The Minnesota Vikings’ Week 1 opener took a sharp turn when Kyler Murray went down after sliding on the first quarterback sneak against the Green Bay Packers.
Murray gave himself up on the play, but he still absorbed contact from two Packers defenders. Safety Javon Bullard appeared to land a late hit, and Murray’s neck and head area took the worst of it. He was slow to get up, then had to be helped off the field.
The scene looked bad right away. Murray stayed down with his fists clenched, clearly in pain, and the Vikings were left waiting for an answer on their new starter.
Per Scott Hanson of NFL Network, Murray was being evaluated for a concussion after the hit.
That’s a major concern for Minnesota, which brought Murray in during the offseason and quickly settled on him as its starting quarterback. He was named the starter early in the preseason and was supposed to be a central piece of what the Vikings hope becomes a turnaround season.
If Murray ends up in the NFL’s concussion protocol, Minnesota could be without him for at least part of the season. A concussion wouldn’t automatically knock him out for multiple games, but the league’s return-to-play process would still have to be completed before he could get back on the field.
The Vikings will have to wait for the evaluation and any follow-up testing before they know more about his status.
Update: Murray was later ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
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