Vikings Training Camp Recap, Day 11: Tyler Conklin, Dan Chisena Among Standouts
Although it seems like training camp just started, the Vikings kicked off their third and final week of camp on Monday. It's a four-practice week, with the Denver Broncos in town for joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday and an off day Friday before the two teams meet in the preseason opener on Saturday afternoon.
It was a hot and humid afternoon at TCO Performance Center in Eagan, which Mike Zimmer didn't mind. He said the weather was needed to aid with conditioning.
"I feel like we have to get in better shape than what we are right now," Zimmer said. "I told the team that the other day. I’m not worried about the beginning of the game; I’m worried about the fourth quarter."
The Vikings opened with some live special teams work, which is an important evaluation piece when looking at guys on the roster bubble and who should make the team. Then they moved into some 1-on-1s and 7-on-7s before several different full-team periods of 11-on-11 football. It was one of the longer practices they've had during camp.
The news is a mixed bag on the injury front. Anthony Barr and Adam Thielen were back to full participation after not doing much in recent practices. Justin Jefferson wasn't practicing, but he appeared to be in good spirits on the sidelines. "Not a tweak, I’ll tell you that," Zimmer said about Jefferson. "He’ll be back pretty quick."
However, Dede Westbrook and Sheldon Richardson didn't practice. Riley Patterson, despite kicking well on Saturday, didn't take any kicks on Monday. Kris Boyd was spotted midway through practice walking into the facility with a trainer. And Christian Darrisaw still hasn't taken any live reps yet during camp, although he did get out there on the field goal protection unit for some reason. (Update: it looks like Darrisaw must've taken at least one live rep that I missed — skip to the 15-second mark of this video).
Co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson and his son A.C., an offensive coach for the Vikings, were away from the team attending the funeral for Andre's mother. Condolences to the Patterson family.
New wide receiver Warren Jackson was at practice, wearing No. 20. He did some work in 1-on-1 drills — including a great route to get open against CB Tye Smith — but spent most of the afternoon off to the side talking to assistant receivers coach Christian Jones.
Let's get to my takeaways.
Dan Chisena makes his push
Out of the 12 players the Vikings signed as undrafted free agents in 2020, four are still around: WR Dan Chisena, LB Blake Lynch, FB Jake Bargas, and S Myles Dorn. If you include special teams, Chisena led that group in snaps last year. In fact, Josh Metellus was the only Viking who played more snaps on special teams throughout the season than Chisena did.
If he's going to make the initial 53-man roster again, it'll have to be because of his contributions as a gunner and coverage guy on the return units.
"Yeah, he continues to work as a receiver, but his ticket to get on the club is special teams," Zimmer said. "That’s where you start finding the difficult decisions you have to make. Maybe this guy is a better receiver right now, but this guy can help us."
Chisena, a former track star at Penn State who barely played football in college, is one of the fastest players on the 90-man roster. That's what got him onto the 53 as a rookie, and it's what his role will be again this year if he makes it.
But I'm not here to talk about special teams. Over the past two practices, Chisena has taken advantage of the Vikings' injury issues at wide receiver and has legitimately made some impressive plays on offense. On Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium, he caught a go ball from Jake Browning for a huge gain and later got a ton of separation on an out route.
Chisena continued to do some nice things as a receiver on Monday, which can only help his case to get on the roster, even if it would take a lot for him to see any offensive snaps this year.
Chisena even got some action with the first-team offense during a situational drill at the end of practice. With less than a minute left on the clock and the offense needing to drive down for a touchdown, Kirk Cousins connected with Chisena for a 30-yard gain over the middle of the field.
Again, it would take a lot for Chisena to see the field as a receiver this year. He's at least behind Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, K.J. Osborn, Dede Westbrook, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette on the depth chart, with Chad Beebe and Blake Proehl in the mix as well. Chisena was also struggling as a receiver for most of camp until recently.
But special teams and blazing speed give him a path to making the roster again, and he was the Vikings' tallest receiver at 6'3" prior to them signing Jackson. Just something to keep in mind going forward.
Speaking of special teams, Zimmer called out the rookie Smith-Marsette in his Monday presser for needing to improve in that area. "He’s got a lot of work to do," Zimmer said. "These guys, it’s important, the backup receivers, they have to play special teams. If he wants to make the team, that’s part of his job description."
Tyler Conklin stands out
There's no debate about who the Vikings' No. 1 tight end is. Irv Smith Jr., who turned 23 on Monday, has had a phenomenal training camp and is primed for a nice statistical leap in his third season. But don't forget about Tyler Conklin. Because the Vikings use multiple tight ends so frequently, he's going to be out there plenty and play an important role on the offense as well.
Conklin hasn't seemed to really get into a rhythm during this year's camp, and some of that can be attributed to him missing several days with an injury. He stood out to me on Monday, though. Conklin has excellent hands and is capable of making flashy catches like this one in a 1-on-1 drill against Xavier Woods:
He made several catches during team periods, including a nice pickup early in the one-minute drill to end practice (which was called back due to a hold on RG Oli Udoh, I believe).
Smith made some nice plays on his birthday, but that's to be expected given the kind of camp he's been having, so it was good to see Conklin get going as well. The Vikings are going to ask a lot of their TE duo this year.
Depth linebackers come into focus
Zimmer wasn't pulling punches on Monday. He was asked about Nick Vigil and the Vikings' other linebackers competing for the No. 3 spot behind Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr, and said this:
"Nick’s done a nice job. The others have to pick it up, all the other linebackers have to pick it up on special teams and, really, on defense, too. There’s a bunch of guys in there that need to get going."
That's a pretty clear message to players like Cam Smith, Chazz Surratt, Blake Lynch, Troy Dye, and Ryan Connelly.
On Monday, Vigil continued to show why he's the leading candidate for the LB3 job (and why the Vikings pursued him very early in free agency). He seems to rarely get caught out of position, whether fitting against the run or dropping into coverage. Vigil broke up a potential game-winning touchdown intended for Smith on the penultimate play of practice.
Cousins' final pass fell incomplete too. It was a solid red-zone stand from a defense made up most of second and third-string guys.
If anyone from that next tier of linebackers stepped up on Monday, it was Connelly, the former Eden Prairie HS and Wisconsin star who the Vikings claimed off of waivers last September. He made a nice read for an unblocked "sack" against play-action in the red zone, and later grabbed the only interception of the day on a pass from Jake Browning intended for Smith-Marsette.
Connelly still feels like a longshot to make the team due to Vigil and Smith being ahead of him and Surratt being a third-round pick, but this was a good day for him.
Other observations
- The Jake Browning momentum is fading a little. He's still clearly QB2, but his magic from Cousins' absence seems to have worn off. That's now two straight practices with an interception for Browning after he threw a pick-six to D.J. Wonnum on Saturday. Browning missed a couple open targets Monday in addition to the Connelly INT. If Kellen Mond hadn't been on the Reserve/COVID list for the past ten days, there might be a competition for that job.
- Rookie defensive end Patrick Jones II had a nice day. He recorded several QB pressures and seems to be finding his way as camp progresses. "With Pat, we’re trying to do a lot of things with him, but he’s got good physicality, he’s showed up on special teams some, so that’s been a good thing," Zimmer said. "He really wants to do everything perfect right now, and I think eventually when he starts to get a little bit more comfortable, he can cut it loose."
- K.J. Osborn and Oli Udoh, the top two contenders for the unofficial Mr. Mankato award, just keep impressing. Osborn was the Vikings' WR2 on Monday with Jefferson out and had a nice diving catch in the end zone during 7s. Udoh is still splitting reps with Dakota Dozier as the first-team right guard despite being clearly better. He had one rep in 1-on-1s where he basically threw Kenny Willekes to the grass, but it's worth noting that Willekes had a couple solid reps against Udoh as well.
- Kene Nwangwu's speed is a real weapon not just in the running game, but when he's used as a receiver out of the backfield. C.J. Ham mentioned that it's been brought up several times in the locker room that Nwangwu has the second-fastest speed rating among RBs in Madden 2021. He nearly had a huge gain on a wheel route on Monday but the pass was a little underthrown.
- Speaking of rookies, I thought Wyatt Davis had a good day as well. You can tell that he's got the skills to be a really stout pass protector eventually. Still, he's only working with the third-team offense.
- Greg Joseph made all three of his field goal attempts after the situational drill, ranging from 33 to 46 yards out. I'm not sure why Riley Patterson didn't take any kicks.
- Michael Pierce continues to ramp up. Looks like he's getting close to 100 percent recovered from the calf injury. He's going to be a major force on the Vikings' defensive line this season.
- O-line coach Phil Rauscher is still the best:
One more normal practice on Tuesday and then the Broncos (with old friends George Paton, Pat Shurmur, Teddy Bridgewater, Mike Boone, Brett Jones and Shamar Stephen) come to town on Wednesday and Thursday. Those joint practices should be fun.
Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all season long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.
