Vikings Training Camp Recap, Day 4: Cam Bynum's Up and Down Afternoon
The Vikings welcomed fans back to TCO Performance Center on Saturday for the first time this year, and they had plenty to watch during a lengthy practice with a number of exciting plays. After a slow practice at U.S. Bank Stadium on Friday, the Vikings were back to full speed during the final day of what Kevin O'Connell called their "ramp-up period." There was a lot of full-team action, including some situational 2-minute reps towards the end.
Having a few thousand fans present just made the atmosphere a bit more exciting. Several SKOL chants broke out on this sunny afternoon, players signed autographs afterwards, and Adam Thielen thanked the fans for coming out in a brief speech.
The team bizarrely put up a message on the scoreboard asking fans not to take any videos of practice, which may have backfired. I'm not going to embed any videos of plays here, but I'll just say that the request was not exactly effective.
Right guard Jesse Davis was back after missing Friday's practice. O'Connell said it was just a scheduled day off for Davis, who has had some knee issues in the past, including last season. He's taken all of the reps with the first-team offensive line during the three days that he's been active.
Rookie corner Andrew Booth Jr., who was one of the stars of the first two days of camp, seemed to get a similar precautionary day off. He didn't take any reps during team periods on Saturday. Booth had hernia surgery earlier this offseason and dealt with a variety of injuries during his time at Clemson.
Let's get to some observations.
Cam Bynum has up and down day
Vikings second-year safety Cam Bynum is hoping to hold off rookie Lewis Cine for a starting spot on defense during camp (we'll likely see both on the field at times, too). On Saturday, there were several moments where Bynum made a strong case to be a starter, and there were several moments that made you wonder if Cine could pass him up on the depth chart soon.
During 7 on 7 action, Bynum got beaten deep by K.J. Osborn for a long touchdown, then gave up a catch to Adam Thielen near the sideline (though he was in decent position). But he bounced back quickly in a red zone 11 on 11 period, helping force an incompletion on one play and picking off Kirk Cousins in the end zone on another. There was definitely some sort of offensive miscommunication on the interception, but Bynum was in the right place at the right time.
Later, in full-field 11s, Bynum dropped what could've been his second pick of the day, still resulting in a pass breakup. He was in the middle of the action all day long — the results just varied. Overall, I'd say it was probably a more encouraging performance than a discouraging one, but Bynum may need a bit more consistency throughout camp to hold off Cine.
Justin Jefferson might be good at football, folks
It's not surprising in any way that one of the best receivers in the NFL looks really good at training camp. But Justin Jefferson was so dominant on Saturday — and every day so far, really — that it's still notable. He looks even better than he has in the previous two training camps, which is a high bar to clear.
There's no one on the Vikings' roster who can cover Jefferson 1 on 1, which isn't a slight to players like Patrick Peterson and Cameron Dantzler. Jefferson's just that good. His breaks on his routes, his acceleration, his fluidity, his hands — it's pretty incredible to watch up close.
I counted at least ten receptions by Jefferson during full-speed team periods, with the only incompletion coming on a free play deep shot after a defender jumped offside. A couple of those were on touch passes to Jefferson while coming in motion across the formation, making them essentially handoffs. It would be hard for him to be more productive this season than he already has been, but I'm not ruling it out. This offense is going to revolve around No. 18.
Kellen Mond still has a lot of work to do
Through four days, Mond hasn't shown a ton of progress from his shaky rookie season. He's had some good moments with his arm and with his legs, and his mechanics appear to be a little bit better, but the overall product still isn't great, at least from what I've seen.
On Saturday, Mond had a snap go through his hands and missed a couple doable throws. He also threw a nice touchdown pass to Myron Mitchell and connected with Ihmir Smith-Marsette a couple times, but he just doesn't look particularly smooth or decisive when throwing the ball.
There's still a ton of time for him to step up, though. We'll see how Mond looks when the pads come on starting on Monday. Sean Mannion, his competition for the backup quarterback job, hasn't been lights out either.
Other notes
- I hadn't noticed Bisi Johnson much during the first three days, but he stood out with a couple nice catches on Saturday.
- Dantzler had another solid day covering Adam Thielen. He dropped an interception on a slightly underthrown ball from Cousins while in great coverage.
- Speaking of starting cornerbacks, Peterson had a couple PBUs. Both Dantzler and Peterson looked solid when they weren't covering Jefferson.
- In addition to the long touchdown that was the day's biggest highlight, K.J. Osborn made a couple other catches, including one in the two-minute drill. The breakout star of last year's camp looks very solid.
- There were a bunch of dropped interceptions today. Bynum could've had one, Dantzler could've had one, and Cine was in perfect position to pull down a Sean Mannion deep ball until Smith-Marsette turned into a defensive back and helped break it up.
- It's always hard to learn anything about the big guys until pads come on, but guys like Danielle Hunter, Za'Darius Smith, and Harrison Phillips continue to look as impressive as they can in this context. Starting on Monday, there will be 11 practices in full pads, so that'll allow for more takeaways on the linemen on both sides of the ball.
- O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are big on having Vikings legends around. Jared Allen was at practice on Friday, and Chuck Foreman and Alan Page were there on Saturday.
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