Minnesota Vikings reveal starting quarterback against Cleveland Browns in Week 5

The Cleveland Browns will play the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday in London, England, making the game a 9:30 a.m. ET start time.

Minnesota will be without its starting quarterback, JJ McCarthy, coming into this season. McCarthy missed all of last season after being drafted 10th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft with a torn meniscus in his right knee that required surgery.

The injury that is holding McCarthy out of this game is a high ankle sprain that he suffered in the week two loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Carson Wentz will take his place for the third straight game, as he has put up 523 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions in those two starts.

Wentz was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016 with the second overall pick in the draft. After a subpar rookie season, Wentz broke out in 2017, stamping his name in the MVP conversations before sadly suffering a season-ending injury in week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams. The Eagles would go on to win the Super Bowl that season with Nick Foles at the helm.

The Vikings initially expected McCarthy to practice this week, leading up to Sunday, but so far that has not been the case, as head coach Kevin O’Connell expressed on Tuesday:

“My hope is … maybe not necessarily early on — we’re going to handle Wednesday, probably in a unique way, from what could be kind of a hybrid day, but as we get into Thursday and Friday, I’m hoping we can at least get him out there and get him taking some drops and starting to get back in the normal rhythm of the practice week.”

So the Browns' focus stays on Wentz for this week. In Wentz’s first start in week three, the Vikings utilized a quick passing game against the Bengals, as he threw a quick pass on 60.0% of his pass attempts, resulting in 9 of 12 completions for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

The Vikings will most likely continue this mantra, facing the Browns' shutdown run defense, by throwing quick and short passes. Wentz was also effective when targeting outside the hashes in week four against the Steelers, going 25 for 30 for 296 yards and two touchdowns per Next Gen Stats.

The Browns' pass rush will look to take advantage of Minnesota possibly missing key pieces on the offensive line, such as right tackle Brian O’Neill, guard Donovan Jackson, and center Ryan Kelly.

Myles Garrett will be able to line up anywhere on the right side, and defensive tackles Maliek Collins and Mason Graham will be able to wreak havoc on the inside. Look for Minnesota to try to get the ball out of Wentz's hands early and for the Browns to try to force turnovers out of that.

In four games against the Browns, Wentz is 2-2 with 676 yards, four touchdowns, and five interceptions.