Irv Smith Jr. 'Full Go' as Vikings Enter Training Camp With Minimal Injuries
The Vikings' first practice of training camp is on Wednesday, and they'll have almost their entire 90-man roster on the fields at TCO Performance Center to kick things off.
Tight end Irv Smith Jr., who is coming off of missing all of last season with a meniscus injury, was limited throughout the spring as he wrapped up his recovery. But he's expected to be a "full go" on Wednesday and beyond, according to head coach Kevin O'Connell. Smith reported to the facility on Sunday with the rookies, quarterbacks, and other players coming off injuries, and O'Connell was impressed by what he saw.
"I just have to give Irv a ton of credit," he said. "Talk about a guy that put in some work. Coming out of the spring, I thought he had a good spring for what he was able to do for us. He was great in the classroom, he was great in that walk-through, jog-through setting, but then to see him moving around yesterday — we got out on the grass with those early-report guys — you can tell the work’s been put in. You can tell there’s a real mindset for Irv, and I’m really excited about him. So we’re expecting him to be full to start; as always, you know we’ll take each thing that kind of comes up day by day...and we’ll have a plan for Irv himself, with a mindset on that opening game."
The Vikings won't be at 100 percent attendance right away. They placed two players coming off of ACL injuries, WR Blake Proehl and LB Ryan Connelly, on the Physically Unable to Perform list on Monday. But other than those two, who are both longshots to make the roster, the team has a clean bill of health entering the start of camp.
Update: Add cornerback Nate Hairston to the short list, as he's been placed on the Active/Non-Football Injury list with some minor tightness.
That means second-year receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette is ready to go after a leg injury ended his spring early.
"He's looking great," O'Connell said. "He's another guy, in addition to Irv, I should single out. Johnny Mundt was another guy."
It also means rookie cornerback Andrew Booth Jr., who had surgery earlier this year, is ready to go for his first camp. It also means Danielle Hunter and Za'Darius Smith, whose 2021 seasons were derailed by injury, are back at 100 percent.
Who knows what the future will hold, but being awfully healthy is a great way for the Vikings to kick off this year's camp. O'Connell and the team's sports performance and strength staffs will continue to monitor every player on a day-to-day basis. When they get to each of their 11 padded practices, though, they're not going to hold back.
"When we're going, we gotta go," O'Connell said. "We'll do our due diligence through the whole month of the volume of work we put in, but when we put those pads on, it's just not that many opportunities. To prepare your team and for our individual players to feel prepared, there's no other way than to go full and compete."
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