Vikings are counting on Jaren Hall's poise

EAGAN — For Jaren Hall, coming off the bench at Lambeau Field in a chaotic situation was nothing more than simply doing his job.

“You always try to be prepared as if you’re going to play,” Hall said during his first press conference as Vikings starter on Wednesday.

For the rest of the Vikings’ offense, Hall coming into the game and getting the play calls communicated and operating the huddle in a difficult environment was exactly what they were hoping to see from the fifth-round pick from BYU.

“He prepares himself well,” tight end TJ Hockenson said. “When he came in he was spitting out the play calls with no hesitation, no verbiage that was missing so it was good. He took control of the huddle and that’s what you need out of a rookie quarterback. You have to have the confidence to come into the huddle and really take control of it because we all have to listen to him. He can’t be quiet, you can’t be stuttering, you have to be confidence and understand that we’re all listening to you.”

While the first drive ended in a strip-sack, Hall came back out onto the field and completed a third-and-long pass to Hockenson for a first down that essentially put the win over the Packers on ice.

“We asked the players after the [Packers] game, when he played in the game, ‘What was it like?’ And they were like, ‘It was not too big for him,’” general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “I think that’s the first test you always look for. And look, your first snaps come backed up at Lambeau Field. That’s not, I would say, the ideal situation. On a third down, he stood in there and he converted a pass. You always look for those small signs.”

Now with Kirk Cousins on the shelf for the rest of the season with an Achielles tear, Hall goes into his first career start this Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons with the team looking for him to carry over the type of calm confidence that he had at Lambeau and lead a 4-4 team that is trying to hang around in the playoff race despite losing its QB1.

“I think I’m a very chill individual,” Hall said. “But when it comes to the game of football and just being prepared, I think it’s taking it little by little… just relying on my coaches and my teammates. It’s all about them, and they have a great plan for us every day…Take the small things until you build up to game day, and I think that’s where confidence and the calmness comes from.”

Hall also has a good amount of experience playing the position. He dropped back to pass 64 times during the preseason and threw 718 passes in college, gaining more than 6,000 yards with 61 touchdowns.

“I watched my college cutup of him, I watched my preseason cutup of him, I watched his practice cutup, I read all our reports and analysis, and look – it’s not gonna look the same as Kirk Cousins, right? Kirk Cousins is one of the best throwers this league has,” Adofo-Mensah said. “He’s really experienced. I think there’s a way that he can play, that we can function.”