Kyler Murray was supposed to be the guy who would take Kevin O'Connell's Minnesota Vikings over the top. Over seven games so far, Murray has been closer to a liability than anything else. Murray is just 6.5 yards per pass attempt (22nd in the NFL), has a paltry 7.97 average depth of target, and is 31st in intended air yards with 867.
Put another way: The Vikings are not 6-1 because of Murray, who is playing like a replacement-level quarterback, but because they have an elite defense coached by Brian Flores. Full stop.
Knowing all of this, you'd forgive NFL fans who were a bit skeptical about the nature of Murray's new reported hamstring tightness. After the Vikings' 19-15 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, O'Connell mentioned that Murray tweaked
his hamstring at some point in the fourth quarter but wound up staying in because it was late enough in the game that it didn't hamper him. Huh? The Vikings let their starting quarterback stay in the game with one of the most notoriously difficult soft-tissue injuries to recover from, when he could have made it worse?
How does that make a lick of sense?
We suppose we buy that excuse at face value, but something seems fishy here:
Kyler Murray developed hamstring tightness toward the end of today's game, per Kevin O'Connell. It happened at some point in the fourth quarter. Murray said it happened late enough that he wasn't really hampered. Murray: "We'll look at it, obviously, and do what we need to do."
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 1, 2026
Given the nature of J.J. McCarthy's ankle injury recovery last year and how the Vikings seemingly used that to bench him for Carson Wentz, you can understand why NFL fans thought something similar was happening with a struggling Murray, as Wentz might be, once again, waiting on deck.
This is the opening for Carson Wentz to start next Monday https://t.co/7hz0Oa3Ra2
— Phil Mackey 🎙 (@PhilMackey) November 1, 2026
Here comes the soft benching. https://t.co/sTS9wHBXO3
— John Kriesel (@johnkriesel) November 1, 2026
Soft benching incoming 👀 https://t.co/TULDh38lzY
— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) November 1, 2026
Getting J.J. McCarthy’d… https://t.co/xpxpUESQPM
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) November 1, 2026
Getting the JJ McCarthy treatment.
— Kaleb (@KalebNFL) November 1, 2026
Soft benching incoming https://t.co/lmMK61Y9cn
Something doesn't add up here. Something doesn't pass the smell test. Let's just hope Murray is OK and that he doesn't miss much time, if any at all.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL fans think Kyler Murray’s new injury is a Vikings ploy to bench him
