The Vikings have been the league’s stingiest defense through the first five weeks of the season and they remained in fine form during last Sunday’s 23-13 win over the Saints.
Cornerback Byron Murphy played a leading role in the effort. Murphy had two interceptions of Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, including one with just under three minutes left to play that allowed Minnesota to run out the clock on their fifth win in five tries.
Murphy also had three tackles and a tackle for loss in the win. The NFL announced on Wednesday that they have named him the NFC defensive player of the week in recognition of that effort.
It’s the second time that Murphy has been named the conference’s player of the week. The first came while he was playing for the Cardinals in 2021.
Vikings Clips
The 49ers continue to have injury issues at the receiver position. And the Vikings have a current surplus of receivers that includes a player who had spent his first five seasons with the 49ers.
On Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of ESPNFL floated the possibility of Jauan Jennings being traded to the 49ers, in the coming days.
It would not be a surprise. As we explained after the Vikings signed Odell Beckham Jr. last week, OBJ’s arrival seemed to be a message to Jennings, who has two catches for nine yards in four 2026 appearances with two starts.
As the Vikings enter their bye, it’s a perfect time to assess the roster and to see if any moves can be made, either by adding a player or subtracting one. The Vikings seem to believe Beckham can still play, and the Vikings seem to be perplexed by Jennings’s inability to contribute to the passing game.
In lieu of simply cutting Jennings, there’s a possible deal to be made that would get the Vikings something of value in exchange for the balance of his one-year contract, which included a $4.5 million signing bonus with a $1.63 million base salary and nearly $100,000 per game in active roster bonuses and incentives tied to playing time and receptions.
If the 49ers are interested in bringing Jennings back, they could wait for the Vikings to potentially release him. But with Deebo Samuel joining the list of the substation’s victims (again) with a hamstring injury, time could be of the essence for the 49ers.
Or maybe Jennings gets the wakeup call, and it works. Either way, the clock is ticking. And continuing to hit the snooze button isn’t a viable option.
The Browns have made a couple of moves at running back and on the practice squad.
Cleveland announced the club has placed running back Raheim Sanders (hip) on injured reserve.
As a corresponding move, the club has signed running back Audric Estime to the 53-man roster off of Minnesota’s practice squad.
Sanders was injured in Sunday’s loss to the Jets. He served as the primary kick returner for Cleveland, averaging 29.3 yards per return.
Estime appeared in seven games with one start for New Orleans last year, rushing for 198 yards with a touchdown. He caught 12 passes for 103 yards. He previously appeared in 13 games for Denver in 2024.
Additionally, Cleveland signed tight end Devin Culp and guard Vershon Lee to the practice squad and released cornerback Myles Bryant and receiver James Proche II from the practice squad.
The document that the NFL and search firm Korn Ferry did not want the public to see has now been revealed.
The item is attached to a supplemental complaint filed by Flores against the Miami Dolphins, in his lawsuit that was first filed in February 2022.
The document in question, which is attached as an exhibit to the supplemental complaint, contains a summary of Flores’s “strengths and weaknesses,” as prepared by Korn Ferry.
The document includes this assessment as one of seven bullet points in the “weaknesses” category: “Needs someone strong at the top to reign [sic] in some of his worst behavior. He once threatened violence to his GM and made irrational demands during an ownership meeting. One long-time senior team executive said, ‘He may have changed since, but he was the worst hiring decision we’ve ever made.’ Another President of a club refused to talk about him.” (Emphasis added.)
Another bullet point says this: “Ongoing litigation may be a distraction.” (Emphasis in original.)
The Raiders, who received that assessment from Korn Ferry, did not interview Flores for the team’s head-coaching vacancy on which Korn Ferry was consulting.
The supplemental complaint filed by Flores accuses the Dolphins of making the statement calling him “the worst hiring decision we’ve ever made.”
Flores’s lawyers at the firm of Wigdor LLP and Elefterakis, Elefterakis & Panek issued a statement on Tuesday, a copy of which PFT has received.
“The recently unsealed documents demonstrate two unfortunate, but unsurprising, realities,” they said. “First, that Mr. Flores’ decision to hold the league and its teams accountable for systemic race discrimination has been met with unlawful retaliation. Second, discrimination continues to play a significant role in the hiring process for NFL Head Coaches, as evidenced by the fact that the candidate profile prepared for the Raiders leans heavily on racial stereotypes. We and Mr. Flores are committed to eradicating the institutional racism and retaliation that permeates the league, its teams and their partners.”
In our view, characterizing Flores as “the worst hiring decision we’ve ever made” makes it much more difficult for Flores to get a head-coaching job, and it opens the door to the question of whether that assessment was motivated in whole or in part by Flores exercising his prerogative to challenge the decision to fire him via the filing of a lawsuit.
Given the casual manner in which these statements appeared in a formal summary of Flores prepared by Korn Ferry, it’s fair to wonder how many other breadcrumbs his lawyers will uncover in the discovery process — especially once they get their hands (and eyes) on informal communications among owners and executives, such as emails and text messages.
The Vikings are continuing to look at veteran wide receivers.
Today JuJu Smith-Schuster was in Minnesota for a workout, according to Tom Pelissero.
The 29-year-old Smith-Schuster signed with the Giants in June and was cut by them in August.
The Vikings recently brought in another veteran wide receiver who was cut by the Giants, Odell Beckham Jr., and they’re continuing to look for veteran depth at the position.
Smith-Schuster was originally a 2017 second-round pick of the Steelers. He has also played for the Patriots and had two stints with the Chiefs.
Through a brief appearance in Week 1 and a pair of starts in Week 3 and Week 4, Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t seem much like Kyler Murray. The offensive rookie of the year version. The two-time Pro Bowler version. The Road Runner version.
On Sunday, “meep meep” made its way to New Orleans.
Murray looked like the Murray of old again. He completed 24 of 30 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 109.6. He added 51 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
Per the Vikings, the performance made Murray the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for 200 or more yards with an 80-percent completion percentage while rushing for 50 or more yards.
The first hint of the offense waking up came last week, after the Dolphins cut the score of the Week 4 game to 12-10 late in the third quarter. Murray engineered the drive that extended the lead to five and then, after a three-and-out, Murray guided the offense toward consuming the rest of the clock.
Indeed, since Miami’s touchdown on the next-to-last play of the third quarter, Murray has completed 36 of 43 passes (83.7 percent).
It felt different this week, with Murray playing well from the start of the game to the finish. Even with a couple of significant momentum-shifting miscues, Murray and the Minnesota offense were never rattled. After the Saints returned a Myles Price fumble 87 yards for the game-tying touchdown, the Vikings drove 70 yards in six plays for the go-ahead touchdown. One more scoring drive provided the final margin of 23-13.
Now, the Vikings enter their bye with a chance to get healthy and prepare for games against the Colts, Lions, Bills, Packers, and 49ers in a Sunday night showdown in Mexico City.
After five weeks, Minnesota remains undefeated.
The Vikings’ defense was excellent against the Saints on Sunday, leading the club to a 23-13 victory.
New Orleans’ offense looked dazed and confused throughout the afternoon, with Tyler Shough completing 16-of-25 passes for just 96 yards with two interceptions.
The Saints did not even reach 10 first downs in the contest, finishing with nine. The offense had 142 total yards — averaging 3.3 yards per play — and was just 2-of-10 on third down.
The Vikings could have had more points if not for two critical fumbles in the red zone. Aaron Jones had one in the first half inside the 10-yard line. Myles Price had the other in the third quarter, which led to the Saints tying the game on an 87-yard fumble return.
But a missed extra point prevented the Saints from taking a one-point lead.
That likely wouldn’t have stopped the Vikings from eventually winning, as Minnesota went up with an 8-yard touchdown run by Jones in the fourth quarter. The club then got a 55-yard field goal by Will Reichard to close out the scoring.
Kyler Murray played well, completing 24-of-30 passes for 229 yards with a touchdown. He also rushed for 51 yards on 10 attempts. Playing in his home state, Justin Jefferson was on the receiving end of Murray’s touchdown, finishing with six catches for 79 yards.
Jones had 113 yards on 25 carries with a TD.
Now at 5-0, Minnesota will be on a bye in Week 6.
The 1-4 Saints will be on the road to face the Giants next week.
It looked like the Vikings had taken control of Sunday’s matchup with the Saints, but New Orleans just changed the game with a turnover.
But the game remains tied after a missed extra point.
On third-and-15 from the New Orleans 19, Kyler Murray connected with Myles Price on a swing pass to the left. But Martin Emerson punched the ball out, with Jonas Sanker recovering the loose ball and running 87 yards for a touchdown.
But Daniel Carlson’s extra point was no good, with the kicker sending it wide left. That kept the score tied at 13-13.
The Saints have struggled offensively, only picking up seven first downs so far on Sunday with the game late in the third quarter. Tyler Shough has been under constant pressure, currently 10-of-14 for 57 yards with an interception.
But the Saints’ defense has kept the team in the game.
At long, long last, the Vikings have scored an offensive touchdown.
Back in his home state of Louisiana, Justin Jefferson made an outstanding catch in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown, giving the Vikings a 13-7 lead.
It was Jefferson’s first score since the fourth quarter of Week 1.
Minnesota hadn’t scored a touchdown since Week 3.
Jefferson now has five catches for 71 yards.
Murray is 17-of-21 for 164 yards with a TD.
Neither the Saints nor the Vikings have been able to put much together consistently on offense in the first 30 minutes on Sunday, but New Orleans has a 7-6 halftime lead.
Minnesota scored first on a Will Reichard 40-yard field goal in the first quarter.
New Orleans responded with a long drive in the second period, with Kendre Miller scoring on a 2-yard run to cap a 15-play, 66-yard drive.
Reichard then hit from 54 to cut New Orleans’ lead to one as time expired on the second quarter.
Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray started the game 12-of-12 passing, finishing the first half 15-of-18 for 143 yards.
Aaron Jones had 10 carries for 36 yards, with a critical fumble deep in the red zone that kept the Vikings off the board.
Justin Jefferson has four receptions for 56 yards.
On the other side, Tyler Shough is 8-of-11 for 37 yards. New Orleans has five first downs, 84 total yards, and is 1-of-6 on third down.
New Orleans will receive the second-half kickoff.
