Vikings Training Camp Recap, Day 8: Flores' Defense Shines Again at Night Practice
The Vikings held their first of two night practices at TCO Stadium on Thursday evening (they'll run it back on Tuesday). The later sessions, which have become an annual tradition, always seem to have a little extra juice. The lights come on, fans are closer to the action, and it just feels a bit more important, even if it realistically holds the same weight as a normal afternoon practice.
This was a beautiful night for football.
Alexander Mattison was a full participant after getting a little banged up on Tuesday. Not practicing were Kene Nwangwu, Jalen Nailor, Marcus Davenport, Andrew Booth Jr., and Trishton Jackson. Three star players — T.J. Hockenson, Danielle Hunter, and Brian O'Neill — participated in individual drills but not the team periods.
Let's get to some observations. We'll start with Brian Flores' defense, which once again dictated things for much of the practice.
Flores continues to bring the heat
Tuesday's practice recap centered around Flores' aggressive style of defense wreaking havoc. It was a similar story on Thursday night. The Vikings' offense — starters, backups, even third-stringers — is still having a difficult time figuring out how to diagnose and protect against the variety of pressure looks Flores is bringing.
Towards the end of practice, the starting units faced off against each other in a two-minute drill. And just like two days earlier, the first-team offense had major difficulty even completing a pass without a defender getting an immediate unblocked path to Kirk Cousins. Harrison Smith, who got home twice on Tuesday, doubled up again. Harrison Phillips and D.J. Wonnum also ended up in the backfield in a series of a few plays. The Vikings must've ignored at least one or two would-be sacks, because Cousins hit Justin Jefferson for a big chunk to set up a Greg Joseph field goal. If this had been a real game, the offense might've only gone backwards.
Then the second units came out and it was the same story: Rookie safety Jay Ward got to Nick Mullens untouched on a blitz from the edge. One play later, Mullens tried to fit a ball into tight coverage and it backfired in a big way. Theo Jackson popped Thayer Thomas at the catch point, deflecting the ball into the air and into the hands of Jaylin Williams, who ran it back for a pick-six and was mobbed by his defensive teammates.
This defense is just relentless, to the point where you wonder if Cousins and Kevin O'Connell might be getting frustrated by these results. In the end, though, it's only going to make them better.
"The defense really has been the curveball of camp for me," Cousins said this week. "How are we going to handle these pressures, how are we going to handle these fronts, how are we protecting them? I’ve been wearing out my quarterback coach in meetings asking questions, 'How do you want to block that, how do you want to block this?' and probably to a fault where I’m trying to win in practice and they gotta remind me, hey, we don’t play Flores's defense this season. It’s OK to have the occasional mix up because we’re trying to get ready for Week 1, not for August."
Pace gets run with 1s
Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. was one of the most highly-touted undrafted free agents signed by any team this year, and he's lived up to that billing so far in his first training camp. Pace has been getting significant run with the second-team defense, drawing praise from Flores and others. On Thursday night, he even got some reps with the starters.
Pace feels like a great fit for Flores' scheme. His lack of size was the reason he didn't get drafted, but he was an ultra-productive college player because he has flies to the ball and makes plays. During a red zone period with the twos, Pace showed off his downhill burst and body control by darting through the line of scrimmage for a sack.
Flores certainly isn't going to discount him because he's a 5'10", 230-pound linebacker.
"Ivan, he's a good young player, he's got some ability," Flores said earlier this week. "There's always that small DB who can play, small linebacker, small defensive tackle, etc. etc. But they've got instincts, they've got ability that allows them to overcome some of the height or weight or whatever it is."
Pace isn't going to take a starting job from Jordan Hicks or Brian Asamoah anytime soon, but it would be shocking if he's not at least on the 53-man roster as a backup and special teams contributor. His future is intriguing.
Other notes
- Rookie DT Jaquelin Roy flashed again in OL/DL 1-on-1s with a mean bull rush.
- With no Hunter or Davenport during the team periods, Wonnum and Patrick Jones II were the starting outside linebackers. Both had solid nights. They were generating pressure and setting effective edges against the run.
- Ty Chandler ripped off a legitimate big run at one point. Not one where he would've been tackled by three different players but ran a long ways anyways — an actual big play where he made a couple nice cuts and was never touched. Chandler is shifty.
- Blake Proehl made a couple nice catches, including one in the back corner of the end zone where he narrowly got both feet down inbounds.
- Each of the top three receivers — Jefferson, K.J. Osborn, and Jordan Addison — had their moments, as usual. Addison had an impressive bounce-back red zone sequence where he toe-tapped for a touchdown in the back of the end zone one play after getting a potential TD knocked away.
- Practice wrapped up with some reps for both kickers. Greg Joseph went four for seven, with two of his three misses coming from 50-plus. He also made two from that distance, including a 58-yarder to end the night. Rookie Jack Podlesny made three of four attempts.
The Vikings are off Friday but will be back at it on Saturday.
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