The veterans are reporting today! The first game is in 18 days! Cant wait!
Key Dates:
July 22: Veteran players report.
July 26: First public practice, part of “Back Together Weekend”.
July 28 - August 6: Multiple open practices scheduled.
August 9: First Preseason Game vs Texans
August 11 & 13: Additional open practices, with August 13th being a joint practice with the Patriots.
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Inside Vikings’ plan for J.J. McCarthy’s lost rookie season
For one hour per week last fall, Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell cleared his calendar. He put aside game-planning, practice prep and film study. He ensured he had no team meetings scheduled, no news conferences and no phone calls that needed to be returned.
Instead, O’Connell turned his focus to the franchise’s most important long-term
asset: quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
The pair spent that hour meeting one-on-one in O’Connell’s office, the centerpiece of an extensive program the Vikings arranged (while attending to the immediate needs of a 14-3 regular season), to ensure that McCarthy’s rookie year was not a total loss.
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“I just wanted to give him a platform with me,” O’Connell told ESPN. “Maybe it was football one day. Maybe it was no football. My time is very hard to find during the season, but I just wanted to make sure that we got together.
“The one thing I learned about him in those meetings is he had great questions, and that validated that he was receiving and getting something out of that time. And as I’ve told him, it doesn’t really guarantee you anything, but once you’re fighting the fight on a daily basis of growing within the system, he would be able to rely on some of what we did together.”
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Why are the Vikings turning over a playoff-ready team to a 22-year-old who became the first quarterback selected in the first round during the NFL’s modern draft era (1967) to miss his entire rookie season because of injury?
Part of the answer relates to the Vikings’ long-term philosophy. McCarthy’s rookie contract, which carries a salary cap charge of only $4.9 million this season and $5.9 million in 2026, is an important chip to aid roster construction. But the rest of it can be traced to McCarthy’s behind-the-scenes work in the five months after his injury (suffered Aug. 10), both in his meetings with O’Connell and through an increasing workload of projects created by quarterbacks coach Josh McCown.
In the highly structured world of the NFL, the Vikings found creative ways to squeeze McCarthy into their day.
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McCarthy had access to traditional game film as well as a dedicated camera the Vikings attached to Darnold’s helmet, allowing the rookie to see not only where Darnold looked pre-snap and post-snap but also to hear what he was saying in conjunction with the offensive line and even the defensive signals. That film was viewable on the wide screen the Vikings have installed in their draft room and with virtual-reality gear.
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O’Connell said: “This was a guy that had success at every level he’s ever played and had something taken away from him for a whole season. And he’s still very young, age-wise and NFL-experience wise.
“So you felt like you had to sometimes say, ‘Let’s not talk protection blitzes or progressions or fundamentals and technique.’ It’s, ‘How are you doing?’ And try to just make sure he knows that we’re building our own relationship as well. And that I’ve got his back.”
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ONE OF THE advantages of a quarterbacks coach such as McCown, who played for 12 teams over 18 NFL seasons, is that he has seen it all. He knows that quarterbacks at the bottom of the depth chart, or on injured reserve, can go through seasons with minimal attention.
“Sometimes,” McCown said, “it’s just out of sight, out of mind.”
The Vikings knew they could not afford such inattention with McCarthy. McCown developed a list of tasks, some of them mundane and some at a higher level, to include McCarthy in everything he could. Some weeks, he would ask McCarthy to write out every third-down play the Vikings had in their weekly game plan, so that the rest of the quarterbacks could refer to it while going through a film session.
“Something like that is a tedious job,” McCown said, “but it helps you memorize. And then we’d steal moments when we would quiz him or ask him questions about it, just at random times when we could.
“We’re mostly interacting with Sam and questioning Sam on plays, and you don’t know what J.J. is taking in and what he’s not taking in. But every now and then, it was, ‘Hey J.J., what about this?’ You try to engage him as if he’s playing, and he was on top of it.”
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“Can you turn the information around?” McCown said. “That’s what we were testing him on, and he was always right on it, which was very encouraging.
Another project included research and writing profiles of opposing defensive coordinators, including what coaching tree they came from to help connect their schemes with other teams, as well as scouting reports on defensive players.
“It was making sure that I knew all the ins and outs and all the busy work on the front end,” McCarthy said, “when I had the time for it. So [this year] I don’t have to spend too much time on things that aren’t going to show up in the biggest way and just really making sure I can be efficient with my prepping and my game-plan studying.”
On occasion, McCown would ask McCarthy to present information to the group.
“It’s not just about listening and learning,” McCown said. “But can you process that information and give it back to me? I think that’s huge because you’re trying to manufacture as many ways as you can to keep his mind around football, processing football, how to attack an opponent, how to think about things.
“And that’s what I told him. I was like, ‘You got to take this time to prepare like you’re the guy and figure out the things that you like and don’t like about that preparation process that’s going to help you get to where you need to go once you’re in that seat someday.’”
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Each week, McCown asked McCarthy to turn in his notes so he could review what he was — and wasn’t — picking up.
O’Connell assessed McCarthy’s work this way: “It’s hard sometimes to know exactly how smart somebody is. What are they really going to be able to retain when they start loading a lot of information? And I think he’s demonstrated that he’s got pretty high-level intelligence and there’s a lot there.”
DESPITE THEIR BEST efforts, the Vikings know that McCarthy missed some key development opportunities last season, including seemingly innocuous moments such as running the scout team.
“It’s like going to the driving range,” McCown said. “It’s where you get to practice all your clubs. There’s kind of no consequence, so to speak, and you really learn different types of throws that you can make in different windows.
“Sometimes the defensive coaches are asking you to throw it to this player, so I better cut this ball loose early. I better anticipate. So that hones your anticipation skills. And that’s the hardest thing that you don’t necessarily get to replace, just not being on the field.”
Latest J.J. McCarthy revelation proves Minnesota Vikings weren’t the only ones high on his potential
When writing about McCarthy’s mentality, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis shared a tidbit about the NFL Draft where he apparently came close to becoming a Chicago Bear.
Still sipping a hot coffee at Starbucks, Holcomb recalls another moment from the offseason. He was hosting a quarterbacks camp for middle-school-aged boys, and one of the attendees was Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles. During a changeover at the camp, Holcomb approached Poles and introduced himself. They found their way to the subject of McCarthy.
“He was talking about how much they (the Bears) loved J.J.,” Holcomb said. “And said to me, ‘I don’t think people realize how close we were to possibly taking him.’ Obviously, they love (No. 1 pick) Caleb (Williams), but I thought that was interesting.”
It’s J.J. McCarthy time for the Vikings: What Kevin O’Connell’s QB track record tells us about what to expect
How, exactly, have O’Connell’s quarterbacks fared not only in Minnesota, but since he first assumed a coordinator-level job in the NFL? We reviewed each of his Week 1 starters from the last seven seasons, dating back to his stint as a quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator with Washington, to assess the performances.
Vikings training camp: 10 things I’ll be watching when it kicks off
1. J.J. McCarthy’s layering
McCarthy has admitted that this is his central mechanics challenge. Having the sheer arm strength to hum a pass over the middle is important — and McCarthy has it. But when defenders are dropping from the line of scrimmage, can you arc the ball into small windows? How about in the red zone, when the space shrinks even further?
Analysts: Vikings boast 11th-best starting lineup in the NFL
ESPN’s NFL analysts rate the Vikings starters quite highly, with only the cornerback room and a quarterback yet to take meaningful snaps the only positions preventing them from moving higher up the rankings that were released Monday.
In an article ranking each team’s starters from best to worst, the Vikings came in with the 11th-best group. The No. 11 ranking places Minnesota as the second-best unit in the NFC North (only behind the Lions), and the sixth-best in the NFC. Interestingly, all four NFC North squads rate in the top half of the league as training camps open across the country this week.
“Minnesota has a lot of strengths, especially on offense, but it’s tough to find a DT/edge rusher combo with more upside across the league,” wrote ESPN’s Mike Clay.
“Edge was already a strength following last season’s additions of Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, who were two of the nine players in the NFL with 11.5 or more sacks last season. The group will be even stronger this season if 2024 first-round pick Dallas Turner makes a leap. Minnesota also beefed up its interior during free agency, adding Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave to go with Harrison Phillips. Injuries were a problem last season, but Allen and Hargrave have been difference-makers when healthy.”
Clay said selecting quarterback as the team’s biggest weakness would have been an “easy pick” considering J.J. McCarthy’s lack of experience, but it’s the cornerback room that he’s “more concerned” about heading into the 2025 season. Speaking of McCarthy, ESPN’s Seth Walder says McCarthy is Minnesota’s “X factor” heading into the season.
“He’s walking into about as good a situation as one could imagine: Playing for a QB-friendly and great offensive scheme designer in Kevin O’Connell, throwing to possibly the best wide receiver in the game in Justin Jefferson (along with a good No. 2 in Jordan Addison and tight end in T.J. Hockenson) and playing behind a line with strong potential. That all helps substantially, but there are no guarantees,” wrote Walder.
“If McCarthy isn’t at least decent, it won’t work.”
Brian O’Neill’s value continues to skyrocket and Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would be wise to handle it quickly
Edge rusher isn’t the only spot that has seen the price go up, as the Green Bay Packers extended right tackle Zach Tom on Monday afternoon to a four-year deal worth up to $92 million.
The most likely candidate is going to be right tackle Brian O’Neill. Right now, he has two years remaining with approximately $37.4 million in cash remaining to be paid out in 2025 and 2026.
With Tom getting $23 million AAV, that is $4.5 million more than what O’Neill’s contract was worth when he signed it in 2021. One thing that’s interesting is O’Neill’s deal was more on the salary cap from a percentage standpoint than what Tom’s is, and it’s especially topical since O’Neill is a better player than Tom.
A contract extension in the neighborhood of three years, $72 million ($24 million AAV) would be fair for what O’Neill is and will continue to be. The Vikings can also add void years onto the back end of the deal to maneuver with the salary cap, something that is going to become more and more important to maximize with J.J. McCarthy on a rookie contract.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should take initiative with Vikings best defensive player to avoid issues that have hindered Minnesota in the past
When the Vikings signed him to a four-year, $76 million contract in free agency, they made a major bet that Greenard’s 2023 season wasn’t a fluke, but rather it would become a trend. They were rewarded with Greenard’s best season.
Sunday afternoon saw the Kansas City Chiefs sign edge rusher George Karlaftis to a massive extension worth $23.25 million average annual value in new money.
This is where the Vikings can take initiative and prevent another possible situation like happened with Danielle Hunter. While Greenard didn’t sign a poor contract that left him drastically underpaid like Hunter did, attacking the fact that he’s already trending in the underpaid direction with an extension could be beneficial in more ways than one.
Dallas Turner surprised to land with Vikings after not ‘the most fun’ pre-draft meeting
Turner said he met with 16 teams at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, and he never got the sense that Minnesota would come calling on Day 1 of the draft.
“The teams would never really let you know. For real,” he said. “It’s not how it is in college, like, ‘We’re trying to recruit you’ and ‘We want to attract you to come to our school.’ It’s like, ‘We decide whether we want you or not.’
“The team that wants you the most, you might not even know. Like, the Vikings — I didn’t even know that at all. It wasn’t the most fun meeting, I ain’t gonna lie. It was definitely a good meeting, but I wasn’t expecting that at all.”
Jared Goff admits what we already knew about Vikings DC Brian Flores
“A ton (of respect), a ton. And I’ve been on the wrong side of his defense a lot, a lot of times,” said Goff about Flores. “And I’ve been on the right side of it too, where it’s been an immense challenge to try to overcome some of the things he does on defense, and when you’re able to do that and have success against his defense, you feel pretty proud of yourself the way you handle things, because there is so much going on. But yeah, I think early in my career, he got me a couple of times, and the last couple of years, I’d say I’d have the upper hand. So we’re even now, and I got a few more games against him this year.”
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