Kyler Murray has exited Sunday’s season opener against the Packers after taking a nasty hit in the first quarter.
On third-and-6 from the Minnesota 34, Murray was scrambling when he began his slide well short of the sticks. But as he was doing so, he was hit in the head by safety Javon Bullard.
Murray stayed down on the turf for a while as Minnesota’s medical staff tended to him. While he was able to get up and walk off under his own power, he went directly to the locker room for further examination.
Backup QB Carson Wentz has now entered the game for the Vikings.
If necessary, J.J. McCarthy is the emergency third quarterback for Minnesota.
UPDATE 5:05 p.m. ET: The Vikings announced Murray is being evaluated for a concussion.
Packers Clips
Jordan Love has just connected on the longest touchdown of his career.
Love connected with Christian Watson for an 81-yard touchdown. But rookie kicker Trey Smack missed the extra point, keeping the score at 9-0, Packers.
Minnesota had just successfully challenged a play to overturn a completed pass to an incompletion on first down. But on the next snap, Love fired an intermediate pass over the middle to Watson, who caught it and used his speed to get into the end zone for the score.
Watson gained 65 yards after the reception.
That was also Love’s first completion of the 2026 season.
Smack made his first kick, which was a 59-yard field goal early in the first quarter. But his extra point went wide right.
Kyler Murray’s first pass as a Viking was one he’d probably like back.
Heavily pressured on second-and-11 from Minnesota’s 34, Murray heaved a jump ball to Jauan Jennings down the right sideline. But Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon picked it off instead, giving the Packers an extra possession early.
Notably, Green Bay’s new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was Murray’s head coach with the Cardinals over the last few years.
The Packers could not fully capitalize on the opportunity, however, with quarterback Jordan Love throwing it away on third-and-12 from the Minnesota 41.
Rookie Trey Smack hit the first field goal attempt of his career, sending a 59-yard attempt through the uprights with room to spare.
Green Bay leads 3-0 with 12:11 left in the first quarter.
The Packers will be playing Sunday’s game against the Vikings without guard Aaron Banks.
Banks is officially inactive for the contest after he was listed as questionable with a knee injury. He was a limited participant in practice all week.
Via multiple reporters on the Packers beat, rookie Jager Burton is likely to start in Banks’ place.
Linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper, offensive tackle Travis Glover, receiver J. Michael Sturdivant, defensive tackle Warren Brinson, and defensive tackle Anthony Campbell are also inactive for the Packers.
Minnesota’s inactives are running back Demond Claiborne, cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn, safety Jakobe Thomas, center Nick Samac, offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan, defensive lineman Elijah Williams, and quarterback J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy is Minnesota’s emergency third QB.
The regular season opens with Packers running back Josh Jacobs on paid leave. He’ll remain there while the NFL determines his punishment under the Personal Conduct Policy after a recent no-contest plea to multiple misdemeanor charges, including battery.
As Ian Rapoport of NFL Network explained on Sunday morning, the NFL will be meeting with Jacobs; that’s always part of any review under the Personal Conduct Policy. Per Rapoport, the league also wants to see the video of the altercation, which was captured by a surveillance system in Jacobs’s home — and which was placed under seal by the judge presiding over his criminal case.
Rapoport said the league is “trying all sorts of legal maneuvers” to get the video. No specific maneuver was mentioned.
The judge sealed the evidence in the case, including the video, at Jacobs’s request. The NFL could, if it wanted, tell Jacobs he won’t play until he asks for and receives a reversal of the order his lawyers sought.
Jacobs will receive credit for any games missed while on paid leave. But he won’t be playing until the internal review is completed, along with any appeal.
That puts pressure on Jacobs to give the NFL whatever it needs before it can make a decision. It also sets the stage for a negotiated suspension, which would become final once an agreement is reached.
Six games is the baseline suspension for “domestic violence, dating violence, child abuse and other forms of family violence.” Aggravating factors can increase the punishment.
Given the league’s experiences with the Ray Rice case, it’s hard to envision the matter being finalized without the NFL first seeing the video. If a suspension is imposed and the video is later released, it could (depending on the video’s contents) creatie a major problem for the league, like the Rice video did in 2014.
On Sunday, Kyler Murray will make his first start for the Vikings. And he’ll be the ninth quarterback to start a game for the Vikings since 2023.
Via NBC Sports research, that’s tied for the most in the NFL during that stretch, with (not surprisingly) the Browns. (Cleveland has had 42 starters since returning to the NFL in 1999; no other team has started more than 30 during that same period of time.)
In 2022, coach Kevin O’Connell’s first year with the Vikings, Kirk Cousins started all 17 regular-season games. He started the first eight in 2023, before tearing an Achilles tendon at Green Bay.
Since then, it’s been Jaren Hall (two games), Joshua Dobbs (four), Nick Mullens (four), Sam Darnold (all 17 in 2024), J.J. McCarthy (10), Carson Wentz (five), and Max Brosmer (two).
Given that Wentz and McCarthy are currently on the roster and Brosmer is on the practice squad, the Vikings likely won’t start a tenth different quarterback in 2026.
In 2022 and 2024, when the same guy started every game, the Vikings made the playoffs. The hope will be that Murray manages to start all 17 in 2026 — and that the Vikings get back to the postseason.
The video of the altercation that resulted in Packers running back Josh Jacobs pleading no contest to multiple misdemeanor charges could complicate his football career, if/when it’s ever released.
For now, it won’t be.
Via James Stratton of WISN, Judge Marc Hammer has signed an order “temporarily” sealing the evidence in the case. Including the video.
The sealing of the evidence was requested not by the prosecution or by the victim but by Jacobs.
From the order: “The Court finds that public disclosure of the Discovery Material would threaten or substantially impair Defendant’s and [the victim’s] privacy, dignity, personal security, emotional wellbeing, or ability to participate safely in the criminal-justice process. This protection is not to impede any legitimate law-enforcement function, criminal prosecution judicial proceeding, or disclosure otherwise required by law, but to prevent unnecessary public dissemination of information that identifies [the victim], reveals intimate or sensitive details of [the victim] or the Defendant, or creates a material risk of harm.”
The order was granted “pending a further Motion to be filed by [the victim] and/or Defendant.”
The situation creates a quandary for the NFL. Will the league tell Jacobs he can’t play until he asks for the video to be released? Or will the league welcome the reality that the video won’t be seen by the general public?
The situation conjures instant memories of the notorious Ray Rice video. The league didn’t insist on seeing it. Then, TMZ obtained it. All hell broke loose for the NFL, with Rice’s career ending and the Commissioner spending a week or so wondering whether he’d have to resign, after the Associated Press reported that the NFL had seen the video before it was published.
Video changes everything. Knowing what happened is one thing; seeing it is another.
Why else would Jacobs want it to be hidden from view? It will be interesting to see whether the league tries to force Jacobs to secure the video’s release, or whether it shrugs at the fact that it’s not available.
For now, Jacobs is on paid leave. He’ll remain there until the NFL determines the discipline to be imposed under the Personal Conduct Policy. How can it properly determine the discipline without seeing the video?
Kyle Van Noy is set to make his Vikings debut on Sunday.
The team announced that they have elevated the veteran linebacker from the practice squad for their game against the Packers. Van Noy signed with the Vikings earlier this month.
Van Noy has 57 career sacks and will give the team some experienced depth behind Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel in the season opener.
The Vikings also elevated running back DeeJay Dallas on Saturday. He joins Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, and sixth-round pick Demond Claiborne in the offensive backfield.
Both players will revert back to the practice squad after the game.
Wide receiver Bo Melton lost his spot on the Packers’ 53-man roster this week, but he’ll be available for Sunday’s game against the Vikings.
Melton re-signed to the Packers’ practice squad after being released late in the week and the Packers announced that he has been elevated on a temporary basis for Week 1.
Melton has appeared in 38 games for the Packers the last three seasons. He has 28 catches for 416 yards and two touchdowns in that action.
The Packers have also elevated linebacker Kristian Welch. He played in eight games and recorded three tackles last season.
Throughout the offseason and training camp, the Packers and Tucker Kraft have expressed a desire to reach a deal on a contract extension.
A day before the season opener, the two sides have gotten it done.
Per multiple reports, Kraft and Green Bay have agreed to a four-year extension, putting Kraft under contract through 2030.
The deal is worth $75 million with a $26.5 million signing bonus and a maximum value of $92 million.
Kraft, 25, is returning this year from a torn ACL suffered midseason in 2025.
He was in the midst of a breakout year when the injury occurred, having caught 32 passes for 489 yards with six touchdowns in eight games.
A third-round pick in 2023, Kraft was entering the final year of his rookie deal. He has made 113 receptions for 1,551 yards with 15 touchdowns in his young career.
