Carson Wentz emerged from the U.S. Bank Stadium tunnel to cheers Sunday morning, wearing the purple uniform of his favorite childhood team as he prepared to start his first game for it. He saw his wife, Madison, and the couple’s three daughters waiting for him, an oasis in a moment that felt almost surreal.
“We’ve been doing that in a couple different uniforms,” Wentz said. “That moment as a family is pretty special. For me to come out and just get that breath of fresh air with just my family, remind me to put my brain and my mind in that perspective. There’s so much more to life than just this football game. That kind of helps me have comfort, when I go out and play with a little sense of peace that’s a little different.”
Wentz became the seventh different quarterback to start for coach Kevin O’Connell in four years; the Vikings became the sixth team for which Wentz had started in six years. O’Connell said Sunday that Wentz will get “another opportunity” to start for the Vikings on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Ireland.
While J.J. McCarthy’s recovery from a high ankle sprain could mean Wentz starts against the Cleveland Browns in London as well, McCarthy could be healthy by the time the Vikings return to U.S. Bank Stadium on Oct. 19 to face the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz prays with his daughters, clockwise from left, Hadley, 5, Hayes, 1, and Hudson, 3, on the field before Wentz started in his first game for Minnesota on Sunday. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
If the Vikings feel good about McCarthy’s health and readiness to start coming out of the bye, it could mean that Wentz’s time as the starter concludes before he gets another opportunity at U.S. Bank Stadium like he had Sunday (though O’Connell said Monday that he felt no need to make long-term QB pronouncements).
“First and foremost, he’s got to get healthy,” O’Connell said of McCarthy. “And then, I don’t think it’s one of those things where, if he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re gonna throw him out there and say, ‘Hey, go figure it out.’
“When building up the 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours of what it takes to play the position at a very high level, which we know J.J. McCarthy is going to do, you can’t cut corners on that.”
Wentz’s hold on the starting job, then, will be determined on a weekly basis. But if he can help the Vikings reach their bye week with a winning record, his stretch as the No. 1 quarterback could turn out to be a key for their season. His performance against the Cincinnati Bengals might have already provided some teaching points for McCarthy.