Quarterback Sam Darnold kickstarted the Vikings’ offense on Thursday as he has most of the 2024 season, and plans to play Sunday in a meaningful NFC North road game at Chicago.

Darnold returned to practice after being listed as a limited participant on Wednesday because of a foot injury.

The Vikings (8-2) are anticipating another close matchup with the Bears (4-6), who won a field-goal battle at Minnesota last season while head coach Kevin O’Connell was shuttling quarterbacks in and out of the lineup to replace the injured Kirk Cousins.

That’s not a problem these days.

After Cousins left for greener pastures in Atlanta, the Vikings signed Darnold to a one-year deal and drafted Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the first round. Darnold already has eight wins, beating the 7-10 mark the Vikings cobbled together with a QB room that spun on fast forward from Cousins, Jaren Hall, Nick Mullens, and Joshua Dobbs.

“What we’re trying to get from Sam is play the best football of his career,” O’Connell said.

Darnold is delivering and the Vikings have a three-game winning streak in tow when they arrive at Soldier Field on Sunday.

He has posted a 100.0 passer rating in 10 starts. He has completed a career-best 67.9 percent of his passes for 2,387 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The next touchdown pass will mark a career high for Darnold, who sputtered with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before serving as the San Francisco 49ers’ backup last season.

“I just feel like, you know — not talking about past experiences at all — but I think here it’s the detail that we’ve had ever since OTAs, ever since April,” Darnold said. “We’ve been able to lock in our progressions. Just our feet, our eyes, where they’re supposed to be. And just being on time with the concepts.

“If you play like that, it makes the quarterback position a little bit easier.”

–Field Level Media