Vikings' Carson Wentz: Wanted to stay in TNF game despite pain - ESPN

EAGAN, Minn. — Carson Wentz took a dramatic step Wednesday to diffuse the controversy over his painful final appearance as the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback, saying he bears no ill will toward the franchise and making clear he did not want coach Kevin O'Connell to remove him from Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

«This isn't my first rodeo,» said Wentz, who was placed on injured reserve this week and soon will have season-ending surgery to repair his left shoulder. «I'm not an idiot. I know what I was signing up for going out there. Nobody was forcing me, pressuring me, any of those things.»

Wentz grimaced in pain throughout the Vikings' 37-10 loss, the result of a torn labrum and fractured shoulder socket he suffered Oct. 5 when he dislocated the shoulder during a Week 5 game against the Cleveland Browns. He played with the injury in Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles after using the Vikings' bye week to rest and recover, but a short week of preparation entering Thursday night's game left the shoulder particularly tender.

The Vikings trailed 31-10 early in the fourth quarter, but rookie backup Max Brosmer did not replace him until 1:56 remained. After getting hit on his final pass, Wentz hurled his helmet to the sideline, covered his face with a towel and appeared to be holding back tears as he looked to the sky.

Wentz, the No. 2 pick of the 2016 draft, earlier this season set an NFL record by starting a game for a different team in six straight years. But he had not been a regular NFL starter since 2022, and Wentz said the prospect of playing in «meaningful» games drove him to stay in the Vikings' lineup for as long as possible.

«It's fun,» he said. «I'm not going to lie. It's fun. It's what I grew