Joshua Dobbs had an iconic moment in his first appearance for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9, but the 28-year-old quarterback wasn't expecting to be playing for another team this season.
In an interview with Fox 9 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dobbs said Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon initially said after their Week 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens he would remain the starter. He also said he was told the following day that he wasn't going to be traded even though Clayton Tune would be getting the start in Week 9.
Arye Pulli @AryePulliWatch: <a href="">#Vikings</a> QB Josh Dobbs explained how his final 36 hours in Arizona went down😳<br><br>He was told on Sunday after the game vs the Ravens that he would be the starter.<br><br>He was then told the next day that the team would be starting Clayton Tune, but that he would not be getting… <a href="">
The Cardinals wound up trading Dobbs and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Vikings for a 2024 sixth-round pick on Oct. 31, hours before the NFL trade deadline.
Minnesota was in need of a quarterback after Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles in the fourth quarter of a 24-10 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 8.
It wasn't a surprise that Arizona traded Dobbs, especially after it announced that Tune would be starting in Week 9. Even though Gannon may have assured him no deal was going to happen, it didn't make sense for the Cardinals to keep him with Kyler Murray getting ready to return from a torn ACL.
There was no expectation that Dobbs was going to play for the Vikings against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9. Per ESPN's Kevin Seifert, Dobbs didn't take a single rep in practice leading up to the game and didn't know the names of most of his teammates.
When rookie Jaren Hall, who started against the Falcons, left the game with a concussion, Dobbs had to gather Minnesota's five starting offensive linemen to run through the team's cadences so they would have at least some familiarity together.
Dobbs told reporters that head coach Kevin O'Connell had to translate calls and map out plays while he was in the middle of the huddle because he didn't have time during the week to get familiar with them.
The Vikings managed to make it work by pulling off a 31-28 win over the Falcons by scoring 21 points in the second half. Dobbs finished 20-of-30 for 158 yards and two touchdowns.
It was Minnesota's fourth consecutive victory and kept the team in the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff race.
