Vikings Begin Offseason Workout Program on Monday

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Apr 14, 2019
Image courtesy of Vikings.com

Beginning Monday, April 15th the Minnesota Vikings commence phase one of their offseason workout program. The team will host spring drills at the TCO Performance Center in Eagan for the second time. The dates of the entire offseason program were released last week.

  • Offseason Workouts — April 15
  • Organized Team Activities (OTAs) — May 21-23, May 28-30 and June 3-6
  • Mandatory Minicamp — June 11-13

Phase one is two weeks long. According to the NFL Guidelines, players are able to workout as a team as they begin the strength and conditioning program. Physical rehabilitation is allowed as well.

Phase two is three weeks long. Players are able to take place in on-field workouts and individual drills. Practices cannot include live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills.

Phase three, the final phase of the offseason program, is four weeks long. During OTAs, teams can conduct 11-on-11, 9-on-7 and 7-on-7 sessions provided there is no live contact.

The offseason program culminates with the only mandatory portion of the team’s offseason program, the minicamp from June 11-13. While all players are required to attend the camp, most players have bonuses in their contracts that provide enough incentive to be in Minnesota for duration of the 10-week program.

With the NFL Draft only 11 days away, here’s a look at the team’s remaining offseason schedule leading all the way up to the season opener.

Player updates

  • During the owner’s meeting version of RapSheet + Friends, the podcast of Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said cornerback Mike Hughes is “ahead of schedule” in recovering from a torn ACL. Hughes, the team’s first-round pick in the 2018 draft, suffered the injury against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6 (Oct. 14).
  • It’s worth noting that during the same interview, Spielman also mentioned that while the perception was the team suffered more hamstring injuries than usual last season, it only seemed that way because it happened to a couple critical players. “In reality there were no more hamstrings [last] year than there were the previous years,” Spielman said.
  • Offensive lineman Aviante Collins spent 2018 on IR. He suffered a torn bicep in his right arm during practice last summer and underwent surgery on September 12th. The typical timetable for recovering from such an injury is 3-4 months followed by rehab. No recent updates have been given on his status.
  • Defensive end Hercules Mata’afa was medically cleared in February after recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in OTAs last June. He’ll be a full-go for offseason activities. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of role the coaches carve out for him.
  • Ade Aruna suffered a torn ACL in a preseason game last August. The defensive end is expected to be ready for offseason workouts per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.
  • No word on whether or not the team plans to re-sign free agent defensive tackle Tom Johnson, but Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweeted that Aldrick Robinson “has made plans to be elsewhere” this season.
  • Fresh faces who will be experiencing their first offseason program as a Viking include: Josh Kline, Sean Mannion, Dakota Dozier, Jordan Taylor and five former AAF players — Karter Schult, Greer Martini, Jordan Martin, Derron Smith and Duke Thomas.