Vikings Snap Count vs. Bears: Biggest Winners, Losers & Role Changes in Week 2

It wasn't pretty, but the Vikings left Soldier Field with a victory on Sunday, grinding out a 9-3 win over the Bears. The defensive battle on the wet field might not have been every fan's preference, but the old-school football was an absolute dream for fans of great defense.

The Vikings needed three field goals from kicker Will Reichard to secure the win since the offense couldn't get into the end zone in Week 2. Part of the issue could have been injuries, which forced several players to get more playing time than usual.

Quite a bit can be learned by looking at Minnesota's Week 2 snap counts, especially as there were clear winners and losers in how the coaching staff allocated the available snaps to each offensive and defensive player.

Snap count winner: Myles Price, wide recevier

The wide receiver room was interesting. Justin Jefferson played every offensive snap for the Vikings, while Jordan Addison was on the field for all but six offensive plays. But Jauan Jennings was out for Week 2 due to personal reasons (h/t Minnesota Star Tribune's Ben Goessling)

Kevin O’Connell said the Vikings will start Carson Wentz on Sunday. Kyler Murray made progress this week, and should be out of the concussion protocol by next week. J.J. McCarthy will be the backup.

Jauan Jennings will be out after the loss of a close family member.
— Ben Goessling (@BenGoessling) September 18, 2026

Myles Price was the man who head coach Kevin O'Connell wanted to pick up the slack. His snap count went from three offensive snaps last week to 26 on Sunday. Sadly, he was only targeted once in the game and failed to reel in that catch, but O'Connell turning to him for a bigger role says a lot about how the team feels about him.

Snap count loser: Josh Oliver, tight end

Last week, Josh Oliver saw 65% of offensive snaps. Against the Bears, that number went down to 60%. Although the decrease is slight, that may be because of Minnesota leaning more on the run game in Week 2.

Oddly, the struggles Oliver had as a pass blocker against the Packers didn't seem to be an issue against Chicago. He earned a pass-blocking grade of 73 from Pro Football Focus on Sunday, along with a receiving grade of 83.3. Even if those are good numbers, he'll need to make more of a consistent impact to convince the Vikings to increase his snap count.

Snap count winner: Caleb Banks, defensive line

A hip injury to Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins made some snaps available to another defensive lineman, and Caleb Banks got a big chunk of that action. Banks had 16 snaps against the Packers and saw that number jump to 36 in Week 2.

With 20 extra snaps to work with. Banks made an impact. He finished with six tackles, including one for a loss. However, he still graded out poorly on PFF, earning a run defense grade of 29.6 and an overall grade of 30.1.

Caleb Banks poses. — PFF grades don't tell the full story, as Caleb Banks did more than enough to play a role in the Vikings' Week 2 success. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There is still quite a bit of work for the Vikings' first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to do before he is ready to consistently take on a bigger role, but this was a great chance to get him some experience in the trenches.

Snap count loser: Demond Claiborne, running back

The situation with Demond Claiborne is interesting. The rookie running back should have been used more to give Aaron Jones a breather on occasion. Instead, the Vikings turned to DeeJay Dallas four times as often as Claiborne.

Claiborne got two offensive snaps against the Bears and caught a pass for two yards. This is strange since he had a PFF grade of 61.6 compared to Dallas's 49.5. Maybe this week's performance will lead to more opportunities while Jordan Mason is on injured reserve, but for now, it feels odd for Dallas to get those looks instead.

Role change: Harrison Smith, safety

Over the course of his 15-year career, Harrison Smith has played 13,249 defensive snaps in 209 regular-season games. That's an incredible average of 63.4 defensive snaps per game. Now 37 years old, the Vikings are scaling Smith's workload back in a huge way.

In Week 1 against the Packers, Smith played 26 defensive snaps. At first, it was thought that maybe defensive coordinator Brian Flores was trying to ease him back into action, but his Week 2 snap count was about the same, at 29 defensive snaps.

Gone are the days of "The Hitman" consistently being on the field for the Vikings' defense. Minnesota is turning to Josh Metellus and Theo Jackson to hold things down at safety while allowing Smith to rotate in and contribute when needed.

Since this is likely Smith's last season in the NFL, it makes sense to keep him fresh and healthy while having the other safeties pick up the slack, even though he is still a tackling machine, earning a 78.3 tackling grade from PFF for Week 2.

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