Kyler Murray is set to return to the starting lineup.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters in his Monday press conference that Murray has cleared concussion protocol and is on schedule to play in the team’s matchup with the Buccaneers.
“Kyler has cleared the final phase of the protocol,” O’Connell said. “He’s doing great, he’ll be cleared, and he will start this week against Tampa Bay.”
Murray went down early in the Week 1 win over the Packers when he was hit while trying to slide on a scramble. He departed that contest having completed 3-of-5 passes for 18 yards with an interception.
Carson Wentz replaced Murray for the last two weeks. He was 11-of-20 for 143 yards in Sunday’s victory over the Bears. O’Connell praised how steady Wentz has been as a backup.
In five games last year for the Cardinals, Murray completed 68.3 percent of his throws for 962 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
Also on the injury front, O’Connell said Ty Ingram-Dawkins (hip) is day-to-day and Brett Thorson has a hamstring issue.
Bucs Clips
The Buccaneers fell to 0-2 with Sunday’s loss to the Browns and the team is now 2-9 since opening last season with a 6-2 record.
During a press conference on Monday, head coach Todd Bowles said he wasn’t bothered by that longer view of the team’s lack of success because he only thinks about this season and the 15 games still in front of them. Given that perspective, Bowles was asked what the team’s mindset is as they turn toward their Week 3 game against the Vikings.
“Angrily optimistic,” Bowles said. “You’re always mad when you lose and you’re never satisfied that way, but you’re always optimistic for the things that you’ve done well and the next week as well.”
Bowles may not like the idea of including last year’s second half swoon in any evaluation of this team’s record, but it’s hard to draw a clear line when the team keeps producing the same kind of results and the full weight will be on Bowles’s shoulders until this year’s team shows that they can consistently win games.
After the schedule for the 2026 season was released in the spring, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield said he had the team’s Week 2 game against the Browns circled.
Mayfield began his career with the Browns and was traded away after Cleveland opted to go with Deshaun Watson as their quarterback. Mayfield was fired up for the chance to hand his former team a loss, but things did not play out that way on Sunday in Tampa.
The Bucs had a 10-point lead in the third quarter, but gave it up before a lengthy weather delay late in the fourth quarter. The Bucs were driving when the delay began, but couldn’t finish the job and lost 23-19. After the game, Mayfield was asked if it was more painful because of who beat them.
“It just stings more because we’re 0-2,” Mayfield said.
The Bucs had four turnovers in their Week 1 loss to the Bengals, but they only turned the ball over once against the Browns. They had two drives end in the red zone without touchdowns, however, and a couple of second half drives that resulted in quick punts that kept the Browns in the game.
“Frustrated because it’s close,” Mayfield said. “You can feel it. You can see it. We’re moving the ball at times, and then just shooting ourselves in the foot. So, that makes it more frustrating when you know you’re right there.”
The Bucs will need to find a more consistent offensive approach in a hurry or Mayfield will be playing out the string before his new contract extension kicks in next year.
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson didn’t throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns, but he likely did enough to earn another start.
After the win at Tampa Bay, coach Todd Monken was asked whether Watson would remain the quarterback for the Week 3 home opener against the Panthers.
“Really?” Monken said, via Zac Jackson of The Athletic. “Really? I’m gonna enjoy this win and I thought he played his ass off. I’m gonna leave it at that. I’m so happy for him.”
Watson completed 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the 23-19 victory over the Buccaneers. And that’s likely not nearly enough to get the Cleveland customers to let bygones be bygones for a pair of home games only four days apart — next Sunday against Carolina and the following Thursday against Pittsburgh.
Bottom line? It could get loud in Cleveland, especially if Watson struggles in seven days.
Last Sunday, former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin channeled former Steelers receiver JuJu Smith Schuster, during Tomlin’s first Sunday with NBC.
“The Browns is the Browns,” Tomlin said.
They heard it in Cleveland. And it apparently had an impact on the Browns for their Week 2 game at Tampa Bay.
“Browns are gonna Browns. Fuck that, OK?” coach Todd Monken said after the game. “The guys took that to heart.”
Monken’s quote was played during this Sunday’s Football Night in America. Tomlin laughed it off.
“I’m glad that I can still motivate although I’m not coaching anymore,” Tomlin said. “It’s good to be heard. . . . You’re welcome. You’re welcome.”
That’s the best thing about bulletin board material. It benefits the team on the wrong side of it.
As to “the Browns is the Browns,” it’s the second time that line has helped Cleveland. After Smith-Schuster first uttered it, the Browns thumped the Steelers in the playoffs — and Smith-Schuster acknowledged that it “probably” motivated the Browns, “a lot.”
When NBC analyst Mike Tomlin quoted JuJu Smith-Schuster and said, “Browns is the Browns” after the team’s embarrassing 34-10 loss to open the season, Cleveland head coach Todd Monken said he didn’t see it that way.
He was a little more emphatic after the club’s 23-19 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday.
“Browns are gonna Browns — fuck that, OK?” Monken said. “The guys took that to heart.”
That was Monken’s walk-off message in his press conference and the end to an answer about how his team was able to stay warm and motivated during the long weather delay.
Monken also noted — before the expletive — that practice earlier in the week got chippy.
“We had a couple of scuffles Wednesday — which is good,” Monken said. “It’s awesome, because guys didn’t like it. They were a little pissed off, right? You ought to be a little pissed off. Played awful. It wasn’t the standard.”
The Browns played a lot better on Sunday.
We’ll see if Monken can talk that same talk after next week’s matchup against the Panthers.
Carson Wentz has the Vikings off to a 2-0 start, but it appears he will be back on the bench in Week 3.
Coach Kevin O’Connell said the Vikings expect Kyler Murray to clear concussion protocol “pretty early in the week” this week.
O’Connell did not name Murray as the starter when he returns, but that is the expectation.
Murray was limited in all three practices last week but ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bears, a 9-3 Minnesota victory.
“He’s doing great,” O’Connell said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “He’s feeling well.”
On the 11th play of his debut with the Vikings, Murray was hit in the head by Packers safety Javon Bullard. Bullard was penalized but not fined for the hit.
Wentz is 23-of-39 for 276 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers this season.
The Vikings, though, signed Murray in the offseason to compete with J.J. McCarthy, not Wentz, for the starting job. McCarthy was relegated to third-string after Murray beat him out for the starting job.
It took over two hours to play the last two minutes of Sunday’s contest between the Browns and Buccaneers.
In the end, Todd Monken would probably say it was worth the wait.
Monken got his first victory as an NFL head coach with Cleveland’s 23-19 victory over Tampa Bay.
Down by four, the Bucs were on the move when the lightning delay hit at the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. After the more than two-hour delay, Tampa Bay was able to get down to Cleveland’s 13-yard line. But a holding penalty then derailed the possession, with quarterback Baker Mayfield missing an open Emeka Egbuka in the end zone on fourth-and-11 to effectively end the game.
Mayfield played another poor game after having three fumbles in the season opener, finishing 21-of-34 from 182 with a touchdown and an interception. He also had 29 rushing yards.
On the other side, after an ugly performance in last week’s season opener — and despite the team soft-launching his benching with some Sunday morning reports — quarterback Deshaun Watson played arguably his best game with the Browns. He finished 24-of-30 for 238 yards with two touchdowns while also rushing for 22 yards on seven carries.
Denzel Boston was arguably the best player on the field, catching five passes for 95 yards — including a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Second-year tight end Harold Fannin also had 54 yards on five receptions.
With the win, the Browns are now 1-1 and the acrimonious situation between Watson and the team’s fans may have cooled off in time for next week’s home opener. Cleveland will host Carolina in Week 3.
The Buccaneers are now a disappointing 0-2, particularly after Mayfield’s contract extension. The club will try to get a win against the 2-0 Vikings at home next week.
The Browns and Bucs are about to resume their long-delayed game.
The two teams are set to resume play at about 6:10 p.m. ET, the Buccaneers announced.
Both teams took the field at about 6 p.m. to warm up.
Down 23-19 at the two-minute warning, the Buccaneers will have second-and-4 at Cleveland’s 28-yard line. The Bucs have three timeouts remaining.
While Baker Mayfield has not been sharp on Sunday, he has a chance to make it a memorable finish.
Todd Monken is two minutes away from his first win as an NFL head coach.
But he’ll have to wait to see if his team comes through.
The Browns and Buccaneers have hit a weather delay at the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter. There was lightning in the area, with the teams vacating the field at the late break.
Down 23-19, the Bucs will have second-and-4 from the Cleveland 28 when play resumes. The Buccaneers have all three timeouts.
Deshaun Watson has played arguably the best game he’s had in a Browns uniform, completing 24-of-30 passes for 238 yards with two touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 23 yards on six carries.
Watson hit rookie Denzel Boston with an intermediate pass that Boston took in for a 55-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. Watson then connected with tight end Blake Whiteheart for a 17-yard touchdown to give the Browns a four-point advantage with 3:51 left in regulation.
UPDATE 5:08 p.m. ET: The game is still in a weather delay, with the Buccaneers announcing the next update will come at 5:30 p.m. ET.
UPDATE 5:40 P.M. ET: The game remains in a weather delay, with the next update from the stadium set to come at 6:15 p.m. ET.
