A Minnesota Vikings helmet Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings won’t play Sam Darnold in their preseason finale on Saturday. While he’s the prohibitive favorite to win the starting job, Darnold will sit while quarterback Jaren Hall gets the nod.

Star Tribune reporter Ben Goessling reported on head coach Kevin O’Connell’s decision to award Hall the job for the finale.

“Kevin O’Connell said it’ll be Jaren Hall starting at QB for the Vikings on Saturday in Philadelphia,” Goessling wrote. He added that O’Connell said that recently-signed backup Matt Corral will also see preseason action.

The Vikings had to execute a Plan B after J.J. McCarthy tore his meniscus. The first-rounder looked good before he suffered an injury that now costs him his rookie season. He’ll have to begin anew in 2025. Meanwhile, Minnesota had to proceed forward. They already had Darnold aboard, which proved more pivotal than they probably imagined. They recently signed Corral, who has yet to see action in an NFL regular season game. We’ll see how Hall and Corral play on Saturday against the Philadelphia Eagles. It could go a long way towards either one’s future with the team after cut downs.

[Ben Goessling]

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About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022