Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell has no interest in Sam Darnold’s past struggles

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Vikings are 2-0 after a 23-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, and Sam Darnold has a lot to do with that.

Darnold went 17-of-26 for 268 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He engineered a 14-play scoring drive in the fourth quarter with his top weapons injured and the Vikings needing at least three points to shut the door on the 49ers, a Super Bowl team a year ago.

Darnold came to Minnesota on a one-year, "prove it" $10 million deal to be the starter after Kirk Cousins left in free agency. Kevin O’Connell got a little choked up talking about Darnold’s first two weeks after the win.

"The amount of work that goes into that position, on your quarterback journey, when everybody decides that you cannot play, we always believed in him," O’Connell said. "Awesome to watch him go do that. He’s playing quarterback at a really high level."

The Vikings are Darnold’s fourth team, after he was drafted No. 3 overall by the New York Jets in 2017. He’s also been with the Panthers, and was Brock Purdy’s back-up last year. We saw Darnold’s talent on a 97-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson.

"Part of my answer about Sam postgame was I don’t really have a lot of interest in talking about the past with Sam Darnold. I think we all need to just start being totally present," O’Connell said. "When he plays well like he has, I think we just talk about a guy playing the position at a high level and we move on."

Throw to Jalen Nailor ‘As big time as you’ll see in football’

The Vikings were clinging to a 20-14 lead. Jefferson was in the locker room, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson unavailable, and Aaron Jones dinged up. With Jalen Nailor, Trishton Jackson, Brandon Powell and Ty Chandler on the field, Darnold led a 14-play drive that ended with Will Reichard hitting a 27-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 23-14 lead.

Darnold converted three third downs on the drive, including a 26-yard back shoulder pass to Nailor in traffic down the seam.

"The play down the middle on the third down on the long drive we had was as big time of a throw as you’ll probably see in football," O’Connell said.

Justin Jefferson, Dallas Turner day-to-day

O’Connell said Jefferson came to TCO Performance Center on Monday feeling "pretty good" after suffering a right quad bruise in the third quarter. He’s considered day-to-day, but O’Connell is optimistic he’ll play against the Houston Texans.

"The biggest thing with him is we can get him mentally ready to go, it doesn’t need to always be about repetitions with him as much as making sure he’s dialed in on the game plan and ready to roll," O’Connell said.

Dallas Turner is also day-to-day with a knee injury, and Addison remains "very much questionable" with an ankle injury.