BB.”A Complete Bleep Show”: Vikings Face Massive Backlash Over Handling of QB Carson Wentz
After Wednesday’s bombshell that Carson Wentz requires season-ending surgery on his left shoulder, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and the team’s medical staff are under intense scrutiny.
League insiders confirm Wentz played through a dislocated shoulder with a torn labrum and fractured socket. The injury originated in Week 4’s London game against the Browns, though it’s unknown if subsequent matchups against the Eagles and Chargers aggravated it further. Yet during last Thursday’s blowout loss, with Wentz in visible agony, O’Connell and medical personnel kept him in the game.
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Was this the right call? Why was he playing at all? And if the Vikings didn’t have undrafted rookie Max Brosmer and 22-year-old J.J. McCarthy—cleared only as the emergency third-string QB—would Wentz have been on the field?
Wentz, a veteran leader, insisted he was “physically able to go whether it hurts or not.” Postgame, he added: “Pain is pain. I felt like I could still help this team and go down and find a way to score… When I’m playing out there, I felt fine.” Asked if it was the worst pain of his career, he replied, “Quite possibly.”
O’Connell defended the decision by citing “our circumstances,” noting it would have been “very difficult to ask a [Brosmer] to go in there for his first performance.”
The Wentz saga has ignited broader criticism of Minnesota’s injury management. Vikings beat writer Matthew Coller, speaking on his Purple Insider YouTube channel, shared reactions from stunned league sources: “I spent the last couple of hours just talking to a few people that I know, and I’ll just say… your reactions are a lot like their reactions.”
One insider with direct knowledge called it “more evidence of a bleep show with the training staff this year. So many mismanaged injuries: Van Ginkel, O’Neill, Darrisaw, Wentz, and McCarthy.” Another warned: “This is how you lose a locker room. Everyone is going to be in the cold tub saying, ‘What the heck are we doing?’”
Christian Darrisaw: The left tackle admitted returning from a torn ACL far earlier than expected. Activated for Week 2, he has struggled to regain pre-injury form.
Brian O’Neill: Sidelined by a sprained MCL, the right tackle missed just one game before returning in Week 7 against the Eagles. He sat out the Chargers game on short rest—evidence of a premature comeback?
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Andrew Van Ginkel: The edge rusher missed most of training camp and preseason, suited up for the opener, suffered a concussion in Week 2, played eight snaps in Week 3, and has been out since with a neck injury. Has his recovery been botched?
J.J. McCarthy: The rookie quarterback’s high ankle sprain timeline has raised eyebrows—cleared only as an emergency option despite the QB room’s dire state.
With injuries mounting and trust eroding, the Vikings’ handling of Wentz has cracked open a dam of questions about the entire medical operation. O’Connell is expected to address the firestorm this week, but the damage—to players and the locker room—may already be done.
