Vikings-Titans Joint Practice Recap, Day 1: Defenses Come Out Ahead
The Tennessee Titans arrived at TCO Performance Center on Wednesday for the first of two days of joint practices with the Vikings, which will lead into a preseason game between the two teams on Saturday night. On a very windy afternoon in Eagan, the Vikings finally got to test themselves against a different opponent in a practice setting.
The overall story of the day was that both defenses had more success than their offensive counterparts. This was a tough, physical practice, with defensive pressure — and the heavy wind — disrupting each team's ability to move the ball effectively.
Jordan Addison didn't practice for the Vikings; he's in the concussion protocol but is expected to return as soon as Monday. T.J. Hockenson and Brian O'Neill warmed up but didn't participate in team periods. Also absent were Jalen Nailor, Kene Nwangwu, Brian Asamoah, Jaquelin Roy, and Garett Maag. Jonathan Bullard and Lucky Jackson returned to action.
Let's get to some takeaways.
Defenses win the day
For the most part, it looked like both teams' defensive players and coaches will feel better about their performance than the offenses will after this practice. Quarterbacks were under pressure, running lanes were hard to come by, and there weren't a whole lot of big plays to be found downfield (with a few exceptions).
During 11-on-11 action, the Vikings' offense had some issues with pass protection and running the football against the Titans' stout defensive line. This is a Tennessee team that finished No. 1 in run defense DVOA last season but has major questions in its secondary. Led by star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, there was quite a bit of trash talk coming from the Titans' front.
On the other field, the Vikings' defense was making things just as hard on Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, and the Titans' first-team offense. Brian Flores did what he's done to his own offense all training camp: Bring the heat. The Vikings' variety of hard-to-predict blitz looks resulted in at least one defender getting into the backfield on the majority of the Titans' dropbacks.
To wrap up practice, there were four situational move-the-ball drives. The Vikings' first-team offense faced the Titans' first-team defense, the Titans' first-team O faced the Vikings' first-team D, and the process was repeated with second-stringers. Each time, the clock read 24-21 with 1:15 to play. None of the four drives ended in points, though it's worth noting that the offenses were going into the wind.
The period went worse for the Vikings, who ran a combined four offensive plays. Kirk Cousins was intercepted by Roger McCreary on the second play of the first drive, with the conditions perhaps affecting his throw. "It felt like that ball kind of just died as it hit the wind," Kevin O'Connell said after practice. Still, O'Connell acknowledged that Cousins has to anticipate that and put more air on the ball. The Vikings' second-team offense also ran just two plays, as Nick Mullens threw a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and picked off by Rashad Weaver.
Tannehill was able to move the ball a bit against the Vikings' first-team defense, in part due to a defensive penalty, but pressure was in his face multiple times and Harrison Smith batted a pass down at the line. The Titans tried a long field goal into the wind and kicker Caleb Shudak predictably left it way short (kicking into this wind was basically impossible all day). Malik Willis also moved the ball a bit with the Titans' 2s, but a Luiji Vilain sack ended that drive outside of field goal range.
Special teams periods were fun to watch
Some of the most entertaining action of the day came during the special teams portion of the practice.
There was a 1-on-1 gunner drill where one player from each team would line up against each other and the gunner would try to get around the blocker to reach a tackling dummy placed 30 yards or so downfield. That drill brought out tons of intensity as players — many of them likely roster bubble guys — fought to win the rep. It was fun to see the strategies different players used to try to get around their opponent. Trishton Jackson, Theo Jackson, and Josh Metellus were a few standouts for the Vikings.
Then came punt coverage drills, which meant watching Ryan Wright put on a show. The Vikings' second-year punter got to kick into the wind and he was legitimately sailing balls 80-plus yards on the fly for touchbacks. It was ridiculous to witness.
"You know you've had a good day as a punter when the crowd in the bleachers are chanting your name," O'Connell said. "I was proud of Ryan today."
Other notes
- Ivan Pace Jr. just continues to impress. He took basically all of the first-team reps with Asamoah still sidelined and made some plays in both 7s and 11s. Pace even knocked Henry — who has a slight size advantage on him — to the ground on one rep. "Gold stars all the way around for Ivan," O'Connell said of his performance thus far. It's clear that Pace is no longer competing to make the team, he's competing for a starting job at inside linebacker when Week 1 rolls around.
- Danielle Hunter, who was a full participant in this practice, made his presence felt on a number of plays. Not only are his physical tools constantly on display, he's excellent at reading things like play-action passes and then quickly getting to the quarterback.
- The Vikings' most common defensive look featured Josh Metellus lining up in the slot as a big nickel. It seems like that's a personnel group that Brian Flores is going to use often this season.
- With the second-team defense, we also saw plenty of reps where Lewis Cine filled the Metellus role and lined up in the box instead of playing in a traditional safety alignment. Are the Vikings switching things up for Cine to try to get more out of him?
- The Titans did rip off a couple big pass plays in 11-on-11 action. There was a Malik Willis deep ball against a coverage bust from the Vikings' second-team defense (Andrew Booth Jr. may or may not have been at fault, I genuinely don't know). There was also a Ryan Tannehill bomb to Treylon Burks past Akayleb Evans, after which Burks came up hobbling and left practice.
- I thought Vikings rookie cornerback Mekhi Blackmon had another nice day. It looks like he'll be in the starting lineup ahead of Joejuan Williams unless something changes.
- Jalen Reagor and Brandon Powell worked in with the Vikings' first-team offense with Addison out.
- Trishton Jackson stood out for the Vikings in 11s, making a couple nice catches. Brandon Powell, Thayer Thomas, and N'Keal Harry all looked good in 1-on-1 drills against Titans DBs.
- There was some trash talk and a couple of near-skirmishes, but no actual fights broke out, which sometimes can be an issue at joint practices. O'Connell and Mike Vrabel made it clear to their teams that anyone who threw a punch would be kicked out of practice for the day.
That's all for Wednesday. The Vikings and Titans will be back at it on Thursday.
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