The 6-2 Minnesota Vikings visit Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, with their quarterback plan still taking shape. A hamstring injury kept Kyler Murray out of Monday’s 23-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills, and the next day, the team traded for a familiar face in Kirk Cousins.

Brett Hundley, though, sees Murray’s struggles in his first season with the Vikings as a question of how he fits their offense. A former Arizona Cardinals quarterback, Hundley backed up Murray during his rookie season in 2019. Green Bay drafted Hundley in the fifth round in 2015, and he remained in the NFL through 2022, though his last regular-season game appearance came in 2019.

Brett Hundley Contrasts Kyler Murray’s Arizona Days With Minnesota’s Offense

In an interview with Action Network’s Kyle Odegard, Hundley explained what he had expected from Murray: “I personally thought he was going to do a lot better when you look at the Vikings’ past QB history of coming in and revamping their career. I said before the season I thought that would happen with Kyler, but I haven’t seen what we’re used to seeing with him.”

Hundley separated Murray’s ability from the system he joined in Minnesota: “That offense is built around timing. If you threw Brock Purdy in there, he’d be a great fit for that offense.”

“I think Kyler is a great quarterback, but it’s just not a true fit,” Hundley added. “When he was drafted in Arizona under Kliff Kingsbury, the offense was built around him, and that’s where Kyler had his best years. We haven’t seen that [in Minnesota].”

Those Arizona years produced Murray’s Rookie of the Year award and two Pro Bowl selections, all inside his first three seasons.

In Hundley’s view, the difference now starts with draft status: “When you come in as the No. 1 pick, they will build the offense around you. Now you don’t get that luxury. You come in and they say, ‘We’re running this. Do with it what you can. And if you can’t succeed in this and lead us to where we want to go, we’re going to find somebody else.’”

Asked on Wednesday whether Murray would get to compete with Cousins once healthy, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell answered with the reason for the trade and what had set Murray back.

“We acquired Kirk to join a 6-2 football team and play,” O’Connell said.

When asked about Murray’s injury, he added, “11 snaps into the season, it was less than ideal, and then obviously having the hamstring set him back from maybe continuously stacking the momentum that he was building.”

Murray threw five passes in the season opener before Carson Wentz finished a 39-22 win over Green Bay, and Wentz threw every pass in a 9-3 win at Chicago the next week. Minnesota still won its first six games, and Murray threw two touchdown passes in the 19-15 loss at Detroit in Week 8 that ended the run.

Kirk Cousins Returns as the Vikings Weigh Their Starter at Lambeau

The Vikings announced on Tuesday that they had sent a 2027 third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for Cousins, with the trade’s completion pending his physical.

Cousins, 38, is in his 15th season. He made 88 starts over six years in Minnesota, including 2022, when he helped the Vikings win the NFC North at 13-4 in his first season under O’Connell.

After two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, he opened this one in Las Vegas and had thrown for 2,340 yards through Week 9, fifth in the NFL, with 20 touchdowns, second in the league, and eight interceptions.

On Tuesday, the day of the trade, Pro Football Network posted Cousins’ “ranks among all NFL QBs this season at age 38.”

O’Connell wouldn’t commit Wednesday to Cousins starting at Lambeau, though he made clear what the week was aimed at: “I think it’s still too early to commit wholeheartedly to what the plan on Sunday looks like, but I will say, excited about the opportunity of spending every moment we can between now and then to get [Cousins] comfortable and allow him to play for us this Sunday.”

Looking ahead to Murray’s return, O’Connell described the room he expects: “The way I look at it is, when Kyler’s healthy, we’ll have a quarterback room that obviously with Kirk, and hopefully his comfort and continuing to play as well as he has this year in our offense right now. We feel really good about that, but also feel really good about the potential to have Kyler Murray, Carson and Max [Brosmer] in that room.”

Where Murray’s Season Stands With Green Bay Up Next

Through Week 9, Murray had completed 100 of 154 passes for 1,022 yards, 29th in the NFL, with five touchdowns, tied for 31st, and three interceptions. His 64.9% completion rate was tied for 13th, and his 86.6 passer rating ranked 20th among 31 qualified quarterbacks.

He had also run for 167 yards on 29 carries and taken 15 sacks. PFN’s NFL QB Impact Grade has him at 69.9 through Week 9, 27th of 35 graded quarterbacks.

While O’Connell has stopped short of naming Cousins the starter, all signs point to the veteran getting the nod Sunday at Lambeau Field, where Minnesota will face a Packers team it beat in the season opener.