The Minnesota Vikings will need to make a change at quarterback. Performance issues led to Joshua Dobbs getting benched on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. Going into the weekend against Cincinnati, Dobbs no longer will be the starter.
Instead, Nick Mullens will assume the role of starting quarterback. The former Southern Miss alum will be the Vikings’ starter against the Bengals this weekend.
Minnesota made the announcement of their change at QB on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.
“Nick Mullens will start Saturday in Cincinnati,” the team posted.
Nick Mullens will start Saturday in Cincinnati. pic.twitter.com/s8QDinRlcP
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 12, 2023
Mullens hasn’t started an NFL game since December 20, 2021. On that day, funnily enough, Mullens suited up with the Cleveland Browns to take on the aforementioned Raiders. While he turned in a win in relief against the Raiders this weekend, Mullens and the Browns lost 16-14 that day to the Raiders.
Sunday will be Mullens’ eighteenth career NFL start. He started eight games for the San Francisco 49ers in 2018 and eight more in 2010.
The Vikings, 7-6 this season, remain in the hunt for a potential playoff spot. They have to be paying attention to the Detroit Lions, who have recently faltered a bit and seen their division lead shrink. To get to the postseason, the Vikings will have to piece everything together, with the scraps they have left, and tumble their way in unconventionally.