EAGAN, Minn. — A smoky haze from wildfires in Canada lingered in the air Tuesday as the Vikings held their eighth of nine scheduled voluntary Organized Team Activity practices.
The session was the third open to media members as the Vikings head toward next week's mandatory minicamp and a summer break.
It included position drills, 7-on-7 passing periods and 11-on-11 team reps.
Here are three observations from Tuesday's OTA practice presented by Minnesota Eye Consultants, the Proud LASIK Partner of the Minnesota Vikings:
View photos from the Vikings OTA practice which took place on June 5 at the TCO Performance Center.
1. Depth of the situation
The Vikings worked their way through an end-of-game scenario by pitting the first units on offense and defense against each other, followed by the second groups in the same situation.
Kirk Cousins and the offense took the ball at their own 35-yard line with 55 seconds remaining and trailing 23-21.
The group didn't have Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook or Christian Darrisaw in attendance, and T.J. Hockenson was watching from nearby, but Cousins led the group down the field with two completions to Jalen Reagor that bookended a key pass to Alexander Mattison on third down. After Reagor gained 11 on his second catch, the offense stopped the clock by stopping the football with 12 seconds remaining.
It's the first full offseason in the offense for Reagor, who was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia just before the 2022 regular season.
Cousins then found Trishton Jackson for a gain of 16 to the 24-yard line, although it looked like Josh Metellus may have been in position to sack Cousins on a blitz. Metellus obviously did not contact the QB.
Greg Joseph drilled a 42-yard field goal as time expired.
Nick Mullens then led the second grouping of offensive players down the field to similar results.
Mullens bounced back from an incompletion on first down to find Ty Chandler for a gain of 5. Brandon Powell then made the catch of the day over the middle, gathering the football for a gain of 20 to go from the minus-40 to the plus-40.
After clocking the football, Mullens found undrafted rookie Thayer Thomas for a gain of 17.
Undrafted rookie kicker Jack Podlesny then made a 41-yard field goal.
2. Kicking it
Joseph and Podlesny followed their successful kicks to cap the situational drills with strong showing during a field goal period.
Joseph was true for all six of his kicks. He opened from the extra point distance (33 yards) before stepping back for kicks from 40, 43, 46, 48 and 51.
Podlesny followed suit after opening from the extra point distance by firing true from 40, 45, 48 and 51.
3. O'Neill's attention to detail
I waited to mention Brian O'Neill not being in at right tackle during item one because I wanted to mention him here.
He's obviously progressing in his rehab from his injury at Green Bay in Week 17.
While he wasn't in a helmet, he did find a spot a few yards behind the line of scrimmage while teammates lined up (Olisaemeka Udoh was at right tackle) for a play.
O'Neill attentively listened to Cousins' cadence and worked through his footwork coming off the line of scrimmage.
