Dion Dawkins didn’t practice at all this week, but the Bills aren’t counting him out for Monday night’s game against the Vikings.
Dawkins has been listed as questionable to play. A rib injury is the reason that Dawkins is at risk of missing a game for the first time this season.
The Bills ruled out wide receiver Joshua Palmer after he missed practice all week with a hamstring injury.
Offensive lineman Alec Anderson (ankle), defensive lineman Greg Gaines (calf), defensive back Jordan Hancock (hamstring), and wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (knee) are listed as questionable. Hancock and Shavers would need to be activated from injured reserve and the physically unable to perform list in order to play on Monday.
Vikings Clips
Wide receiver Jauan Jennings passed on a possible trade back to the 49ers in order to remain with the Vikings, but he won’t be in Minnesota’s lineup against the Bills on Monday night.
The Vikings ruled Jennings out due to a calf injury that kept him out of practice the last two days. Jennings has six catches for 54 yards this season, but his limited role in the offense didn’t cause him to reach for the exit door last month.
Quarterback Kyler Murray was ruled out with a hamstring injury earlier this week. Carson Wentz will make his second start of the season on Monday night.
Running back Demond Claiborne (knee) will also miss the game. Safeties Theo Jackson (quad) and Jay Ward (knee) are listed as questionable.
The Indianapolis fire sale could indeed extend to the man who was supposed to become a franchise quarterback there.
According to ESPNFL, the Colts have engaged in trade talks this week regarding Daniel Jones, speaking to “multiple teams.”
The precise language of the report identifies only one team as actually talking to the Colts. From the article, the Ravens “were one team to check in on Jones.” The Ravens ultimately struck a deal with the Cardinals for quarterback Jacoby Brissett, whose plunge from No. 1 to No. 3 on the depth chart made it clear to the rest of the league that he was available.
The only other team mentioned by name is the Vikings, and the report points only to "[s]peculation” involving Minnesota. (We’ve been “speculating” about it since the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s loss by the Vikings in Detroit.)
Past ESPNFL reporting on a potential trade for running back Jonathan Taylor ultimately listed five teams as talking to the Colts (Giants, Seahawks, Broncos, Packers, Vikings). The fact that other teams weren’t mentioned as to Jones suggests that, frankly, there may not be other teams.
Really, which current contender would want him? The Vikings are the only potential playoff team that checks the box as possibly needing a starter right now. And only the Vikings and Giants are contenders with which Jones has direct experience. (The Giants wouldn’t want a Jones reunion, and Jones surely wouldn’t want it, either.)
That could change this weekend, obviously. One injury to a starter could alter the dynamics, spurring another contender to pick up the phone and make a push for Jones. The most memorable example of that came 15 years ago, when a broken collarbone to Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell prompted a quick deal for Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, who had decided he didn’t want to play for the team that had drafted him — and who had yet to report.
Three years ago, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins popped an Achilles tendon two days before the deadline, forcing the Vikings to scramble at the deadline to do a deal with the Cardinals for quarterback Josh Dobbs.
Absent a multi-week injury to a starting quarterback on a contender that doesn’t believe its backup can hold down the fort, the Vikings may be the only team that wants Jones at the deadline.
The preferences of Daniel Jones become a factor, too. If (as we firmly believe) he’s not happy that the Colts folded the tents by trading guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner after a 2-5 start that included an overtime loss to the Chiefs and a toe-to-toe battle with the then-unbeaten Vikings, Jones would have a clear interest in hopping to a contender.
The Vikings wanted to keep Jones after the 2024 season. He opted to sign with the Colts in part because he saw a more realistic path to winning the job over 2023 first-rounder Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis than 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy in Minneapolis. If he’s told that a return to Minnesota would include being installed immediately as QB1, he’d surely prefer that to a lost season with the Colts.
Andd Jones has power over this process. Beyond the basic reality that no team wants a starting quarterback who doesn’t want to play for it, the 2027 roster bonus and base salary that become fully guaranteed in March ($10.51 million) are currently guaranteed for injury. The ESPNFL article mentions that Jones could waive the injury guarantee in order to expedite a deal.
The reverse of that (Jones refusing to waive the injury guarantee) means that Jones could block a trade, if avoiding a potential eight-figure guarantee for 2027 is a dealbreaker for his prospective employer.
Our guess? Right now, only the Vikings currently have interest in Jones. And a trade for Jones becomes a very viable possibility if the Vikings lose to the Bills on Monday with Carson Wentz playing quarterback.
Given the possibility that another team will emerge as a competitor to get Jones, it’s also possible that the Vikings have already decided to trade for Jones after Monday night’s game — win or lose — and that the two teams have agreed to keep it under wraps until Week 9 ends.
Either way, if the oft-injured Jones plays on Sunday against the Cowboys and gets injured, that would kill any chance to trade him. That makes it important to monitor Sunday’s game carefully. If the Colts apply a quick hook to Jones, it could mean that he’s already gone.
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson had his worst season in 2025. When a great player like Jefferson has an off year, the hope is that he’ll bounce back the next year. That hasn’t happened.
Jefferson’s stats are actually worse across the board in 2026 than they were in 2025, when he seemed to have reached the bottom of what a player his caliber is capable of producing.
Last year, Jefferson finished with a career-low 1,048 receiving yards. This year, heading into Week 9, Jefferson has just 335 receiving yards.
Last year, Jefferson averaged a career-low 12.5 yards per catch. This year, Jefferson is averaging 12.0 yards per catch.
Last year, Jefferson had a career-low 47 receiving first downs. This year, Jefferson has 17 receiving first downs.
Last year, Jefferson averaged a career-low 4.9 catches per game. This year, Jefferson is averaging 4.7 catches per game.
Last year, Jefferson averaged a career-low 61.6 receiving yards per game. This year, Jefferson is averaging 55.8 yards per game.
The major question to ask is whether this means Jefferson has declined, or whether the blame goes to the Vikings’ quarterbacks who haven’t been able to get him the ball over the last two years. An answer to that question may come on Monday night against the Bills, when Carson Wentz starts in place of Kyler Murray, who has been announced as out with a hamstring injury.
Jefferson’s best game this year came in Week 1, when he had just two catches for 11 yards early on with Murray in the game, then caught six passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns from Wentz after Murray left with a concussion. Jefferson also had his best games last year catching passes from Wentz: Jefferson averaged 95.4 yards per game in the five games Wentz started in 2025, and averaged just 47.6 yards per game in the 12 games started by J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer.
If Wentz and Jefferson connect for a big game on Monday night, it may spur Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell to decide Wentz is his quarterback going forward. If Wentz can’t get the most out of Jefferson’s playmaking abilities on Monday night, the Vikings may decide on Tuesday morning that it’s time to go shopping for a new quarterback at the trade deadline.
Kyler Murray or Carson Wentz? Carson Wentz or Kyler Murray?
The answer could be neither.
This week’s apparent soft benching of Murray, who has a hamstring injury that possibly wouldn’t have kept him from playing if the Vikings had beaten the Lions on Sunday, gives Wentz a chance to beat the 6-1 Bills on Monday night. If he pulls it off, Wentz could keep the job for the remainder of the four-game gjallarhorn gauntlet that ends with trips to Wisconsin to play the Packers and Mexico to play the 49ers.
If Wentz fails, the Vikings may mobilize. Immediately.
The Vikings will have roughly 16 hours after Monday night’s game ends to close a deal with another team for a quarterback. On Monday, we made the case for a trade for Colts quarterback Daniel Jones. As the week has unfolded, a variey of indications have emerged that it’s a real possibility.
Jones, who surely is dismayed by the Colts’ decision to prematurely throw in the towel by trading away guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Bucker, would likely welcome the chance to return to a team with which he spent a couple of months in 2024 — and to lead the effort to propel the neo-Purple People Eaters to the postseason.
The other possibility would be to try to bring Kirk Cousins home. That would be more difficult. At 4-4, the Raiders are on the fringes of contention. Win or lose on Sunday at San Francisco, why disrupt something that’s working? Cousins currently ranks third in passing yards with 2,124 and second in touchdown passes with 19. His passer rating of 101.4 is higher than Josh Allen’s.
Even if the Raiders would be inclined to move Cousins and ride with Fernando Mendoza, it would cost far less to get Jones than it would to get Cousins. Especially since the Colts may already be planning to cut Jones before a $4 million roster bonus comes due in March and $6.51 million of his $33.49 million salary becomes fully-guaranteed.
With a new G.M. coming next year, why wouldn’t the Colts want a clean slate? Doing so would wipe out $38 million in non-guaranteed cash for 2027. Trading Jones would result in getting value; cutting Jones would get them nothing.
It may all come down to Monday night. If Minnesota wins, chances are nothing happens. If Minnesota loses, Tuesday could become a very interesting day.
The NFC North is the best division in the NFL. As evidenced by how the teams of the NFC North have performed against the rest of the league.
The Vikings, Bears, Lions, and Packers have a combined record of 17-3 against non-NFC North teams. Via NBC Sports research, the ensuing 85 percent success rate is the highest by any division in the NFL since the 1970 merger.
In theory, all four teams of the NFC North could make the playoffs. To do that, however, each would have to finish higher in the wild-card pecking order than the Rams and the Seahawks (assuming the 49ers win the NFC West).
This week, two teams of the NFC North have an easier path to victory than the others; the Bears host the Buccaneers and the Lions visit the Dolphins.
For the Packers (who play the Patriots in New England) and the Vikings (who play the Bills on Monday night), it will be harder to keep pushing 17-3 to 21-3.
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.
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.
The soft benching of Kyler Murray in favor of backup Carson Wentz could be coming on Monday night against the Bills.
Officially, the Vikings say they’re evaluating Murray’s hamstring injury, not that they’re evaluating whether Wentz is the quarterback who gives them a better chance to win. But Adam Schefter reported on ESPN today that the Vikings appear to be moving toward Wentz starting against the Bills. Which may have to do with both Murray’s injury and Murray’s ineffectiveness.
“His status for Monday night is, at best, up in the air, and it sounds like it is trending toward Carson Wentz starting on Monday night,” Schefter said. “Everybody’s watched the games. It looks like, right now, there is a question about the quarterback position, and how they’re going to handle it. And Carson Wentz looks like he’s in line to start Monday night, and you just have to wonder what’s going to happen with the quarterback position.”
Even against an injury-riddled Lions defense on Sunday, Murray struggled, and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell appeared to lose faith in Murray, punting the ball away to the Lions with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter rather than trusting Murray to convert a fourth-and-5.
After that punt, the Lions ran out the clock and Murray never touched the ball again. If Wentz starts on Monday night and plays well against the Bills, it might be a long time before Murray touches the ball again.
