EAGAN, Minn. -- Carson Wentz's painful run as the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback has ended.
Wentz will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a left shoulder injury he originally suffered Oct. 5 while playing in place of injured starter J.J. McCarthy. Wentz has been playing through a dislocated shoulder that included a torn labrum and fractured socket, a source told ESPN on Monday, confirming multiple reports.
McCarthy is expected to return to the starting lineup for the Vikings' game Sunday at the Detroit Lions. With Wentz headed to injured reserve, undrafted rookie Max Brosmer is the only other quarterback on the roster at the moment.
Free agent Desmond Ridder spent three weeks on the roster earlier this season. Brett Rypien, who spent last season as the Vikings' No. 3 quarterback and was waived after training camp, is on the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad.
Wentz, 32, made NFL history this season by starting at least one game for his sixth different team in the past six seasons. The Vikings signed him Aug. 24 to serve as McCarthy's backup, after they traded away Sam Howell, and Wentz entered the lineup in Week 3 as McCarthy recovered from a high right ankle sprain.
In five starts, Wentz led the Vikings to a 2-3 record. But he took three hard hits in the first half of their Week 5 game against the Cleveland Browns in London, the last of which -- from linebacker Carson Schwesinger -- caused the injury. Wentz missed one snap and then played the second half with a harness protecting the shoulder, completing all nine passes during a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter of a 21-17 victory.
Wentz rested the shoulder during the ensuing bye and then started the Vikings' 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7. But the short week leading up to last Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers limited his recovery time, and he was in obvious pain throughout a 37-10 loss.
Afterward, Wentz said it "quite possibly" was the most pain he has been in during a football game. The Vikings' medical staff fitted him with several other protective wraps, in addition to the harness, which Wentz said he had never worn "anything remotely close to" in order to play. He finished 15-of-27 for 144 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while being sacked five times.
After being hit on a fourth-down incompletion in the fourth quarter, Wentz threw his helmet at the bench -- for which he later apologized to the team's equipment staff -- and covered his face with a towel.
"The pain is pain," Wentz said. "I felt like I could still help this team and find a way to go down and score and all that stuff. So, we knew that coming into the game, that it was going to be part of it. And again, that's the tough part of Thursday night games. [You] just don't quite get the chance to recover, but that's no excuse by any means."
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said after the game that he was in constant conversation with Wentz and the team's medical staff but never thought he needed to replace him until the game was out of reach. With McCarthy designated the emergency quarterback, the first option by rule would have been Brosmer.
Brosmer didn't enter the game until 1 minute, 56 seconds remained.
"Carson's a veteran player," O'Connell said, "and he understands some of our circumstances [Thursday night]. I think it's very difficult to ask a rookie to go in there for his first performance and have to be weathering it a little bit for the group."
The Vikings used Wentz's roster spot to sign tight end Ben Sims, who spent time in their 2023 training camp and was recently waived by the Green Bay Packers. Veteran backup Josh Oliver injured his foot Thursday night and was not seen at the Vikings' practice Monday.