Vikings Training Camp Recap, Day 3: Kirk Cousins Sharp at U.S. Bank Stadium

The Vikings' practice at the stadium was fairly uneventful, but Cousins looked good.

The Vikings held a rather uneventful practice at U.S. Bank Stadium on Friday, with the highlight of the day being Jared Allen's presence and the announcement that he'll be inducted into the team's Ring of Honor.

The day mostly involved drills and 11-on-11 reps that were all done at walkthrough speed. The only action of note came when the Vikings did some 7-on-7 passing reps, including several near the goal line.

Linebacker Jordan Hicks was back at practice after missing the first two days of training camp with a non-COVID illness. Cornerback Nate Hairston, who is still dealing with an ankle injury, did not participate. Neither did right guard Jesse Davis, who took all of the first-team reps over the past two days. Chris Reed took his place on Friday.

Here are a few observations.

• Kirk Cousins looked sharp. He completed nearly all of his passes in 7-on-7 drills, delivering the ball accurately and with good timing. While the Vikings were running 7s in the low red zone, Cousins had a three-throw sequence where he hit Irv Smith Jr. for a touchdown up the middle, Justin Jefferson for a touchdown in the back corner of the end zone, and Adam Thielen for a touchdown on a crossing route.

• Kellen Mond got some second-team reps in 7s and was a bit up and down. He completed some passes, but also missed Johnny Mundt in the end zone with Troy Dye covering and missed Ihmir Smith-Marsette at the back of the end zone with Harrison Hand covering. Sean Mannion was more productive with the third-team, including touchdown passes to Myron Mitchell and Zach Davidson. It's still very early and today's work was a small sample size, so I wouldn't read into it too much. The competition for the backup job remains wide open.
• One of the Vikings' full-team walkthrough reps involved Justin Jefferson going in motion from the slot and taking a handoff from Cousins on an end-around. Jefferson had one rushing attempt for 2 yards as a rookie, and 6 attempts for 14 yards last year, one of which went for 11 yards. That could be something the Vikings do more of in Kevin O'Connell's offense.
• Greg Joseph had a solid day, hitting all of his kicks until missing wide left from at least 50 yards out. He's currently unopposed as the Vikings' kicker.

Practice returns to TCO Performance Center in Eagan on Saturday, with several thousand fans in attendance for the first time. The pads will come on for the first time on Monday.

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