Vikings will stick with Joshua Dobbs at QB after bye week assessment

EAGAN, Minn. — Joshua Dobbs still has the starting quarterback job for the Minnesota Vikings.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell announced Wednesday that Dobbs will remain the starter this week, after he threw four interceptions — three of them off deflections of varying degrees — during a damaging 12-10 loss at home to Chicago on Nov. 27. O’Connell acknowledged after that game he considered benching Dobbs to give the offense a spark.

O’Connell said he decided during the team’s bye week that Dobbs, a former Pittsburgh Steeler, was still the best option to play at Las Vegas on Sunday and that he deserved another opportunity. The decision was not necessarily for the rest for the season, O’Connell said.

When Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles tendon in the game at Green Bay on Oct. 29, the Vikings (6-6) have been scrambling since.

The trade with Arizona that fetched Dobbs was a valuable find, but the seventh-year veteran has shown his vulnerabilities in losses in the past two games.

Nick Mullens will be the backup this week, O’Connell said. He has been battling a lower back injury for much of the season. Rookie Jaren Hall was the first post-Cousins starter on Nov. 5 before a concussion forced him out of the game at Atlanta and where Dobbs was hustled in will be the third-stringer.

Dobbs will get a big boost from the return of wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who was activated last week from injured reserve. The 2022 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year has missed the past seven games with a strained hamstring.