The NFL season isn't even two weeks old and the injury bug has already struck.

Joe Burrow was the first big name to get hurt this year, going down with a turf toe issue in Week 2 against the Jaguars. Monday brought news he'd likely miss a few months as a result. Shortly thereafter Commanders star Jayden Daniels was revealed to have a sprained knee that puts his Week 3 status in question. And then, to top it all off, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell kicked off his Monday press conference with the surprising news that J.J. McCarthy sprained his ankle and was unlikely to suit up next week.

It's all bad news. Injuries sap so much of the fun out of the game for everybody involved. But the McCarthy and Burrow news in tandem struck a chord with NFL fans. Because Cincinnati and Minnesota are facing off next week.

You know what that means— a backup quarterback battle. Jake Browning will be starting in place of Burrow; the eighth-year signal-caller played well enough in relief of the starter on Sunday that he propelled the Bengals to a win. On the other side will be none other than Carson Wentz, the former top-five pick who has turned into something of a journeyman these last few years. He spent the 2024 season with the Chiefs before signing on with the Vikings this offseason.

The reality of going from a Burrow-McCarthy matchup to Browning-Wentz settled in for fans quickly on Monday and the football world at large was pretty bummed out about the development.

Injuries are an unfortunate reality of professional sports and every season they rob fans of potentially great games. But as noted by a few fans above it normally takes longer than two weeks for things to get to this point. Especially at quarterback.

Perhaps Browning and Wentz will deliver an all-time classic. Perhaps not. Either way we're looking at a battle of backups in Week 3.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bengals, Vikings News Has NFL Fans Bummed About Possible Week 3 Backup QB Battle.

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