Vikings Training Camp Recap, Day 6: Rookies Get Opportunities, Dalvin Cook Sidelined

Injury news — specifically related to players' hands — ruled the day at Tuesday's Vikings practice, their sixth of training camp.

After walkthrough, Kevin O'Connell announced that No. 1 tight end Irv Smith Jr. had surgery on his thumb earlier in the day and will miss the remainder of training camp, though the Vikings are hopeful they'll have him for the regular season opener against the Packers.

Then, during practice, Dalvin Cook left the field favoring his hand. He returned to the sidelines shortly thereafter and went in for one rep where he didn't touch the ball before shutting it down for the rest of the day. Fellow running back Alexander Mattison also got a couple fingers taped up after a run during practice and remained on the sidelines. With Kene Nwangwu "day-to-day" with a lower-body injury, the only RBs taking reps late in practice were rookies Ty Chandler and Bryant Koback. Neither Cook nor Mattison appeared to suffer serious injuries, though we'll clarify that when O'Connell speaks to the media on Wednesday.

As for practice itself, several veterans getting scheduled rest days allowed the Vikings' top three draft picks to run with the starters. It was the hottest day of camp thus far, with the temperature in the low 90s and not a cloud in the sky. The Vikings didn't have pads on for this session, but they'll have padded practices on four of the next six days, starting on Wednesday.

Let's get to some takeaways.

Rookies get an opportunity

After giving injury updates on Smith and Nwangwu — on a day where he wasn't scheduled to speak, which is a nice change from the Vikings' previous regime — O'Connell told us that Harrison Smith, Patrick Peterson, and Jesse Davis would be getting pre-planned veteran rest days.

Conveniently, that allowed the Vikings to get their top three draft picks in with the 1s. Lewis Cine took Smith's place at safety, Andrew Booth Jr. stepped in for Peterson at cornerback, and Ed Ingram replaced Davis at right guard.

Both Cine and Booth gained some good experience by getting tested against Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, and Adam Thielen. Cine came close to making a play on a ball intended for Jefferson, but was a half-step behind. Booth also had some solid reps against Jefferson, getting beat a couple times but also holding his own on a few plays. Unsurprisingly, there was a bit of chatter back and forth between Jefferson and Booth, two ultra-confident players.

After practice, both Booth and Cine took extra reps catching the ball up close out of the machine.

Ingram running with the first-team offensive line at right guard is interesting. Why? Because one would assume those reps would've gone to veteran Chris Reed. Instead, Reed was working as the center with the second unit. Reed snapped the ball over Sean Mannion's head at one point, which points to his relative inexperience as a center (and perhaps the sweaty conditions). He spent time after practice working on his snaps. It looks like Reed might be the Vikings' backup plan at center if Garrett Bradbury continues to struggle.

Myron Mitchell's frustration

I've mentioned in these recaps before that I've been impressed by receiver Myron Mitchell so far in camp. He's a sharp route-runner with great hands who is an intriguing sleeper to keep an eye on. During 1-on-1 drills on Tuesday, he made a nice move to get open against Booth for a grab.

But you had to feel for Mitchell after what happened during full-team reps.

On one play, he roasted Nate Hairston up the sideline and was open for what could've been a long touchdown. Kellen Mond, rolling to his left, severely underthrew Mitchell, and Hairston crashed into him for a blatant pass interference call.

Mere minutes later, Mitchell again got open deep, this time down the middle of the field. Mond threw a pretty ball this time and it was headed right for Mitchell's hands — until cornerback Tye Smith basically tackled him before it got there for another blatant DPI flag. All Mitchell could do after the second play was take his helmet off and sit there for a second, wondering what he has to do to catch a touchdown around here.

Hesitancy remains an issue for Kellen Mond

I've tried to watch Mond closely during these practices, as his development in year two — and his push to beat out Sean Mannion for the backup quarterback job — is a very interesting story. And although the flashes are there at times and the mechanics look a little better, he still doesn't seem to be where he needs to be just yet.

With Mond, it's not entirely about accuracy, although he did miss a couple sideline throws wide on Tuesday. The more concerning thing to me is his hesitancy. On many of his passing reps in 11-on-11 action, he isn't decisive with the ball, instead waiting and waiting and then tucking it and taking off with his legs.

Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips had plenty of praise for Mond on Tuesday.

“Kellen’s been great," Phillips said. "He’s very conscientious. He’s got really good arm talent. He can kind of speed it up and make throws, reactionary-type throws where he needs to just get his feet in the ground and deliver. He’s very diligent in his preparation, and he’s improved in his fundamentals. There’s some things that we were working with him in the spring, as far as footwork, on drops, throwing to his left, different things. I could tell he put a lot of time into it during the summer, because he came back and he had fixed a lot of those things."

Still, actions matter more than words. Two of the things Phillips mentioned — making quick, reactionary throws and throwing to the left — were two of the things Mond seemed to struggle with on Tuesday.

I'm looking forward to continuing to track Mond's progress throughout camp and seeing how he does in the preseason.

Other notes

Third-year cornerback Harrison Hand made a couple nice plays in 1-on-1 drills, picking off a Kirk Cousins pass and adding a PBU later. He's probably on the wrong side of the roster bubble right now, but days like today will help his case.
The biggest play of the day by the starting offense came when Cousins ripped a pass at least 30 yards up the sideline to a very open Thielen. It looked like there was a miscommunication in coverage between Booth and Chandon Sullivan.
WR Dan Chisena had a wide-open drop at one point in 11s. He's a valuable special teams piece as a gunner, but I'm not sure that'll be enough to get him on the 53-man roster for a third consecutive year.
Wyatt Davis, a third-round pick last year, continues to be buried on the third-team offensive line.
It was interesting to see Cousins come over to Jefferson on the sideline after a play and tell him "I missed you on that one." Cousins also chatted with Thielen for a while after that.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Jalen Nailor, and Albert Wilson all fielded punts from the machine after practice. K.J. Osborn might be in that mix as well.

That's all for today. Pads come back on tomorrow, which will allow for more evaluation of the big guys.

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