Vikings Training Camp Diary: August 2

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Aug 2, 2018

Welcome to the Minnesota Vikings Training Camp Diary! Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about the Vikings’ training camp practice on August 2 in an easy-to-read bullet form. 

  • Laquon Treadwell continued his impressive training camp display with another solid performance on Thursday. If there was any doubt about the No. 3 wide receiver role before camp, there is none anymore. Quarterback Kirk Cousins appears to have a level of trust in Treadwell that previous Vikings quarterbacks have not. The 2016 first-round pick made the highlight play of the day with this one-handed grab during red-zone drills.

  • Treadwell wasn’t the only receiver making plays Thursday. Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen were up to their usual shenanigans toying with defensive backs. Most notably, Diggs gained huge separation on Trae Waynes on a double move that gave Cousins a giant cushion to complete the pass. Kendall Wright made contested catches for touchdowns on back-to-back plays during 11-on-11 red-zone drills and Tavarres King made a terrific adjustment on a slightly underthrown deep ball by Trevor Siemian.

  • The offensive line injuries showed themselves during 11-on-11 drills. With Pat Elflein, Mike Remmers and Rashod Hill not taking reps, the Vikings defensive line repeatedly got pressure on Cousins and tallied a ton of would-be sacks. Tom Compton and Danny Isidora stepped in at guard while Brian O’Neill filled in for Hill at right tackle.
  • Mike Boone continues to display excellent receiving skills out of the backfield. The Vikings ran a lot of screens and designed swing passes to running backs in Thursday’s scrimmage and Boone looked right at home with each rep.
  • Anthony Barr and Andrew Sendejo did not participate in 11-on-11 activities on Thursday, and no real reason was given. One potential answer is that the coaching staff wanted to get a look at depth players at each spot. Eric Wilson and Antwione Williams took most of Barr’s reps while Jayron Kearse spent most of the day opposite Harrison Smith at safety.
  • Stacy Coley dressed in pads for the first time in 2018 training camp and participated in punt return drills with Mike Hughes and Marcus Sherels.
  • Anthony Harris has mostly received second-team reps throughout training camp, but has spent a lot more time in the box than in the past. He looks much more built than the past couple years and a potential role in the box would be a complete change of pace for his game. Here’s a camp play where he lines up in the box and sniffs out a pass in the flat intended for Tyler Conklin.

  • Mike Zimmer spent a few of minutes coaching up Mackensie Alexander 1-on-1 today during a break in practice. Alexander was targeted heavily throughout practice and, while he did allow his share of completions, held his own relative to the volume of targets at him. Mack currently has the nickel spot, but Hughes is close behind him. Here would be a good time to make a joke about the “objects in mirror are closer than they appear” line.
  • Linval Joseph and King each sustained what appeared to be minor leg or foot injuries toward the end of practice, each walking with a slight limp off the field on their own power. Neither injury appears to be too serious — yet.
  • Holton Hill continues to make plays. During the WR-DB 1-on-1 drills, he was matched up with Brandon Zylstra for an end zone fade. Zylstra went up and attacked the ball, initially coming down with it — until Hill magically jumped up from the ground with the ball in his hands. I’m no NFL referee and I was standing about 125 yards from the play, so I have no idea if Hill intercepted the pass but goodness gracious that was a stellar recovery.
  • The Vikings ended practice with a two-minute drill simulated situation in which the Vikings offense was down by seven points and had to drive 75 yards. Minnesota’s offense approached the red zone and faced a 4th and 7 with under 20 seconds left and no timeouts. Cousins completed the first down pass to Cayleb Jones along the left sideline, but Jones couldn’t get out-of-bounds so Cousins was forced to rush the offense to the line of scrimmage. Instead of spiking the ball, Cousins elected to try to run an organized play as time expired. The snap from Nick Easton was in time, but it was inaccurate as it sailed wide left of Cousins and practice was over.
  • Linval Joseph is exactly what the player you created on Madden 2007 looked like.

 

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