EAGAN, Minn. — Less than half an hour after Justin Jefferson's press conference about his contract extension with Minnesota, "Jets" was on the practice field runway at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center for Tuesday's opening of mandatory minicamp.
Jefferson worked back into the rotation with his position group for individual drills and caught several passes during 11-on-11 drills.
The day included a grab on a third-and-8 pass from Sam Darnold and a near-miss on an out pattern down the field.
The duo chatted briefly after that play, beginning their on-field connection in their first practice together.
Here are three observations presented by Minnesota Eye Consultants, the Proud LASIK Partner of the Minnesota Vikings:
1. N'Keal Harry trying tight end
The Vikings tight ends group has another addition this offseason to go along with recent signees Sammis Reyes and Robert Tonyan.
Instead of bringing in another player, however, Minnesota shifted receiver N'Keal Harry to the tight ends group.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, the former first-round pick of the Patriots (2019) would be the largest receiver on the team. Now, he'd be the lightest tight end.
Harry participated in position drills along with Reyes, Tonyan, returnees Josh Oliver and Johnny Mundt and undrafted rookie Trey Knox on Tuesday (T.J. Hockenson continues to rehab the knee injury he suffered in Week 16; Nick Muse did not participate).
He caught a pass from rookie J.J. McCarthy in 7-on-7 drills, showing some route-running ability the Vikings might be able to use to create mismatch problems. Harry flashed the ability to make contested catches during training camp last year before a hamstring injury hampered his progress. He appeared in nine games for Minnesota in 2023 but was not targeted.
2. Defensive versatility and discipline on display
Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores has had so many new additions to work with this offseason.
Versatility appears to be at the continued forefront of this year's attack.
The Vikings mixed and matched combinations of players in 7-on-7 drills and moved players around the formation.
Regardless of where players lined up, they utilized discipline at the catch points to limit the amount of contact with teammates on offense. It made it a little difficult to gauge whether some catches would have been broken up.
Defensive back A.J. Green III, who joined the Vikings after appearing in 34 games with the Browns from 2020-23, made two undisputed plays.
Green dove and snared a McCarthy pass off a deflection for an interception, and he deftly got a hand in to break up another pass before it was secured by Lucky Jackson.
View photos of Vikings players during minicamp practice at the TCO Performance Center.
3. Marrying the run and pass
The Vikings have enjoyed adding veteran Aaron Jones to the mix this offseason and have run plenty of plays in which he's made an impact in the passing game.
Minnesota spent some time Tuesday marrying the run and the pass, mixing in run plays with Jones and Ty Chandler and following some runs with play-action passes.
The running backs group was again involved as receiving options, as well.
