Vikings-Cardinals Joint Practice Recap, Day 2: Light Day to Wrap Up Training Camp
For the Vikings, Thursday marked the final practice in the month-long period known as training camp. It was a fairly light session with the Arizona Cardinals, which makes sense considering it was Minnesota's fourth joint practice in the last nine days.
With training camp in the books, things are about to ramp up. The Vikings and Cardinals will play their preseason finale at noon central time on Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium. After that, rosters will be trimmed from 90 down to 53 on Tuesday. The Vikings might practice once or twice next week, but there will be a bit of downtime before they hit the ground running for a normal week of preparation ahead of the September 10th regular season opener against the Buccaneers.
Thursday's practice was the final one with fans in attendance at TCO Performance Center. Thankfully, the conditions were much more manageable after Wednesday's practice was held in sweltering heat. Let's go over some observations.
Attendance notes
K.J. Osborn was not seen at Thursday's practice. He presumably got banged up on Wednesday, though we may not have an update until next week. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and a combination of Brandon Powell and Jalen Reagor took the reps at wide receiver with the first-team offense.
Also not practicing: Lewis Cine, Kene Nwangwu, and Joejuan Williams.
Players who returned to full-team reps this week: Brian O'Neill, Jalen Nailor, Brian Asamoah, and Mekhi Blackmon.
NaJee Thompson was back at practice wearing a red no-contact jersey; he remains in the concussion protocol.
Could Vikings rotate three ILBs this year?
With Asamoah back in the mix, the Vikings have three starting-caliber inside linebackers for two spots. While they'll obviously pick two to be their starters, I wonder if there might be room for all three to rotate into the mix to start the season. After a while, performance and/or injuries could factor into the decision.
Rookie sensation Ivan Pace Jr. got a ton of work with the first-team defense on Thursday. He has worn the green dot (hearing defensive calls on the microphone and relaying them to his teammates) during the first two preseason games and impressed. Pace has had a fantastic training camp and is going to play right away — the only question is how much.
There were times on Thursday when it was Pace and veteran Jordan Hicks with the starting defense. There were times when it was Asamoah and Hicks. And towards the end of practice, we saw a period where it was Pace and Asamoah alongside one another with Hicks on the sideline.
My feeling is all three will play in Week 1. The Vikings need Hicks' size and experience, and with Pace and Asamoah, they have two young heat-seeking missiles with a ton of range and playmaking ability. That trio gives Brian Flores plenty of versatility. There will also be dime looks (six defensive backs, including Josh Metellus as a third safety) where only one inside 'backer is on the field.
Highlights and other notes
- Speaking of Metellus, he had a great play in 1-on-1s where he stayed in lockstep with a Cardinals tight end and jumped the route for a pick.
- The other highlight of 1-on-1s was Addison leaping up for a contested ball in the corner of the end zone. He's the real deal.
- A few other players who stood out in 1-on-1s were Reagor, Johnny Mundt (against Budda Baker!), and Thayer Thomas.
- The only contentious moment of these two days with the Cardinals came when an Arizona defensive tackle tackled Alexander Mattison all the way to the ground, leading some Vikings teammates to come to Mattison's defense. It seemed to just be talking without any shoves or punches.
- Rookie safety Jay Ward came away with a nice diving interception, aided by a Cardinals miscommunication.
- Kirk Cousins hit a wide-open Jefferson for a touchdown to win a situational period against the Cardinals' starting defense.
- Ex-Cardinal Byron Murphy Jr., who had a big day on Wednesday, came away with another interception on Thursday.
- Nick Mullens and the Vikings' second-team offense struggled a bit. Their situational period ended when a ball was batted at the line of scrimmage and picked off by a diving Cardinals lineman.
- Vikings WR Lucky Jackson may have sealed his fate when he dropped a wide-open deep ball. It was a tough moment to watch.
- Jaylin Williams and Theo Jackson had PBUs in the final team period of practice.
The two teams wrapped things up about 30 minutes ahead of schedule after getting in some good work over these two days. The Vikings were clearly the better team in these joint practices, which isn't surprising. The Cardinals have the lowest Vegas win total in the NFL and already traded away a couple players (Isaiah Simmons and Josh Jones) on Thursday. It's going to be a long season in Arizona, but that doesn't mean the Vikings didn't benefit from seeing some different looks than the ones the Titans gave them last week.
That'll do it for my daily training camp recaps. Stay tuned for coverage of Saturday's preseason finale, Tuesday's roster cuts, and everything Vikings-related during the 2023 season.
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