EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings (6-2) will visit the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7) on Sunday with a chance to improve to 3-0 this season against AFC South foes in Week 10.

It is just the eighth overall game between the franchises in a series that began in 1998 with a 50-10 Vikings win. Minnesota is 6-1 all-time, having won the past five and in both prior trips to Jacksonville (2008 and 2016).

Vikings Uniform

The Vikings will wear their modern road uniform combination of white jerseys and purple pants.

4 Storylines

1. Time to be turnover-free

The Vikings cut down on the "self-inflicteds" last week.

Well, in most capacities they did. Minnesota's offense improved its overall efficiency, committing no pre-snap infractions against Indianapolis (the unit was penalized once for holding), and set all types of season highs in production and possession. But things weren't perfect. The turnover battle was lost 3-2.

Fortunately, there's no better time than in Week 10 for Minnesota to play mistake-free football.

The Jaguars have forced five turnovers (two interceptions and three fumbles) in nine games. They're tied with the Cleveland and Las Vegas defenses for the fewest takeaways this year, and they're second-to-last in percentage of drives ending in an offensive turnover (4.1%). Furthermore, the Jags defense is one of two units yielding 6 yards per play and has allowed the second-most yards (389.3) and points (28) per game.

While the Vikings don't want to be gun-shy offensively – Sam Darnold spinning it should actually be priority against the defense allowing the highest passer rating (113.4) this season – they can work on cleaning up their operation. Minnesota's 13 turnovers is fifth most in the NFL; 13.2% of drives have ended with a giveaway.

2. Bringing the heat

If Minnesota's front-seven replicates its Week 9 performance, all will be well in Duval.

Overall, the Vikings defense returned to form on Sunday Night Football. The run defense was smothering; the secondary made several clutch pass breakups; and the pass rush stole the show in the waning minutes, recording all three of its sacks against the Colts in the final 2:05 of the game.

Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores is sending blitzes on 41.3% of opposing dropbacks, the second-highest rate in the NFL per Next Gen Stats, but in Week 9 managed to affect Colts QB Joe Flacco with four-man-or-fewer rushes. The success of alternating styles has led to five different players tallying 2-plus sacks and three with 5-plus. Simply put, the scheme – and personnel – is packing a punch.

3. Back in a flash

New Vikings left tackle Cam Robinson traded Jaguars Teal for Vikings Purple on Oct. 30.

Amazingly, Robinson's second game with Minnesota is against the team he played for in 94 games, including playoffs, from 2017-24; the same club that drafted him 34^th overall when he was 22 years old.

Robinson is thankful for his next chapter. He was inserted as a starter last Sunday against the Colts, about 72 hours after his initial practice with the Vikings, and played well, not allowing a sack or quarterback hit. Afterwards, he expressed gratitude for his situation, like he did for the Jags organization upon his arrival.

"That was home for me," Robinson said last week. "I loved everyone there. I [still] love everyone there."

His familiarity with Jacksonville's pass rush could be a massive edge in Week 10, granted its ranked last in blitz percentage (15.2%) and is in the bottom half of the NFL in sacks (20) and pressures (61).

Robinson mainly will face Josh Hines-Allen, who notched 17.5 sacks in 2023 and has 5.0 so far this season (2.0 last week, by the way). Travon Walker, the No. 1 overall pick in 2022, has 6.5 sacks primarily lined up at left defensive end – thus he rushes the right tackle – and is seldom used on the right side. They're responsible for nine of the Jags 18 quarterback hits this season according to Pro Football Focus.

4. Three-game road stretch

The Vikings will log more than 5,000 miles between boarding the team charter Saturday for their jaunt to Jacksonville and the returning flight home from their Nov. 24 game in the Windy City. The three weeks of excursions include action at the Jaguars, Titans (2-6) and Bears (4-4).

If Minnesota can take care of business on this rare three-game road swing, it will be 9-2 once it begins its December schedule with three in a row at home against Arizona (5-4), Atlanta (6-3) and Chicago.

OK, let's not get too ahead.

The Vikings commence their longest stretch of road games in 2024 at Jacksonville, which lost previously to NFC North rivals Chicago, 35-16, and Green Bay, 30-27, and currently is perched at the bottom of the AFC South. But they're no slouch. The Jags are 2-2 at home (one win was in London), with narrow losses by five and three points.

3 Things 'Bout the Jaguars

1. Too close for comfort

Jacksonville's 2-7 record is somewhat misleading – five of seven losses have been decided by five or fewer points. In other words, the Jaguars are competitive, and especially so in the second half of games.

On the year, Jacksonville is getting blasted on the scoreboard, 252-195. But the Jags are barely on the wrong side of the margin, with a seven-point deficit (118-111), in second halves. And it's not like opponents are taking their foot of the gas or Jacksonville is shortening the gap against backups; the Jags were outscored 34-20 after the intermission of both of their non-one-score losses. They're just scrappy.

That fight-till-the-end mentality is dangerous – not to mention impressive; Jacksonville is one of the younger NFL teams (25.8 years average per Spotrac). Conversely, the Vikings are one of the oldest (27.2), so any scoring lapses (see Week 9 first half; Week 7 second quarter; Week 4 second half) could be costly.

2. Brian Thomas, Jr.

The fourth wide receiver picked in the 2024 NFL Draft leads all rookies with 595 yards receiving via 35 receptions (17.0 avg.). Brian Thomas, Jr., already has games featuring 66-, 85- and 58-yard catches and has quickly supplanted WR Calvin Ridley, who signed with the Titans in free agency, in the Jags offense.

The 22-year-old Thomas does his sharpest work from the slot – he's lined up inside the numbers on all five of his touchdowns – and runs a lot of "Go" routes. His game is predicated on speed – he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds – and strength at the catch point. Thomas drew 8-plus targets in Weeks 3-5 but has been featured all of four times, with only two and three grabs, in each of his last two games.

In Week 9, Thomas was listed as questionable to play due to a chest injury but wound up logging a season-high snap share (91%) – in addition to a season-low 22 yards receiving. We know, confounding – Jags QB Trevor Lawrence has a 119.7 passer rating looking for Thomas and 80.6 targeting anyone else.

3. Not-so-super stars

Two years ago, Lawrence and Clemson teammate Travis Etienne, Jr., were on the brink of leading the Jaguars to an upset of eventual Super Bowl LVII Champion Kansas City in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

That game, and their inspiring performances, feels like it occurred in another lifetime.

Jacksonville's QB-RB duo is special when they're in their zones, but their production – and consistency – has taken a blow in 2024. Lawrence is clipping 61.3% of his throws, his lowest mark since completing 59.6% his rookie year, and he is coming off a season-low passer rating (40.9) in Jacksonville's 28-23 loss to the Eagles. The 2021 No. 1 overall draft pick deserves a little slack as PFF lists the Jaguars receiving corps with 18 drops (for comparison, the Vikings have six) and his favorite target, Christian Kirk, is injured.

Etienne's decline is more puzzling. He hasn't rushed more than 13 times in a game this season and his snaps dwindled to 38% in Week 5 as Jacksonville started to lean on Tank Bigsby out of the backfield. Etienne, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard barrier in each of his first two seasons, missed two games because of a hamstring injury suffered in Week 6, but his role was again diminished when he reentered the lineup at Philadelphia. Maybe he's not healthy. Maybe Bigsby has leapfrogged him for good. Whatever the case, Etienne has a long history of thriving beside Lawrence, dating to their 2018 National Championship days.

2 Vikings to Track

Justin Jefferson: It's time for the weekly appreciation post of the fifth-year receiver, who enters Sunday's game tied with Adam Thielen for fourth on the Vikings career receiving yardage leaderboard with 6,682. Jefferson is only 103 away from setting the NFL record for the most receiving yards in a player's first five seasons, which was set by Randy Moss (6,743 in 80 games) and topped by Torry Holt (6,784 in 80 games) a year later. This will be Jefferson's 69^th career game. He also can tie a record that was set by former Jaguars star Jimmy Smith for most games to start a season with at least one 25-yard catch. Smith had nine such games to open 2004. Isaac Bruce (eight games in 2000) is the only other player with a streak as long as Jefferson's (stat tracked since 1994).

Sam Darnold: The quarterback has recorded a passer rating of 100 or higher in seven of eight starts this season, which is tied with Lamar Jackson for the most in the NFL. He is the first Vikings QB to hit triple digits seven times in the first eight games of any season. Darnold's play has helped Minnesota be one of two teams (along with Baltimore) to score at least 20 points in every game so far this season. The only other Vikings team to do that was the 1998 squad, which did so in every game.

1 Key Matchup

Vikings defense vs. Jaguars tight end Evan Engram

Wheel routes off motion. H-back bubble screens. Corner routes out of the slot. Shallow crossers from a traditional alignment. Evan Engram is a mismatch for linebackers and safeties wherever he's stationed.

Engram was sidelined four games after injuring his hamstring in pregame warmups in Week 2, but he has been automatic in his return, catching 24 of 30 targets for 218 yards and a touchdown in four appearances. In Jacksonville's first of two games played in London, the 30-year-old TE snared all 10 targets for 102 yards. He earned 10 targets, again, in Week 9, becoming one of five TEs this season with 10-plus at least twice.

Also on that list are Tampa Bay's Cade Otton (3 in 9 games), Kansas City's Travis Kelce (3 in 8), Las Vegas' Brock Bowers (3 in 9) and Dallas' Jake Ferguson (2 in 7). FYI, Engram has done it in the fewest games (5).

Since 2023, Engram ranks second among tight ends and eighth regardless of position with 139 catches. Last season, he ranked second at TE to Cleveland's David Njoku (599) with 508 yards after the catch.

All this to say, it will be key for the Vikings to limit the connections between Lawrence and Engram. Tape exists of tight ends beating Minnesota's defense – in Weeks 2 and 4, San Francisco's George Kittle and Green Bay's Tucker Kraft posted 7-76-1 and 6-53-1 receiving lines.

More recently Minnesota has been susceptible to losing over the middle of the field in three games without starting Mike linebacker Blake Cashman, who excels in taking away curl/hitch routes inside the numbers and has great instincts carrying a target up the seam, the Vikings are short-staffed and weaker against the pass. Cashman might be available in Week 10.

But no matter, Engram is the do-it-all weapon in Jacksonville's offense that can really wear on a defense.

Friday Updates …

The following content was added Nov. 1 after initial publication.

Status Report

The Vikings listed linebackers Blake Cashman (toe) and Ivan Pace, Jr. (knee), as questionable.

Minnesota has been without either player in games so far this season but has not gone through a full game without both.

Kamu Grugier-Hill has helped fill the voids for Pace and Cashman. Minnesota also has Brian Asamoah II on the roster at the position and has shown a willingness to line up other players at inside linebacker so far this season.

Memorable Week 10 Quotes

Wes Phillips on moving from the coaching booth to the sideline for game day

"We're just trying to find the best way to communicate in-game, and we felt like there were some things that maybe communication-wise between position groups when Kevin's down there and flipping over to defense, and managing the game and all the things he does, it just felt like me being able to move around and talk to him directly was going to help us. And then there were some things, too, with some of the responsibilities of guys in the booth. Chris O'Hara has always been very good at finding tendencies, coverage – he's got charts and working through that, but he was doing some other things up there. We moved Ben Ellefson up there, and he's charting the plays now. … Just always trying to find ways to improve the communication on game day.

"[O'Connell] and I just kind of talked about it. Things come up through the season, and [before the season] we had even contemplated me being down there. I'm a fan; I like to be down there if I had my choice. I think there's good and bad to both, but I like to be down there and see the guys and communicate directly with them."

Brian Flores on impact of interior defensive line

"I spent a lot of time with H.P. (Harrison Phillips) and 'Bull' (Jonathan Bullard). Those are two guys I talk to on a daily basis, just to get a feel for what they think of the game plan and, really, just how they're doing generally. How they're feeling. There's not a lot of love shown to [the interior defensive line], so I try to show them a little love when I can. But they are such an important part of what we do – not just here, but that's league-wide. Those interior guys don't get all the accolades or don't get all the splash plays, but oftentimes they're a big reason why those splash plays occur, why a TFL occurs. Why somebody can shoot through the line of scrimmage [for a sack], because there's two on them, they're dealing with double teams or penetrating a gap and somebody wraps it, gets a pressure, gets to the quarterback or sacks a quarterback. I like to highlight those things because this is a team defense; this is a team effort."

Matt Daniels on Andrew DePaola going to Injured Reserve

"You look at, really, from an intangible standpoint of what this guy brings to the room – his intelligence, what he sees on film, how he's able to communicate with the guys. We'll work through what that [surgical] procedure looks like for him and what the timeline looks like that he could possibly end up missing. But [until] we do get him back, you know, I told him we need him in the meeting rooms in the building, still carrying out the same process, still having the same communication that he's been having, still being a part of the operation. It's definitely going to be a hit to our team, just from a leadership standpoint and what he brings."

Cam Akers on playing an increased role in the offense

"It's a blessing to be able to — considering what I've been through, what I've been through in my situation — be able to still be playing ball. So I don't take any of that for granted. I'm thankful to K.O., Mod' (running backs coach Curtis Modkins), the o-line. Everybody just trusted me with the livelihood of the team, and that's the ball. ... I'm just trying to take advantage of my [opportunities]. Hopefully I can continue to do that."

Jonathan Greenard on how losing two games motivated the team

"It just brought us back down to earth, like listen, 'You're able to get beat, too, no matter what the record is.' But it made us push that much harder and understand what we really have at stake and what we really could do this season if we continue to do our jobs and understand what can happen if we don't do our jobs. So it was a wake-up call for us and I think that it helped out a lot. Now we've just got to continue to carry on this momentum and stay in this win column."

Harrison Phillips on beginning three-game road swing

"We compartmentalize things as one-week seasons each week. And so, if you get into that landscape of looking forward to what's down the road, it can distract you from the right here and now. So I guess our leadership messaging will continue to be, 'this is the most important game of our season because it's the one this week.' "

From the Inbox

Good or bad, what has surprised you about the Vikings and their season so far?

— Ed Helinski in Auburn, New York

I think many would say the play of Sam Darnold has been a pleasant surprise. I had the benefit of watching him at OTA practices and every day at training camp and continued to be impressed by a consistent level of play, as well as the ability to move past a bad play and deliver more good ones. I just didn't know how well that would translate to games because of the relatively limited time on task in this system and with these teammates, but it generally has, and that's a major component of the Vikings exceeding external preseason expectations.

I was surprised at how well the defense clicked in September with so many new parts. The Vikings hit on many of their additions, and although the group didn't have its best days against Detroit and at Los Angeles in a five-day span, Flores and Co. will continue to make impacts on opponents.

Totaling 26 sacks and 13 interceptions as the season reaches its midpoint is an impressive surge from the 43 and 11 the Vikings recorded in all of 2023.

I LOVE having a peek on what is said postgame to players. So positive, motivating, inspiring. So fun to watch these young men's responses when so fully recognized the way they deservedly are. Pride, humility, joy, love for each other and such enthusiasm from the entire team as each teammate recognized!

It's just so cool!

Great job team!!!

— Laurie Austvold

I concur my gratitude for O'Connell opening up his postgame victory speeches for Vikings Entertainment Network (and sometimes additional outlets) to record. The medium delivers the emotions of the moments.

This was particularly true last week in the case of Cam Robinson. Please watch the video below if you haven't already seen it — or feel free to watch it again.

One of the skills O'Connell has is affirming others, and I do believe that results in intentional investments in others not only because he sees it benefiting the team but because he sincerely appreciates those opportunities.

I just felt that I had to say I am very proud of this team. The games may not have always been pretty, but you did your best. I hope things work out for your kicking game.

— Sandy Hawkins

We'll close here with the Vikings efforts to replace veteran All-Pro long snapper Andrew DePaola — with a veteran Pro Bowl long snapper Jake McQuaide, who joined Minnesota's practice squad this week — and rookie kicker Will Reichard with John Parker Romo.

DePaola (hand) and Reichard (quadriceps) were placed on Injured Reserve this week after consistently shining through the first eight games of 2024. McQuaide and Romo will work with punter/holder Ryan Wright on the operation for field goals and extra points.