Josh Dobbs to Be Vikings' QB3 Behind Nick Mullins, Jaren Hall vs. Bengals

Joshua Dobbs has been demoted to QB3.

The Minnesota Vikings named Nick Mullens their starting quarterback for Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals with rookie Jaren Hall serving as the backup, head coach Kevin O'Connell announced Thursday, per ProFootballTalk's Michael David Smith.

The Vikings acquired Dobbs from the Arizona Cardinals in October after Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles.

Mullens, who has spent the last two seasons in Minnesota, would have been the team's starter after Cousins went down, but he was on injured reserve with a back ailment.

The Vikings then turned to Hall, who started a Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons before being knocked out of the game with a concussion and being replaced by Dobbs.

Dobbs has started the team's last four games and Minnesota is 2-2 in that span, though his performance in a Week 14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders was abysmal. The 28-year-old completed just 10 of 23 passes for 63 yards and rushed for 21 yards in a 3-0 victory.

Dobbs was replaced by Mullens in Sunday's game against the Raiders and he completed 9 of 13 passes for 83 yards.

"Jaren's fully healthy now and has gotten back on the grass and really worked through his continued development," O'Connell told reporters. "Josh Dobbs will be ready to play like he has to help us go 3-2 over the last five."

The Vikings enter Saturday's game second in the NFC North with a 7-6 record. With huge playoff implications at this point in the year, it's no surprise Minnesota is making a change under center in hopes of sparking some momentum in the final weeks of the regular season.

After taking on the Bengals, Minnesota will play the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions twice to close out the year.