The Losers from Vikings’ 2nd Preseason Game
The second preseason game is in the books for the Minnesota Vikings, losing to the New England Patriots by a score of 20-12.
The Vikings completed their second preseason game, and several players stood out for the wrong reasons. Here are the biggest losers from the showdown.
The Vikings rested all starters, while the Patriots played such players for a couple of drives. Minnesota’s final preseason game occurs this Friday night at the Tennessee Titans.
During the preseason loss, a handful of “losers” emerged, and these are those players ranked from bottom to top (No. 1 = biggest preseason loser from the Vikings’ second preseason contest).
Vikings’ Preseason “Losers” vs. Patriots
These men didn’t have the best outing in the second exhibition bout.
4. Thayer Thomas | WR
Every other wide receiver seemed to stand off the page, at least to an extent, for the Vikings last weekend — except Thomas.
He banked one reception for 8 yards on 25 offensive snaps. He’s also vying for a backend roster spot, mainly because Jordan Addison will miss the season’s first three games because of a suspension, and Rondale Moore is out for the year with a bad knee.
Tim Jones almost made the cut here for “losers” due to his third penalty of the preseason, but he wound up logging 5 catches for 68 yards, leading the team in both categories.
Some still believe Thomas can slip onto the depth chart, but his preseason showing against New England didn’t show much of anything.
3. Mekhi Blackmon | CB
Blackmon led the Vikings in defensive snaps played on Saturday — and that isn’t good.
Generally, the players on the field in the preseason are showing off their skills just to prove they belong on the roster. Sadly, no Vikings defensive player saw more action than Blackmon (55 snaps). He fired up a 55.1 Pro Football Focus grade against the Patriots’ backup players, which is quite awful, all things considered.
Blackmon looked lost on a few plays, too, and heading into the summer, he was fighting for a crack at the CB3 job, following his 2024 campaign when he missed the whole year with a torn ACL.
Minnesota’s secondary is tailor-made for a hungry cornerback to step up and seize the day. Blackmon has not done that training camp or through two preseason games.
Our Janik Eckardt noted on Blackmon’s outing: “It’s been a strange offseason for Mekhi Blackmon, who everyone thought would be a starter. The 2023 third-rounder missed all of last year with a torn ACL following a decent rookie season. The Vikings hired Jeff Okudah, who’s clearly ahead of the third-year players, and so are starters Isaiah Rodgers and Byron Murphy Jr. None of those three participated in the second preseason contest.”
“Blackmon had to, indicating he’s CB4 at best. Furthermore, if a potential starter is playing in the preseason against and next to backups and third-stringers, he better make plays. The former USC defender didn’t. Dwight McGlothern and Zemaiah Vaughn have been camp darlings and might start to climb the depth chart.”
2. Sam Howell | QB
Howell started the game and he looked horrible. He capped the series with a wretched interception, a ball he flung up toward the sidelines as outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson knocked him to the ground.
Of course, Howell didn’t have the benefit of Minnesota’s offensive line starters, or any starters for that matter. Yet, for a player who produced a poor first two weeks of training camp, proceeded by a commendable first preseason showing, it just would’ve been better for Howell’s job security if he played competently to start the game versus New England.
He did not, and the next guy on the list also did him no favors with drops.
Star Tribune‘s Jim Souhan wrote about Howell and the QB spot on Saturday evening: “Maybe Mitchell Trubisky or Mike White, who are vying for the Bills’ backup job. When we get to the point in the conversation where we’re mentioning Kenny Pickett and Mike White, we can understand the Vikings’ challenge. There aren’t many good backup quarterbacks in the NFL, because truly good backup quarterbacks become starting quarterbacks.”
“After the game, O’Connell didn’t say anything revealing about the backup quarterback position, other than to call it a competition. The Vikings didn’t trade for Howell to compete for the backup job. They traded for him to become the backup. He’s got one more preseason game to make them feel good about that decision.”
1. Lucky Jackson | WR
Jackson is the Vikings’ WR4 on the current depth chart. The man looked great at training camp and in the first preseason game. He has the chance to elevate to WR3 for the first three weeks of the regular season due to Addison’s suspension.
But he managed just one catch for 9 yards on Saturday, plagued by a couple of drops and generalized futility. In fact, in one day, Jackson went from “roster lock” — Minnesota’s WR depth is a little skimpy — to “bubble” status. If Jackson drops balls in the preseason, he won’t be immune to such gaffes when it truly matters in the regular season.
The Vikings have the cap space and time to sign free agents like Amari Cooper, Odell Beckham Jr., Tyler Boyd, or Nelson Agholor. A stellar performance from Jackson might’ve made those discussions unnecessary. That didn’t happen.
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