EAGAN, Minn. — Veteran Carson Wentz will make his fifth consecutive start for the Vikings (and 99^th in a regular-season game) when Minnesota (3-3) visits the Los Angeles Chargers (4-3) to open Week 8 on Thursday Night Football.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell announced the decision Tuesday during his lone media session of an extremely shortened week.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell announced the decision Tuesday during his lone media session of an extremely shortened week, explaining the Vikings will have undrafted rookie Max Brosmer as the backup and designate J.J. McCarthy as the emergency QB.

"Earlier this morning, we did put J.J. McCarthy through an on-field workout just to see if he had a chance to make it this week," O'Connell said. "J.J., the medical staff, myself, we're all encouraged about where he's at and the progress he's making, but he's just not there. And if this was a Sunday game, maybe it would be a little bit of a different story, and we could push it throughout the week and smee where he's at toward the end of the week.

"But really, I look at today almost as the combination of a Wednesday-Thursday, but really it is a Friday on the timeline of coming up on being 48 hours out from the game," O'Connell added. "So we wanted to have a plan at the quarterback position, and it'll be very similar to last week. Carson will start, Max will be the backup, and J.J. will be available in the case of emergency as the third. Like I said, encouraged about where [McCarthy is] at and very much looking forward to continuing his progression, hopefully having a chance to go next week. And we'll keep you guys posted on that."

Wentz is continuing his rehab of a left, non-throwing shoulder injury he suffered in Week 5 against Cleveland. He has helped Minnesota go 2-2 through four starts, despite not joining the team until late August.

Starter J.J. McCarthy remains on the mend from a high-ankle sprain suffered in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons. He will serve as the emergency QB, and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer will be Minnesota's backup.

McCarthy completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for a 14-yard score in leading a three-TD fourth quarter at Chicago in the season opener.

The following week, however, the Falcons were able to generate pressures and limit McCarthy to an 11-for-21 showing for 158 yards with two interceptions. McCarthy suffered six sacks and 11 QB hits. He was injured at the end of a 16-yard scramble on a second-and-20 late in the third quarter but remained in the game.

O'Connell said the Vikings will continue to be mindful of avoiding setbacks with McCarthy's rehab since "we still have a lot of football left in the season."

When asked what he wants to see from McCarthy during a workout before returning to game action, O'Connell said "some of the reactionary movements within the pocket."

"Being able to use his athleticism to protect himself in the pocket, and then as he's able to work through progressions, I feel really good about the work we've done on the foundation of his fundamentals; that's been pretty evident through the work that he's done, and he's really committed to doing that," O'Connell said.

"It's really just about, 'Hey, maybe a guy gets the edge, and I don't really know the movement I'm going to have to make.' That's where he still feels it," O'Connell added. "He doesn't have the ability to do that pain free. We obviously risk setting him back, which would be very, very unfortunate, with the time lost already, but also giving him the best chance to go out there and have success is, ultimately what we're what we're looking for."

Wentz has been able to lean on his experience as Minnesota has worked through injury-induced changes across the offensive line. He quarterbacked a win over the Bengals and nearly spearheaded a comeback in a loss to the Steelers in Dublin. Wentz followed with a comeback victory over the Browns in London before Sunday's attempt to rally fell shy in a home loss to the Eagles, the team that drafted him No. 2 overall in 2016.

That experience will be helpful this week, considering the Vikings crammed their prep work on first, second and third downs into Tuesday's walk-through and have been trying to maximize their time to recover.

"It's just a grind. It's a physical grind. It's a mental grind. I don't think anybody goes from playing one game on Sunday to Thursday and actually feels good," Wentz said. "It's just, 'How good can you get yourself feeling?' quite frankly, so I'm feeling fine. … You're using every minute you have to recover to get yourself mentally and physically ready."

Wentz suffered his shoulder injury late in the first half against Cleveland but returned to the game. After rehabbing during Minnesota's Week 6 bye, he endured big hits but fearlessly scrambled late against Philadelphia.

Brosmer made his NFL debut late in Minnesota's 48-10 win over Cincinnati in Week 3. He went 2-for-4 with 29 yards over the course of 12 snaps. Brosmer also stepped in for Wentz on Minnesota's final snap of the first half against Cleveland, simply taking a knee to run out the clock before halftime. Ultimately, Wentz was able to gut it out in the second half and lead a game-winning drive.

Wentz has completed 95 of 142 passes (66.9 percent) for 1,072 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. His passer rating is 89.3.

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