Vikings-Broncos Joint Practice Recap, Day 1: Michael Pierce, Minnesota D-Line Shine
On the penultimate day of training camp, the Vikings and Broncos held their first of two joint practices at TCO Performance Center in Eagan. It was a sunny, windy day, and the excitement and intensity were ramped up by the presence of another team to go against and use as a measuring stick for each other's progress.
Players on both sides talked about how nice it was to face off with some new opposition after strictly going against their own teammates for the past couple weeks.
The competitive juices were flowing. On the very first live rep of the afternoon, a punt return drill, Vikings DBs Mackensie Alexander and Josh Metellus got into it with the Broncos' Caden Sterns. There was some talking and pushing that led into punches being thrown. That seemed like it might've been an indicator of more shenanigans to come, but it ended up being the only real fight of the day.
This was also the first Vikings practice of training camp featuring refs, which was interesting. Eric Kendricks described them as being "a little flag-happy" early on. That included a taunting penalty on a Broncos wide receiver after he caught a pass against Cameron Dantzler and spun the ball in his direction. Apparently, the NFL feels the need to crack down on that this season.
There was the fun aspect of seeing some familiar faces back in Minnesota: George Paton, Pat Shurmur, Teddy Bridgewater, Mike Boone, Shamar Stephen, Brett Jones. Bridgewater is battling with Drew Lock for the starting quarterback job in Denver, so these practices are big for him.
When the whistles blew, everyone on both sides was trying to get better on an individual and team level. Things were a bit hectic with 180 players and dozens of coaches and staffers around the practice fields, but it was a productive afternoon. The teams went through 1-on-1 drills, 7-on-7s, and plenty of live 11-on-11 work, including a couple situational late-game drills.
Two of the Vikings' biggest stars — Justin Jefferson and Danielle Hunter — were present but not practicing. First-round pick Christian Darrisaw was not at practice at all. Dede Westbrook and Nate Stanley were the two other Vikings not participating, although Westbrook did catch a few punts.
Unfortunately, wide receiver Blake Proehl appeared to suffer a serious leg injury during the practice. His right knee buckled in a non-contact fashion and he had to be carted off the field. We should know more soon, but it's possible the Vikings have lost a second WR for the season during this training camp after Bisi Johnson tore his ACL early on.
Let's get to my takeaways from Wednesday's joint practice.
Michael Pierce, Vikings interior D-line dominate
We'll start with the good news.
The Vikings' defensive line — specifically their defensive tackles — was dominant all afternoon long against the Broncos' interior offensive line. Leading the way was Michael Pierce, who appears to be close to 100 percent after being eased into training camp while recovering from a calf injury.
It's hard to overstate how impressive Pierce has been over the past week or so. He's been giving Garrett Bradbury fits ever since he's gotten out there for live reps. But it was even more encouraging to see Pierce go out and really thrive against a solid Broncos IOL trio of Dalton Risner, Lloyd Cushenberry, and Graham Glasgow. Whether it was 1-on-1 reps or live team periods, he was fantastic.
Pierce's size and strength are obvious just from looking at him. But some of the traits that make him one of the NFL's best nose tackles are his understanding of leverage, his ability to shed blocks, and the way he holds up against double teams. The issue for opposing offenses is that with Dalvin Tomlinson in there, double-teaming Pierce is a risky move. At least one of those two are always going to get a 1-on-1 matchup, and the Vikings feel confident in those situations.
I've been impressed with Pierce's pass rushing acumen. He has just 3.5 career sacks in four years, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he matched that total just in this upcoming season. Pierce shut down Broncos run plays, got into the backfield as a pass rusher several times, and batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage. I was on the side of the field near the Vikings' defense, so that was my main focus for the afternoon, and Pierce was the best player on the field.
Dalvin Tomlinson, Sheldon Richardson, and Stephen Weatherly had solid days as well. Keep in mind that Danielle Hunter wasn't out there; this Vikings defensive line has serious talent and depth. Although there are questions about the edge rusher spot opposite Hunter, that won't be quite as important if the defensive tackles are this good.
On the second-team defense, Armon Watts needs some recognition. Mike Zimmer and Andre Patterson have both talked about how the third-year DT is in the best shape of his life, and he continued his strong camp with a very productive day against the Broncos. Watts stood out nearly as much as Pierce did, albeit against the Broncos' backup OL. He was constantly in the backfield, stuffing run plays and putting pressure on the quarterback.
The Vikings' secondary has work to do
Now the not-so-good news, from a Minnesota perspective.
For as excellent as the big guys up front were, the Vikings' secondary had a somewhat disappointing day. Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, K.J. Hamler, and the rest of the Broncos' WR corps made a bunch of plays throughout the afternoon.
Specifically, it wasn't a great showing by Minnesota's corners. Xavier Woods and Harrison Smith did their thing for the most part, with Woods grabbing a pick off of a Mackensie Alexander deflection. Alexander, who has had a great camp, was burned by Jeudy a couple times. Bashaud Breeland had the worst day I've seen from him, allowing a number of catches and being called for at least one penalty. Cameron Dantzler had a nice pass breakup at one point but was also beaten twice by WR DeVontres Dukes, who is unlikely to make the Broncos' roster. Even Patrick Peterson would probably tell you he didn't have his best day.
1-on-1 drills dramatically favor receivers, but the Vikings' DBs' record in those reps was poor even when considering that context. And while the defense was good overall in live 11-on-11 action, that was because of the front seven, not the back end. When Bridgewater and Drew Lock actually had time to throw, they usually had at least one target who had created some separation.
Minnesota's offense struggles
As mentioned earlier, I was closer to the Vikings' defense, so that was what I spent most of practice watching. It was hard to focus on both fields at once (and it got really difficult when there were four things going on at once, with two sets of OL/DL 1-on-1s and two sets of 7-on-7 passing drills).
Still, it felt like whenever I looked to the far field, the Vikings' offense wasn't doing much. That suspicion was later confirmed when I talked to other reporters who were focusing on the offense. The Vikings' offensive line had a really rough day keeping the pocket clean for Kirk Cousins, suggesting that area of concern is...still an area of concern. Late in the practice, to end a two-minute situation, Cousins was swallowed and "sacked" before he could get a throw off.
The interior trio of Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, and Oli Udoh/Dakota Dozier remains a question mark. Rashod Hill and Brian O'Neill also had some trouble with Bradley Chubb and Von Miller, although O'Neill did win some reps against Miller as well. I plan on focusing on the offense on Thursday, so we'll see if the O-line can bounce back and have a better day.
Cousins was pretty inconsistent as well, from what I saw and heard. Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen did their thing, but the Vikings missed having Jefferson out there.
From a broad perspective, the defense got the better of the offense on both fields.
That's not to say that the Vikings' offense didn't have its moments. This pull from Udoh led to a nice run for Alexander Mattison.
Cook broke off several nice runs as well, and camp stars K.J. Osborn and Irv Smith Jr. each had a couple catches.
Other observations
- The Vikings' backup quarterbacks had their moments. Jake Browning was his typically solid self, making several nice throws. And Kellen Mond, in his first real practice after spending ten days on the COVID list, didn't show too much rust. He threw a few touchdowns in 7-on-7 drills and also showed off his scrambling ability at times.
- The Vikings really need Dede Westbrook to get healthy. Partially because of what he'll bring as a wide receiver, but mostly because they need him at punt returner. Yes, it was windy, but catching punts was a mess for the Vikings on Wednesday. Chad Beebe and Ameer Abdullah were dropping them left and right.
- Rookie safety Camryn Bynum made a great play to jump a route for an interception of Lock in 7-on-7 action.
- Eric Kendricks nearly came away with a pick of his own. Nothing to worry about with him.
- Greg Joseph made all six of his field goal attempts on the day. He made all five early on in practice, with a long of 53, and nailed a short one to cap a one-minute drill later in the day.
- Chad Beebe made several catches that I saw when looking to the far field. If Proehl is seriously hurt, Beebe's roster spot is almost certainly safe.
- A few other linemen who had solid days, from what I could tell: Patrick Jones II, Hercules Mata'afa, and Wyatt Davis.
Back at it tomorrow for the second joint practice and day 14/14 of Vikings training camp. Then it's preseason time on Saturday afternoon.
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