Vikings make halftime quarterback switch from Jaren Hall back to Nick Mullens
After rookie Jaren Hall's fumble late in the first half Sunday night that led to a Green Bay Packers touchdown, Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell had seen enough. He felt his team needed a spark coming out of halftime in hopes of getting back into a pivotal game.
O'Connell benched Hall with the Packers leading by 20 points and Minnesota's playoff hopes dwindling. O'Connell went back to veteran backup Nick Mullens, who had just lost his starting spot to Hall during the week of preparation.
The switch to Mullens was O'Connell's third quarterback change in four weeks — all for reasons related to performance. It wasn't enough as the constant rotation at quarterback, and the subsequent turnovers, were a big part of the Vikings' 33-10 loss to Green Bay.
"There were some things execution-wise, some things progression-wise, just some play calls here and there that we just had to get everybody, give ourselves a chance, especially with where the score was at half, just to make sure we got a premier execution in at least the process," O'Connell said.
Hall went 5 of 10 for 67 yards and two turnovers in his second career start. Mullens finished 13 of 22 for 113 yards and a touchdown, but Minnesota was handed a significant loss in its goal of reaching the postseason.
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"If I was the coach, I would have made the same decision," Hall said after the game.
O'Connell said Hall was having trouble getting through his progressions.
"We just had our eyes in the wrong spot and just things that would have been hard to really predict," O'Connell said.
Since losing Kirk Cousins to a season-ending Achilles tendon tear in Week 8 at Green Bay, the Vikings have used three quarterbacks, a direct reflection of the team's 7-9 record and losing five of the past six games.
The Vikings need to win at Detroit next week and have losses by Green Bay, Seattle and either Tampa Bay or New Orleans to make the playoffs. O'Connell said the team will evaluate, again, who will start next week.
"Ultimately, what we've got to find a way to do is, regardless of what we try to do with the plan, whether we try to simplify it, whether we try to use tempo, use different aspects of our offense, the quarterback position, the decision we'll make, will be based upon that position putting our group in a place to try to move the football and have success," O'Connell said. "We did not do that tonight and, like I said, we'll look at it. I think all options are on the table."
O'Connell's choice comes down to Hall, Mullens or Joshua Dobbs.
Hall, the fifth-round draft pick out of BYU, was the first replacement for Cousins, starting the next week at Atlanta. But Hall suffered a concussion early in the game, leading to Dobbs getting an opportunity. Dobbs, who had just arrived in a trade from Arizona, provided a temporary spark, leading Minnesota to a pair of wins.
But then Dobbs struggled and was replaced by Mullens in the second half of a 3-0 win against the Las Vegas Raiders. Mullens had six turnovers in two starts, both losses, leading to O'Connell deciding on Hall as the starter for Sunday night.
"That's the life we live," Mullens said after Sunday's game. "As a quarterback in the NFL, you work as hard as you can. It's a long journey, things will happen. You try to play your best and try to do your best for the team."
With Hall under center, Minnesota managed just 82 yards in the first half. He missed his first four pass attempts and completed only one to star receiver Justin Jefferson as the Vikings fell behind 23-3.
"I felt very confident being out there," Hall said. "I had a couple snaps last time I played, and I had a good memory of what that felt like. So, I'm not exactly sure what the case was for why it wasn't clicking out there. We'll watch the film and hopefully we'll find the answer."
Answers have been hard to come by for the Vikings without Cousins.