Vikings' Nick Mullens reacts to benching for Packers game

A day after Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell announced he was benching quarterback Nick Mullens in favor of rookie Jaren Hall for the upcoming "Sunday Night Football" home game against the 7-8 Green Bay Packers, Mullens addressed the demotion while speaking with media members. 

"I totally understand," Mullens said about the move on Friday, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN. "To me, it's pretty cut and dry. If I turn the ball over, I'm probably not going to be in the game. I feel like I let the team down and that sucks."

Mullens previously replaced Joshua Dobbs after Dobbs became somewhat of a sensation filling in for Kirk Cousins, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles on Oct. 29. However, Mullens tossed six total interceptions across back-to-back starts that he lost, and Seifert noted that the 28-year-old signal-caller could've had at least a couple of other passes picked over those two defeats. 

"I feel like we have a great group," Mullens added while discussing his play during his stint as the club's starter, "and to see guys go through so much during the season, and then you get in and you really feel like you let your team down. That weighs on you a good bit."

Hall, a fifth-round draft pick, started what became Minnesota's Week 9 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 5 but went down with a concussion during that outing. Mullens will be Hall's primary backup versus Green Bay and, thus, would play if the first-year pro suffered an injury or was pulled. 

Both the 7-8 Vikings and Packers trail two 8-7 teams in the battle for a pair of wild-card postseason berths. As of late Friday afternoon, the ESPN Football Power Index gave the Vikings an 18.7% chance to make the playoffs.