CLEVELAND – Nick Mullens hasn't taken a ton of snaps throughout training camp, and he showed Saturday he hasn't really needed them.

Mullens started at QB for Minnesota and played the whole first half of an eventual 27-12 Vikings win. It had been determined earlier in the week that Sam Darnold would not be active for the preseason game, as well as the fact that Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips would call plays for the contest.

Mullens had a crisp, clean start on the road, including a 31-yard completion to Jalen Nailor just three plays into the day. He capped that drive with a 14-yard touchdown to Trishton Jackson, the receiver's second score in as many games.

"It was awesome," Mullens said of getting Jackson back in the end zone a week after his touchdown against the Raiders. "I don't know if you'll find a bigger fan of Trishton on the team. Even since when I first got here, just his overall development from year to year, proving that he could step in last year and then really just making a lot of plays all camp long."

Vikings Head Coach O'Connell spoke postgame about Mullens helping Minnesota off to a strong start.

"I thought Nick Mullens and that first group that we had out there offensively today, to start out the game, go down there and get a couple explosives, Trishton showing up again, and then Speedy (Nailor) showing up, as well," O'Connell said when listing things he liked

Nailor emphasized Mullens' confidence on the field, as well as his composure in the face of heavy pressure that picked up later in the first quarter.

"He just seemed very calm in the huddle and was trying to make plays," Nailor said.

O'Connell also tipped his cap to the veteran quarterback for taking care of the football under duress, twice putting it in the turf to avoid taking a sack or throwing an interception. On a third play, officials initially called a fumble before determining Mullens' arm was going forward before the ball came loose, thus making it an incomplete pass.

"Nick's a really important player to us, especially now, having lost J.J. [McCarthy], and knowing that Nick is here for a reason, it's great that we have the trust in him to know our system, and it's great the preparation that he is and the value in the QB room," O'Connell said. "But Nick knows we also value his ability to step in and move the team, which is what he's really always done."

O'Connell added that he "loves" seeing a couple of smart throwaways in necessary situations.

"Know when we can live to fight the next down," he explained, noting Mullens has shown improvement in that area. "Point for Nick is just, 'You do a lot of really good things. We've just got to make sure we possess the football as much as possible at the end of the snaps that we do have.

"For Nick at his at this point his career, that's what I'm looking for, to go along with the expectation that he's going to run the show and be a field general out there for us, like he always is," O'Connell added.

Mullens finished his outing 11-of-21 passing for 135 yards and a touchdown, with a passer rating of 88.4. He was sacked three times.

"Anytime I protect the football, I feel like I'm a really good quarterback in this league," he said. "Anytime you can go out and have no turnovers in a performance, it's big. It helps the team. We didn't turn the ball over as a unit today, and we won."

Jaren Hall started the second half for the Vikings and recorded notable plays himself, including a strong opening drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Malik Knowles. He later had a beautiful pass to rookie receiver Jeshaun Jones, dropping the ball right in the breadbasket and allowing Jones to maintain his stride … which he did for 71 yards to the end zone.

"He found me, seen me, threw a great ball," Jones said. "That's really what won. My route wasn't the best, but the ball's kind of what made the play. He got it by the DB, just enough touch to get it over him, get it by him, and the rest was history, I guess."

Hall, in turn, commended his receiver's execution of not only the initial catch but of staying in bounds and taking it to the house.

"You just get to kind of sit back and watch," Hall laughed. "It's a sigh of relief. The defender goes down, and then from my view, it's like, 'Is he gonna stay in bounds?' And as soon as he does, it's fun. It was a pretty cool feeling to see him, nobody around him, just cruising."

Hall didn't have a tremendous sample size due to also having 11 run plays in the second half, but he wrapped up the day with the maximum passer rating possible, 158.3. He was 4-of-5 passing for 87 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

"It felt good to play the complementary football," said Hall. "Preseason or not, just to play and execute, trust your coaching."

O'Connell was pleased overall with Hall's performance.

"Rhythm, timing, ball coming out accurate, and then that throw to Jeshaun, you know, that's a ball on a keeper that, you know, once or twice a season that ball might get thrown there," O'Connell said. "So for Jaren to have the awareness, eyes up … showing his athletic ability and then throwing a dime right over the top there, it was really cool."

With two preseason games in the rear-view mirror, the Vikings will now turn their eyes toward their third and final exhibition contest at Philadelphia next week.

And while the final score may not "matter" in the traditional sense, Mullens can't help but smile after back-to-back wins and thinking about getting back on the field.

"It's fun to play football," he said. "You work all spring, all summer, get a fair share of reps in practice going against your own team. It's a lot of fun playing football, so I'm very thankful for that.

"I thought the whole unit today, clean operation, communicated well. We ran the ball well, and that's awesome to see big guys up front, the running backs, receivers," Mullens added. "It's a group effort, and it was a pretty strong performance."