — who returned to the lineup following a Week 2 ankle injury only after Wentz suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 8.
If McCarthy was still in Minnesota, there would be an unavoidable groundswell to give him a shot. But he lost the No. 2 job to Wentz. Which means Wentz won it.
Which means that the Vikings could be thinking about giving Wentz a Monday night audition against the Bills, with a plan to make a possible trade the next day if things don’t go well.
For now, the rest of the week will reveal whether and to what extent Murray or Wentz will take the first-team reps at practice. And whether Murray or Wentz will play on Monday night.
It won’t be a surprise if it’s Wentz against the Bills. Even if Murray is technically healthy enough to play.
When the schedule is released every May, plenty of standalone games that look good at the time morph into something not quite as appetizing as the season unfolds. Some standalone games get better with time.
This year, there’s a trio of massive games lurking on Christmas Day.
At 1:00 p.m. ET, it’s the Packers at the Bears. At 4:30 p.m. ET, it’s the Bills at the Broncos. At 8:15 p.m., it’s the Rams at the Seahawks.
With the Bears emerging as a threat to win the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the conference, the rematch with their biggest rivals (who beat them 31-7 in Week 5) becomes must-see TV. Bills at Broncos, a rematch of a postseason overtime classic that got Buffalo coach Sean McDermott fired, should have direct implications on two division races and the chase for the lone bye in the AFC.
The nightcap shapes up to be not a battle for the NFC West title and/or the top seed but a potential elimination game, given that both Seattle and L.A. are currently 4-4.
Regardless, all three games should be significant. Impactful. Consequential.
And they’ll more than make up for the Christmas Eve game, which has the 2-5 Texans at the 2-6 Eagles.
In recent weeks, Simms and I have raised once or twice the question of whether Bears quarterback Caleb Williams belongs in the top tier of NFL franchise quarterbacks.
Based on Monday night’s 34-point performance against a Seahawks defense that held the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes to three points a week earlier, it’s time to render a verdict.
Yes.
The new top four, in our view, are (in no particular order), Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Caleb Williams.
Lamar Jackson previously had been the fourth. A lost season due to multiple injuries puts him at No. 5, until he reestablishes himself in 2027. (And there’s no reason to believe he won’t, if he can get and stay healthy.)
For now, Caleb has crashed the party.
In Week 7 at Seattle, Mahomes completed 19 of 33 passes for 165 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. His passer rating for the game was 58.9. In Week 8 at Seattle, Williams went 24 for 34 for 247 yards, one touchdown, and no picks. Williams also sparked a 39-yard gain on a key third-down backward pass to receiver Khalif Raymond, which set up the score that turned a 20-17 margin into a 27-17 clincher.
And before anyone says Mahomes didn’t have any support in the running game, Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III and Bears running back D’Andre Swift averaged an identical 2.6 yards per carry against the Seahawks’ defense.
So, yes, Caleb is a top-level NFL quarterback. Despite missing three games with a hamstring injury, his odds to win the NFL MVP award are down to 5-1, behind only Allen, Brock Purdy, and Burrow.
If the Bears keep doing what they did on Monday night — and if they finish the season with the No. 1 seed in the NFC — Williams will get plenty of votes. And he has a real chance to win it.
Even if he’d much rather win the MVP award not for the regular season, but for the Super Bowl.
