The Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens completed the second day of joint practices today, ahead of their preseason game on Saturday. The weather was cloudy with some raindrops at times and cooler than yesterday. There were once again some former Vikings in attendance- Randy Moss again and Matt Birk- who played for the Ravens as well- among them.
Once again, the day started with a Kevin O’Connell press conference:
Vikings Win the Day
Taking
an overall view to start off the report, the Vikings defensive units continued to not allow much at all from the Ravens offense. There were no deep completions for the Ravens in two days of practices and most of the day for the Ravens offensive units was a mix of defensive stops and short gains. The Vikings defense once again won the final two minute drill- both the first and second units- and the Vikings’ dominance seemed to grow to where the Ravens offense couldn’t get to mid-field starting from their own 25-yard line in the final two-minute drills.
For the Vikings’ offensive units, there were still struggles and miscues, but overall less than yesterday, especially the first-team, which had a bit more success moving the ball early in full team drills and once again won the two-minute drill with about a 50-yard drive with 1:15 remaining to kick the winning field goal. Murray had a few completions on the drive, including a deep sideline shot to Jauan Jennings over his shoulder that put the Vikings in field goal position. The offense was helped by a 15-yard penalty on the Ravens- not sure what the call was, however. In any case, the drive culminated with a 45-yard field goal from Will Reichard (held by Brett Thorson) to win the drill.
But overall for the offense, it was still a work in progress. The Ravens have a good defense- especially the secondary– which made moving the ball difficult. But both the first and second team units had a bit more success moving the ball today. Murray continued to target Justin Jefferson the most but had other completions to Hockenson and the key completion of the day to Jauan Jennings. There were fewer pass breakups than yesterday, but there were still some of those. The feeling I came away with was that practice makes progress and the Vikings offense continues to improve gradually.
J.J. McCarthy was a little better today- a bit crisper- but he did give up a pick six– or would have been a pick six but he might have been sacked first. But he was also successful in moving the offense during the final two-minute drill with a few completions that got the Vikings within field goal range. But then on the final play of the drive Demond Claiborne broke one outside for a 30-ish yard touchdown run that had everyone cheering and teammates celebrating in the end zone.
Defensively, it seemed like contributions were coming not just from Dallas Turner and Blake Cashman and Jalen Redmond- and Turner again had an excellent day- but also from Caleb Banks, Eric Wilson, Levi Drake-Rodriquez, Elijah Williams, Jake Golday, and Domonique Orange. Banks had a TFL on Derrick Henry that stood out, Wilson had a sack- so did Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins but that might have been a cleanup sack due to a Dallas Turner pressure. LDR, Williams, and Orange had run stuffs and Golday a big TFL. It was good to see some incremental improvement from the new guys on the defensive interior.
Overall, the Vikings’ defensive units looked even better than they were yesterday and they limited the Ravens offensive units to mostly short gains on runs and passes, but mixed in sacks and stuffs, TFLs and PBUs as well. Lamar Jackson was also pressured enough where he was off on some of his throws which made it that much more difficult for the Ravens first team offense to move the ball in full team drills.
Individual Player Mentions
Looking back now on both days of the joint practices, here are some notes on individual player performances:
Dallas Turner continues to show every sign of having a breakout season. He gave Pro Bowl tackle Ronnie Staley more than he could handle on many occasions. The signs of Turner’s improvement go back to the last half of last season, but his performance in joint practices is just another stronger indication this could be a special season for the first-round draft pick in 2024.
Offensively, Myles Price was the standout. He was the most targeted receiver and he caught just about everything thrown his way, whether in position drills, redzone, or full team drills. He looks sharp and confident. I don’t know that it will translate to a lot of offensive snaps this season, but he has certainly solidified his roster spot as possibly WR4.
On the other side, Charles Demmings- the star of training camp up to joint practices- has struggled more the last couple days. He gave up a deep ball yesterday and has gotten beaten at least a few times in redzone drills or flagged for DPI or holding. Hopefully this will be a lesson that allows for future growth of the promising cornerback.
Jacob Thomas continued his assent up the safety depth chart during joint practices, where he drilled with the first team and had some first team reps- although most came with the second team. At this point he looks to be fourth on the safety depth chart behind Josh Metellus, Jay Ward and Theo Jackson, by-passing third-round pick Jakobe Thomas who hasn’t played much or impressed due to some back tightness.
It’s been a pretty quiet training camp for Jordan Addison, and that continued through both joint practices. He really hasn’t been targeted much in full team drills and I’m not sure if he’s had any really noteworthy catches. He did have a couple targets by Kyler Murray in joint practices, including a bomb today, but neither were completed. He did have a nice grab in redzone position drills. It appears that Murray is more focused on developing a rapport with Jefferson at the moment, but hopefully he will be able to focus on Addison later before the season starts.
While there is incremental improvement for Domonique Orange and Caleb Banks, I wouldn’t overstate it. There is still improvement needed before they will be able to handle more significant reps and not be liabilities. But there is progress and hopefully that will continue for the rest of training camp and into the season.
Jake Golday is also showing improvement and had a nice run stuff today in addition to a good performance last Saturday.
Tai Felton is still showing improvement over a year ago, which might be lost in the shuffle a bit.
Jay Ward has also played well overall. I’m not sure if he’ll be a starter, but a good chance that he will. He has a slighter build than some other safeties, but he’s not afraid to lay the wood, as Jaxson Dart can attest.
Brett Thorson continues to be competitive with Johnny Hekker as both punter and holder. Both Hekker and Thorson held for a field goal that Will Reichard missed today, but Thorson held for a few others that he made. I wouldn’t be surprised if Thorson continues to hold well and remain competitive or better with Hekker as a punter, he will win the roster spot.
That is all from joint practices for this year. There are three more training camp practices next week that are not open to the public and I will also not be there, but will pass on what I learn from them as best I can.
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