Inside The Vikings

Vikings-49ers Joint Practice Recap, Day 2: O-Line Struggles, Secondary Impresses

49ers DE Nick Bosa had his way with the Vikings' offensive line on Thursday.
Will Ragatz|
Vikings-49ers Joint Practice Recap, Day 2: O-Line Struggles, Secondary Impresses
Vikings-49ers Joint Practice Recap, Day 2: O-Line Struggles, Secondary Impresses

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Minnesota VikingsSan Francisco 49ers

The second and final day of joint practices between the Vikings and 49ers was a little chippier than the first. Although it never escalated to the point of legitimate fighting, things got heated at times.

There was a confrontation between Kris Boyd and a 49ers player after a special teams rep that almost got ugly. And on multiple occasions, the Vikings' starting offense and the 49ers' starting defense got into shouting matches and a bit of pushing, with players like Adam Thielen and Garrett Bradbury taking exception with the 49ers hitting Vikings running backs and bringing them to the ground after plays were blown dead.

Still, there were no punches thrown or players kicked out. Head coaches Kevin O'Connell and Kyle Shanahan placed an emphasis on avoiding fighting, and that message helped the two teams get a lot of productive work in over the past two days.

"They heard multiple times from me kind of what the standard would be," O'Connell said. And that was really something that, as soon as we knew we’d get to have the Niners in, we started talking about it in the spring, just as an expectation. I basically talked a lot about, 'If you throw a punch, you’re going to be out of practice.' And these two days are such a huge part of how we planned the entire training camp — from the early phase ramp-up period, to when we started putting the pads on, to into the Raider prep. If you miss a chunk of yesterday’s practice or today’s practice, we’re wasting our time out here."

On the injury front, Chris Reed missed practice with an elbow injury and might not play in the preseason game. Ty Chandler and Parry Nickerson were also held out with minor issues, though O'Connell said they could play on Saturday. Tight end Irv Smith Jr. is still on track to be available for the regular season opener in just over three weeks, O'Connell said.

The 49ers remained without a bunch of key players, including Arik Armstead, Mike McGlinchey, Elijah Mitchell, Charvarius Ward, Jimmie Ward, and Emmanuel Moseley.

Here's what I observed on Thursday. (If you missed it, here's the recap of Day 1).

Nick Bosa dominates Vikings O-line

The 49ers have some major star power on both sides of the ball, but their most dominant player across these two days was defensive end Nick Bosa, particularly on Thursday.

Bosa, who racked up 15.5 sacks last season, consistently feasted when he had 1-on-1 opportunities in team periods. He beat Christian Darrisaw at times, he beat Brian O'Neill at times, and tight end Ben Ellefson had no chance at blocking him when he drew that assignment.

"Getting to see him work in person, you see why he is such a special player each and every week in this league," O'Connell said.

It was a great opportunity for both Darrisaw and O'Neill to get some reps against one of the best edge rushers in the NFL. If this were a real game, Bosa probably wouldn't have been single blocked nearly as much, but those are the things you want to evaluate in this type of setting.

As a whole, it was a rough day for the Vikings' offensive line(s). Pockets collapsed and running lanes were hard to come by. Even with no Armstead, the 49ers have a lot of talent up front.

Vikings' secondary plays well

I thought both defenses generally won the day. On the other field, the Vikings' defense made things very difficult for Trey Lance and the 49ers' offense. The pass rush was solid, with Za'Darius Smith, Danielle Hunter, and Patrick Jones II all having some nice moments of pressure.

It was the secondary that really shined, though. They made things difficult on Lance all morning long. There was a Cameron Dantzler PBU in 7-on-7s, continuing his strong camp. There was a Chandon Sullivan interception off of a tip that came with Patrick Peterson in great coverage on Deebo Samuel. And Cam Bynum had a PBU on a ball that Lance placed a little too high, intended for Samuel.

Very few throws were simple or easy for Lance on Thursday.

Going against Lance, Samuel, and the rest of the 49ers' passing game was a nice test for the Vikings' secondary, and they mostly passed it over the two days.

Darrisaw learns from the best

In addition to going against Bosa, Darrisaw had a chance this week to spend time with 49ers left tackle Trent Williams, one of the best players of this era at the position. Darrisaw, who wears the same number (71) as Williams, has drawn comparisons to a young version of the 49ers star.

Williams and Darrisaw talked after practice on both days. On Thursday, Williams passed on some tips to both Darrisaw and O'Neill.

Williams also told reporters after practice that he sees a lot of himself in Darrisaw.

The Vikings' second-year left tackle, completely healthy after playing through some injuries as a rookie, has been one of the stars of training camp. He's got a long way to go to come close to Williams, but Darrisaw has the size, athleticism, and talent to be a standout for a long time.

Although he mostly struggled with Bosa, Darrisaw did make a highlight play when he pancaked Samson Ebukam, creating space for Kirk Cousins to hit Adam Thielen deep downfield.

Both offenses stopped in 2-minute drill

Thursday's practice ended with both offenses getting an opportunity in a 2-minute drill. The scenario: trailing 24-20 with 1:50 on the clock, one timeout in hand, needing to drive 75 yards for a touchdown.

The Vikings' offense very nearly got it done. Cousins hit Justin Jefferson, Thielen, and K.J. Osborn on consecutive plays to move the ball into 49ers territory. After a short pass to Dalvin Cook, Cousins connected with Jefferson on a deep ball up the left sideline. From my vantage point, it looked like a touchdown, but apparently Jefferson was out of bounds at the 5. Cousins then hit Alexander Mattison for what I again thought was a touchdown...but he was out at the 1. From there, a run got stuffed and Cousins was sacked on fourth down. No touchdown.

The 49ers' first-team offense had less success. They faced an early fourth down, converting it with a Lance pass to Samuel. But a few other incompletions and a Za'Darius Smith sack put a stop to San Francisco's drive outside of the red zone.

The second-team offenses went 0 for 2 as well. Sean Mannion and the Vikings went four and out, while the 49ers' drive ended with Nate Sudfeld throwing a pass that was deflected and intercepted by Nate Hairston. That was the final play of practice.

Other notes

  • It tends to go without saying, but Jefferson had another big day against the 49ers' backup cornerbacks. He caught a couple touchdown passes in 7-on-7 and made several big plays in 11s.
  • Two of the NFL's best middle linebackers were on display in Minnesota this week. Fred Warner made a bunch of plays, as did Eric Kendricks. Their ability to fit gaps in the run game and also stick with running backs or tight ends deep downfield in coverage is incredible.
  • Kellen Mond threw a 60-yard touchdown pass! It just happened to be a screen pass that undrafted rookie RB Bryant Koback took to the house.
  • In all seriousness, it was another up-and-down day for Mond. He had some nice throws, but also was picked off by Qwuantrezz Knight on an overthrown ball. Mannion had the better day of the two, with his big highlight being a deep bomb to Ihmir Smith-Marsette over the middle of the field.
  • Each of the Vikings' punt returners mishandled at least one ball during full-speed punt reps. Jalen Nailor and Albert Wilson bobbled theirs but recovered. Smith-Marsette, who I thought looked the most fluid and comfortable of the three for most of his reps, ended up dropping one as well. Still, I think Smith-Marsette looks like the favorite to fill that role.
  • Brian Asamoah is fun to watch, both in coverage and run defense. He's still learning, but he just flies around the field.
  • Josh Metellus remains pretty underwhelming in coverage. He was a touch late to break on several passes on Thursday. He did, however, get there on time to create Hairston's INT to end practice.

That's a wrap on joint practices! Time to start getting ready for Saturday's night preseason game at U.S. Bank Stadium (6 p.m. central).

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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