O'Connell's weekly Wednesday media session followed Wentz's.
"[From conversations with] our medical team, between our training staff and doctors here locally, which I believe is the best in the National Football League, but then also consulting the top people in their fields, orthopedic surgeon wise, it was determined that if Carson wanted to give it a go, he could, and it would be more of a kind of a pain tolerance thing, but he was able to get his strength and feel like he was capable of going in and playing," O'Connell said. "He had some really good practices, and we felt encouraged by giving Carson the opportunity to kind of make the call and then commit to it, and he did that.
"And just the competitiveness and the ability to, what he showed his teammates, and a lot of things about loving football and competing and trying to leave it all out there for your team," O'Connell continued. "As a coach, you want to give players the opportunity to do that. But always after you consult with the medical staff, and that consultation has to start with the player and the medical staff. And as a coach, you have to allow that to happen before you're a part of the conversations at all.
"And then the conversations are purely in what's in the best interest of the player," O'Connell added. "And at that point, Carson thought what was in the best interest of him was getting to play football and quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and he felt equipped and capable to do that."
Wentz rehabbed during Minnesota's Week 6 bye and started against the Eagles, but the short week heading into Thursday Night Football made it much harder to prepare for Week 8.
He acknowledged clips shown on the broadcast that showed Wentz grimacing in pain and reiterated that coaches and trainers continued to check in with him.
"The whole time, the trainers, Coach, everyone was like, 'How are you doing?' And I'm like, 'I'm good,' " Wentz said. "It was painful, but I didn't want to remove myself from that. … As a backup for the last couple years, being back in the role of starting meaningful football games, it's fun. And when you lose it for a little bit, it's hard to want to give it up.
"I never once felt unsafe," he continued. "And I know TV copy can show stuff that people on the sidelines don't see. But I never once felt unsafe. I've said it a bunch — it's just pain, it's discomfort. I knew surgery was coming; I knew it needed to be fixed. … But I didn't want to come out of this game."