Carson Wentz's NFL journey has included plenty of twists and turns. On Sunday, it will send him toward a once unlikely outcome: He'll start a game for the team he grew up supporting.
An injury to youngster J.J. McCarthy has forced Wentz into action for the Vikings in a game that pits two backups -- Cincinnati is starting understudy Jake Browning following Joe Burrow's significant toe injury -- against each other. After making starts for five different teams over the last five seasons, it's an opportunity Wentz isn't taking lightly.
"You know, it's one of those things, you play long enough and you kind of forget about those things, because it's just -- it's football, you bounce around teams. But being here, I kind of alluded to it when I first got here, just how cool it is for me to know I used to cheer for the guys that I'm walking down the hallway seeing [on the walls at TCO Performance Center]," Wentz said Wednesday, via the team's official site. "I used to come to the Metrodome, and I was waving the towel. ... And so running out of that tunnel this week will probably hit me a little bit different -- in a really cool, kind of surreal way."
This start is clearly more meaningful for Wentz than most because of his personal connection to the Vikings, but it's also vital to his viability as a backup in the NFL in future seasons. The former NFL MVP contender (way back in 2017) has bounced around plenty in the last few years and only signed with the Vikings at the end of the preseason, yet he finds himself in a familiar place as a backup called into action.
Much like those previous opportunities, Wentz can prove his worth to personnel executives both in Minnesota and beyond. For now, though, the sole focus is getting back on the winning track after falling to Atlanta on Sunday night.
His new teammates are exuding plenty of optimism entering Wentz's first start.
"He's a guy that plays with a lot of confidence. You feel that and you see that even before he was starting, just his confidence in individual (drills) and routes on air and in scout-team reps, just going and slinging the football around and having fun doing it," veteran receiver Adam Thielen said. "As you get to be an older player and a veteran player, you learn to just go and enjoy it and not treat it so much like a job and a profession, but really just taking advantage of the moments that you have, and he's a guy that does that, which is great."
If one needs an example of how quickly time passes, consider this: Wentz, the second overall pick of the 2016 draft, is now 32 years old. If he's going to extend his career in the NFL, chances like Sunday are becoming increasingly important.
So too is the importance of Wentz's role in leading the Vikings to success in an NFC North that includes contenders in Green Bay (2-0) and Detroit (1-1). If Minnesota is going to keep up with those clubs, they need to avoid stacking losses, even in September.
As a coach who is obsessed with the operation of the offense, Kevin O'Connell found comfort in Wentz's ability to handle the responsibilities of the role. He believes that just might set up the Vikings for success Sunday against Cincinnati.
"I was telling the team today, you've got a guy that's played at a really high level, played a lot of football," O'Connell explained, "and ultimately is at a place in his career where I think you can really tap into a lot of that while also shaping a game plan he's comfortable with and he can go out and have consistent success."
O'Connell will hope that experience pays off in the form of productive drives and ultimately a win Sunday. They'll need a positive start, especially when considering McCarthy is considered week to week.
"The coaches have done a great job just helping me try and grasp this as [quickly] as I can," Wentz said. "And that was one of my probably favorite things, just about getting a chance to sign here a couple weeks ago, was just knowing from afar the type of game plans coach O'Connell puts together, the way he calls plays -- just really respected and appreciated and admired that from afar."
Ideally, admiration becomes production. They'll put it to the test Sunday.
