EAGAN, Minn. — NFL practices are meticulously planned and timed out to the seconds.

But there are times when a play ventures off schedule.

Vikings quarterbacks Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy have shown the ability to extend plays and create favorable results during training camp.

Darnold and McCarthy have taken turns completing off-schedule, scrambling throws – to the glee of Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell, who commented Tuesday on his quarterbacks' ability to do that.

"It's been fun to watch," O'Connell told local media, attributing the seemingly impromptu movements to occasional play design, bad offensive calls or great defensive execution. "It's been good for our defense, too, watching those guys plaster in coverage and try to compete all the way through the down."

"The best scenario could either be a scramble, chance to make a play off-schedule or a throwaway and save the down," added O'Connell. "[Darnold and McCarthy] have demonstrated the ability to do both with their athleticism, and still remaining passers as they get outside the pocket and attack."

O'Connell's not lying – it's been very fun to watch.

"If you're able to do that it makes you that much more dangerous," said running back Aaron Jones, Sr., who enters his first Vikings season with 272 career receptions. "The play is never done. It's never dead."

Jones is somewhat of an expert on the subject. Remember, he shared the backfield with Aaron Rodgers for six seasons in Green Bay. For chunks of his career, Rodgers has been a surgeon on the scramble drill.

There's no mistaking Darnold or McCarthy for dual-threats such as Baltimore's Lamar Jackson and Arizona's Kyler Murray (c'mon, we're not crazy). The Vikings quarterbacks obviously lack the résumé of Rodgers, as well. But they're mobile – more so than former franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins – and showing shades of Vikings Legend Fran "The Scrambler" Tarkenton. They're flashing arm talent, too.

"[They] have the arm strength to throw on the run," Jones said. "They say don't throw across your body but sometimes they do because they have the arm strength, and you see A-Rod do the same thing."

It can be costly if they're not careful. Practice, though, is a good place to increase comfort and test limits.

Exhibit A:

On a recent snap in the red zone, Jones ran a corner route. When he saw Darnold sitting in the pocket, biding time, Jones cut inside to locate green grass. Then, Darnold escaped left. Jones recognized the scramble drill and faked out his defender, who was face guarding him, juking back toward the sideline of the end zone. Darnold tossed it, "Where only I could get it," Jones said. "It was a perfect ball."

It's the type of play that spreads belief.

"You're going to need a few of those," said O'Connell, describing how they're valuable in the red area, a condensed part of the field, where defenses aren't responsible for locking down as much space.

Vikings do-it-all defensive back Joshua Metellus is a fan of Darnold and McCarthy stretching their legs because it presents a "game-feel." (FYI, Metellus points out that would-be sacks are wiped out in camp.)

"[The NFL has] a lot of guys who move around," said Metellus, mentioning it's helpful to deal with now. "There aren't too many guys that sit in the pocket. … This league comes down to little plays like that."

Not every attempt is a completion. Some throws are unlikely because of a probable sack. Nevertheless, it's wise for the Vikings to give their quarterbacks every opportunity to sow connections.

"Would it have been a sack? Would it have not been a sack? We'll have plenty of time to find out the answers to those questions when we get into the games," explained O'Connell, clearly happy with the extension of downs. "I just love seeing it. I love seeing our guys at the receiver, tight end and [running] back position have to really understand that these plays are going to come to life. How do we react?"

O'Connell said discipline in those types of situations is critical. There must be proper spacing on the field, as well as an awareness by the offensive line that helps them strain just a little bit longer than normal.

"That all circles back, in a different way, to that play style thing," O'Connell said. "How many times can we have 11 guys going to the echo of the whistle, legally [and] clean, but physical and finishing?"

Jones thinks a lot of scramble-drill success depends on communication of the five eligible pass-catchers. There are non-verbal cues, such as throwing up a hand, that help indicate which direction a player will go once a play breaks down. Quarterbacks and receivers must be in sync with the intent of their teammates.

These skills are techniques and habits – learned via repetitions. O'Connell said they appear organically.

McCarthy has flashed the same skill set. He dodged a potential sack, kept the play alive rolling right, gave a hesitation step to a defender and hit tight end Sammis Reyes for a diving touchdown on one instance.

The examples are stacking up as Darnold and McCarthy get their bearings in O'Connell's system.

"They're playing with good rhythm and timing, but if it does break down or to avoid the coverage sack – you know, the old saying, the coverage sack – they get out and try to extend and see if we can uncover," O'Connell noted. "Certainly, it's been a real positive seeing those guys make those plays but not force them, not preemptively decide any one way they're going to operate. It's at the end of exhausting a progression [with] two hands on the ball, ball security in the pocket, moving up and out to attack and try to make a play, and saving us from any negatives because we experienced a lot of negatives last year."

It's the kind of play that works only when all 11 players are on the same page.

If not – and if precautions are discarded to the wind – then mistakes are prone to happen.

"We're trying to be a disciplined, sharp outfit that just plays good football," said O'Connell, accenting how passers must protect the ball when they improvise with their feet and arm angles on off-schedule throws. "If that ends up being how we score, nobody will be more excited about it than me."

Jones also will appreciate it. The dynamic effect it has on the position. How it elevates an offense.

"When you're confident I feel like it's hard to stop," Jones said. "You can see it when they're out here."