Current:Home > FinanceVikings QB Joshua Dobbs didn't know most of his teammates' names. He led them to a win. -AssetLink
Vikings QB Joshua Dobbs didn't know most of his teammates' names. He led them to a win.
View
Date:2025-04-26 07:13:49
Who needs practice − or to know who you are playing with − when you're Joshua Dobbs?
Just five days after he was traded from the Arizona Cardinals to the Minnesota Vikings, the quarterback was thrust into his new team's road game against the Atlanta Falcons after rookie starter Jaren Hall was injured on the team's second possession of the day.
Even without taking a single snap with the offense in the practice leading up to Sunday, Dobbs delivered an incredible come-from-behind performance by completing 20 of 30 passes for 158 yards and two touchdown passes, including the game-winning scoring throw to Brandon Powell with 22 seconds left to lift Minnesota into a 31-28 win. The result moved the Vikings to 5-4 on the season for their fourth-straight victory.
Dobbs was also the leading rusher on the day, with seven carries for 66 yards and a touchdown run, with several runs extending drives and keeping hopes of a win alive.
'He's smart as hell'
Powell and fellow Vikings receiver Jordan Addison both confirmed to reporters postgame that Dobbs didn't throw any passes during practice.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
"He's smart as hell. To be able to come in here and learn that offense that fast and go out there and call them plays, he's smart. That's a smart dude," Powell said. "He was paying attention. Came in the game, never practicing, and we won the game.
"It's hard to go out there and execute when you don't get the reps, but he did it."
Addison added that everyone in the offensive huddle was letting Dobbs know what they'd be doing on each play, and confirming what routes receivers would run. Regardless, Dobbs was at the center of a big celebration with teammates in the locker room after the win.
Dobbs plans on learning teammates' names
Dobbs, who was the Cardinals' starter for eight games after being traded by the Cleveland Browns just before the start of the regular season, described the whirlwind of the week like someone taking a Spanish class for an entire year and then being told they need to take a test in French. He said coaches asked him how comfortable he felt with the playbook in case he needed to play, to which he said, "anything on this call sheet that we installed this week, I got it. I can run it. I got it." He even admitted that going into Sunday, he didn't know the majority of his teammates' full names.
"If we had to pull up a roster of names, I'll be a bad teammate today," Dobbs said.
But the fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft has his next thing to learn, as Minnesota will prepare to face the New Orleans Saints in Week 10.
"Names, that's for this week. That's an assignment for this week," Dobbs said.
veryGood! (112)
Related
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Kate Middleton Receives Royally Sweet Message From King Charles III on Her 42nd Birthday
- Ex-UK Post Office boss gives back a royal honor amid fury over her role in wrongful convictions
- Death toll from western Japan earthquakes rises to 126
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- When is Valentine's Day? How the holiday became a celebration of love (and gifts).
- Princess Kate turns 42: King Charles celebrates her birthday with rare photo
- Wisconsin lumber company fined nearly $300,000 for dangerous conditions after employee death
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- A new wave of violence sweeps across Ecuador after a gang leader’s apparent escape from prison
Ranking
- California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Kremlin foe Navalny says he’s been put in a punishment cell in an Arctic prison colony
- Katy Perry Details Vault of Clothes She Plans to Pass Down to Daughter Daisy Dove
- Nearly a third of Americans expect mortgage rates to fall in 2024
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- Who's on the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot? What to know about election, voting
- 'The impacts are real': New satellite images show East Coast sinking faster than we thought
- Vatican’s doctrine chief is raising eyebrows over his 1998 book that graphically describes orgasms
Recommendation
North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
Michigan's Jim Harbaugh has a title, seat at the 'big person's table.' So is this goodbye?
Michigan woman wins $2 million thanks to store clerk who picked out scratch off for her
2024 Golden Globes reaches viewership of 9.4 million — highest ratings in years
Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
Before a door plug flew off a Boeing plane, an advisory light came on 3 times
United, Alaska Airlines find loose hardware on door plugs on several Boeing 737 Max 9 planes
Budget agreement may include IRS cuts that curb plan to crack down on wealthy tax cheats