Inside The Vikings

Vikings Hosting Titans For Joint Practices, Preseason Game This Week

Training camp intensity is about to go up another notch with the first week of joint practices.
Will Ragatz|
Vikings Hosting Titans For Joint Practices, Preseason Game This Week
Vikings Hosting Titans For Joint Practices, Preseason Game This Week

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Minnesota Vikings

A two-week span that Kevin O'Connell has called the "most important stretch of our training camp" is about to begin. The Vikings will host the Tennessee Titans for joint practices at TCO Performance Center on Wednesday and Thursday before the two teams play a preseason game at U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday. Then they'll do it all over again with the Arizona Cardinals the following week.

These joint practices provide the opportunity for the Vikings to evaluate their offensive and defensive schemes against an unfamiliar opponent. O'Connell's offense and Brian Flores' defense have been going against each other for weeks, so switching things up promises to be highly instructive.

"These guys get used to practicing against the same guys," offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. "They kind of know what moves they make up front, how guys cover them in the pass game. Selfishly, I'm just ready to be done with Flo's defense for a little bit, see a different scheme for once."

Guys like Phillips and O'Connell and Kirk Cousins have spoken at length about the difficulty of practicing against Flores' versatile, aggressive defense this offseason. Now they'll get to test their comfort level in year two of this offensive scheme against a Titans defense led by Jeffery Simmons, Kevin Byard, and Harold Landry III. On the other side of the ball, Flores will lead his group against a Titans offense that features talented veterans Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, and DeAndre Hopkins.

Because starters don't play in the preseason, these joint practices are huge for the Vikings' first-team units as they prepare for the regular season.

Saturday's preseason game will be again be primarily about live reps and evaluation for the second, third, and fourth-stringers on the roster.

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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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