EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings returned to the practice fields Tuesday after shifting the initial schedule.
Weather forced the cancelation of Monday's night practice (another has been scheduled for Aug. 12) and moved the players' off day up from initially being scheduled for Tuesday.
Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, Dalton Risner and Jerry Tillery were among the Vikings not practicing.
Earlier Tuesday, Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell explained Tillery had suffered a laceration on his lower leg that required stitches, but he is expected to fully recover.
Lewis Cine began ramping up on-field activities. Shaq Griffin, N'Keal Harry, Malik Knowles and Sammis Reyes worked out on a side field.
The Vikings are scheduled to practice again Wednesday and Thursday in sessions that are open to the public before going through game prep ahead of Saturday's preseason opener at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Here are three observations presented by Minnesota Eye Consultants, the Proud LASIK Partner of the Minnesota Vikings:
1. Sharing in the success
Had fans been in attendance Tuesday, the greatest oohs and aahs probably would have occurred on a beautiful deep pass from Sam Darnold to Jordan Addison for a long touchdown.
Addison got steps on the defense, and Darnold led him accurately, allowing the second-year receiver to stride through the football on the way to the end zone. Darnold said last week that he's worked hard on his accuracy. The fruit of that labor showed up on that play (and has multiple other times during camp).
Darnold was quickly greeted by right tackle Brian O'Neill, O'Connell and quarterback J.J. McCarthy after the play.
The quarterbacks continued to find success on additional situations.
View photos of players during 2024 Vikings Training Camp practice on August 6 at the TCO Performance Center.
Darnold reconnected with Addison to pick up a fourth-and-3, and McCarthy threw a strike to Thayer Thomas to pick up a fourth-and-8 for the first of three impressive completions to the N.C. State product during team drills.
Darnold also had nice connections with Brandon Powell and Jalen Nailor.
Darnold was able to lead the first-team offense against the first-team defense for a winning field goal (47 yards) by Will Reichard (with Ryan Wright holding). He completed two passes to Powell and then one each to Aaron Jones, Sr., and Ty Chandler.
McCarthy led the second-team offense to similar results, beginning with a gain of 11 to Thomas and following with back-to-back completions to Nick Muse, moving within Reichard's range. He drilled a 52-yarder (with Seth Vernon holding).
2. On the line
With Darrisaw not participating, the Vikings had David Quessenberry join the first group at left tackle, lining up with LG Blake Brandel, C Garrett Bradbury, RG Ed Ingram and O'Neill.
The second grouping consisted of Walter Rouse, Dan Feeney, Michael Jurgens, Tyrese Robinson and Henry Byrd.
Rouse and 2024 draft classmate Dallas Turner faced each other in 1-on-1 pass rush drills. Turner executed a rip move on the first, but Rouse minimized the outside linebacker's impact on the second rep.
Pat Jones II continued his solid camp, creating a nice pressure to force an incompletion during a team period.
3. Disruptive hands
Akayleb Evans was able to disrupt a pass intended for Addison in the red zone, and he secured the football after a ricochet.
Byron Murphy, Jr., came up with one of the best pass breakups of the day when he played a deep pass to Nailor cleanly to deny a catch on third-and-8.
