The Minnesota Vikings turn to Nick Mullens, a former Spain Park...

When the Minnesota Vikings play the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, they will start their fourth quarterback of the 2023 NFL season. After inspiring the Vikings to a victory on Sunday, former Spain Park High School standout Nick Mullens will start under center for Minnesota, according to Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell’s announcement on Tuesday.

“We made that decision because we think Nick Mullens gives us the best chance to win the football game this Saturday,” O’Connell stated.

On Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, with 9:10 remaining in the game, Mullens replaced starting quarterback Joshua Dobbs. Mullens completed a pass for 26 yards on his first play of the season, but Minnesota punted that play. Mullens led Minnesota on a 56-yard, 13-play drive on the Vikings’ subsequent possession, which culminated in a 36-yard field goal by Greg Joseph on the first play following the two-minute warning.

Three third-down passes were completed by Mullens throughout the series, notably a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Jordan Addison that put the ball at the Las Vegas 22-yard line. The Vikings then attempted to score a field goal, which gave them a 3-0 victory over Las Vegas.

Against the Raiders, Mullens completed 9 of 13 passes for 83 yards, no interceptions, and no touchdowns.

“I felt that he entered the game the other day and showed that he could prepare, be ready to enter, and play in time,” stated O’Connell. Was precise with the ball and made wise choices. As for our offensive position right now, I believe it comes down to how well we execute with all 11 players. Nick’s familiarity with our system and his extensive on-the-field time will also help us as we look to build on last week’s performance and strive to be as effective as we can.

“I’ve enjoyed seeing him so much. He is now well. We’ve been able to assist him in sort of recovering from his low back problem. He is in a very good mood. An important factor in this decision was his sense of readiness to travel.

Had Mullens not been placed on injured reserve on October 11 due to a back injury, he probably would have started Minnesota’s last five games. On October 29, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins suffered an Achilles tendon injury that sidelined him for the season while Mullens was out.

Jarren Hall, a fifth-round rookie, replaced Cousins. However, Hall departed his first start after 15 snaps to have a concussion evaluated. That left Josh Dobbs to play quarterback for Minnesota. After starting eight games for Arizona this season, Dobbs was dealt by the Cardinals to the Vikings on October 31 as Kyler Murray was recovering from an injury.

Dobbs ran for 66 yards and one touchdown in a 31-28 victory over Atlanta after failing to complete a single rep in a Minnesota practice. He also completed 20 of 30 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, including one with 22 seconds remaining.

Following a week of practice, on November 12th, Dobbs defeated the New Orleans Saints 27-19 by completing 23 of 34 passes for 268 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions and running for 44 yards and one touchdown on eight runs.

Nevertheless, Minnesota dropped its next two games, falling to the Denver Broncos 21–20 and the Chicago Bears 12–10, and was without a point when Dobbs was replaced by Mullens on Sunday. Dobbs has completed 52-of-87 throws for 469 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions during the Vikings’ most recent victory.

The day before the Denver defeat, Mullens was taken off injured reserve, and according to O’Connell, he appeared well on Sunday.

O’Connell stated, “It was encouraging to see in a game we could still find a way to win despite our struggles for a large portion of the day. Seeing Nick get a little bit more work last week and then, obviously, go out there and execute our offense in rhythm at a really high level, and the understanding, kind of running the show, the feel of what our offense felt like with him in there in some of those big-time throws on third down, putting his back foot in the ground and giving our guys a chance to make a play

Mullens will be making his 18th start on Saturday after joining the NFL in 2017 and his first since December 20, 2021.

With his 3,649 yards and 40 touchdown passes in the air at Spain Park in Hoover, Mullens was named the 2012 Gatorade Alabama Football Player of the Year.

Mullens set records at Southern Miss for throwing yards, touchdown passes, and career, single-season, and single-game passing yards. For the 2015 campaign, Mullens was named Conference USA’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Mullens spent 2017 as an undrafted rookie with the San Francisco 49ers practice squad. Mullens started 16 games in lieu of Jimmy Garoppolo during the course of the following three seasons due to injury.

Garoppolo began the 2018 season with the 49ers at quarterback, but in the third game of the campaign, an injury ended his career. San Francisco began Mullens for the rest of the season after C.J. Beathard, Garoppolo’s replacement, reported having a sore wrist.

In a 34-3 victory over the Raiders on November 1, 2018, Mullens made history by becoming the third player in NFL history to have at least 250 passing yards and three touchdown passes without an interception. He finished 176-of-274 passes for 2,277 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a 90.8 passer rating. With Mullens at quarterback, San Francisco finished the 2018 season with a 3-5 record after losing its first eight games.

San Francisco, who participated in Super Bowl LIV and won the NFC championship in 2019, had Garoppolo start every game. In 2019, Mullens only played seven snaps and failed to complete a pass.

Mullens once more started eight games in 2020 in lieu of Garoppolo. Mullens finished with 2,437 yards and 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 211 of 326 passes attempted.

In San Francisco’s 14th game, Mullens suffered an elbow injury that ended his 2020 season early. Mullens signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in the summer after the 49ers declined to re-sign him.

On September 1, 2021, Mullens was signed by the Cleveland Browns following his release by the Eagles. Mullens began his lone 2021 game, a 16-14 loss to Las Vegas, with Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum on reserve/COVID-19. Mullens completed 20 of 30 throws for 147 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.