Josh Dobbs Benched During Rough Game, Starter Status Uncertain Moving Forward

Former Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs was benched in a rough offensive performance during the Minnesota Vikings’ 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon.

Dobbs and the Vikings’ offense struggled to get anything going as the Minnesota midseason acquisition was relieved by backup quarterback Nick Mullens a few minutes into the fourth quarter.

The Vikings making a change at quarterback was something that was talked about during last week’s bye week but head coach Kevin O’Connell decided to stick with Dobbs, a player that was traded for on Halloween day.

Dobbs captivated the football world during the month of November with his story and tenacity but really struggled in the game against the Raiders. Dobbs finished the game 10-of-23 for 63 yards with five sacks. The former Vol also added in 21 yards on five carries during the game. Perhaps the most troubling statistic, though, is that Minnesota punted eight times in Dobbs’ nine drives in the game.

Nick Mullens took over with 9:10 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, going four-and-out in his first series. Mullens bounced back in his second drive and led the Vikings 56 yards down the field in 13 plays for the go-ahead field goal with 1:57 remaining in the game. Minnesota picked off Las Vegas’ first play of the next drive.

“I want to communicate and be honest and I just said, ‘I want to give Nick a chance to get in there,’ ” O’Connell said about his message to Josh Dobbs during the game. “Nick has a great feel for our offense and when I could call up for him and communicate, he went out here and executed.”

More from RTI: Recapping Tennessee Football’s First Week With the Transfer Portal Open

O’Connell was non-committal about whether Dobbs or Mullens would be Minnesota’s starter next week against the Bengals in Cincinnati.

Dobbs didn’t sit and sulk in the locker room after the game as a veteran who has been through so much adversity. The former Tennessee quarterback stood firm and answered questions from the media in an honest way.

“That was my first time going through that specific situation,” Dobbs said after about being pulled in the middle of a game. “I thought [Mullens] did a tremendous job coming in and giving us a chance to win. That’s ultimately all that matters at the end of the day in this league. I can be frustrated with my play, I can be frustrated with the situation, but I’m happy we won at the end of the day. So we’ll get back to the drawing board. I’ll figure out how we can be better as an offense and then we’ll keep pushing for it next week.”

Mullens ended the game going 9-of-13 for 83 yards.

After arriving in Minnesota following his first-half stint with the Arizona Cardinals, Dobbs led the Vikings to a road win against Atlanta and a home win against the New Orleans Saints. The Vikings dropped their next two games, though, at Denver and at home against Chicago. A bye week split the game against the Bears and the Raiders game.

Here’s a look at Dobbs’ season stats with the Vikings this season:

at Atlanta – 11/5

• 20/30, 158 yards, 66.7%, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 7 carries, 66 yards, 1 rushing touchdown

vs New Orleans – 11/12

• 23/34, 268 yards, 67.7%, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 8 carries, 44 yards, 1 rushing touchdown

at Denver – 11/19

• 20/32, 221 yards, 62.5%, 1 TD, 1 INT, 8 carries, 21 yards, 1 rushing touchdown

vs Chicago – 11/27

• 22/32, 185 yards, 68.8%, 1 TD, 4 INTs, 2 carries, 11 yards

at Vegas – 12/10

• 10/23, 63 yards, 43.5%, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 5 carries, 21 yards