Friday Mailbag(ish): Joint practices are over, we’re almost there

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Saturday! We’ve taken one more step toward the season beginning with joint practices in the books.

Let’s dive into your questions…

Teren…. I feel like JJ McCarthy should play every snap the next 2 preseason games (I’m not a McCarthy guy, I’m happy we have Kyler). Just for some experience and have him throw 40 some passes and let him get reps. What would be the reason KO wouldn’t do it ?

Yeah, I think in theory that makes sense. I’d probably roll with the second unit for the entire first half and then put in Wentz/Brosmer with the third team. I’m not sure how much actual development for McCarthy would be going on once the game turns into a glorified UFL contest in the second half. You want there to be some level of simulation of real football when he’s in there and probably want to see Wentz get a little work and give a good opportunity for the third-team receivers to get some work.

In general, I don’t think McCarthy could have asked for more when it comes to this year’s training camp and preseason. He’s taken a ton of reps and had every chance to work on mastering the offense and his throwing.

Francis… I have this thought that Harrison Smith is smartly playing his cards to the effect of maximizing his own 10 game performance, should he like what he sees from the team and joins us for a playoff run. Safety depth looks like it will be an issue at times for us this year. He’s not going to give us any handouts if our safety room is struck by more injury, but can you see that man staying home if the division and a home playoff game are in reach?

We really don’t know what Harrison Smith is thinking. He might be done playing and just doesn’t want to make any headlines. But I tend to agree with you that if he does want to come back that it would make sense to wait and see how things play out with the season first to see if it’s going to be worth the effort and returning for the stretch run allows him to avoid running out of gas at the end. I think him missing the first half of last year played into how good he was in the latter weeks of the season.

It might also depend on how the guys are playing at safety and whether they are healthy. If the defense is doing great and the safeties are thriving, he might let it ride. People don’t realize how much he loved working with guys like Metellus and Jackson and seeing them develop.

Matthew B… How does Myles Price compare to former Vikings WR Jarius Wright? Could he develop into a similar reliable 3rd down target?

Yeah, I can see the similarity in terms of using quickness and natural baller-ness to make plays. Wright came out of college as a more refined receiver. He went for over 1,000 yards in his last season and was drafted in the fourth round despite being so small whereas Price was always a bit player in college.

But he could definitely carve out that type of role. I was making a comparison the other day to those little guys that the Patriots would always have coming out of the slot like David Patten, Wes Welker or Julian Edelman. There’s something there with him. We’ll see where it goes but normally if somebody makes this many plays in camp/preseason, it can translate.

Yelnats…Matthew, I greatly appreciated your in-depth interview with the special teams coordinator. Will you be following up with positional coach interviews?
How is the scheme for running different this year than last year?

Thanks, Matt Daniels did an amazing job of breaking down his program for UDFA guys learning special teams. I’ll usually connect with a couple of position coaches per year on different stories. I did one on Josh McCown last year.

There’s a few things that I’ve noticed that are different — and keep in mind that they are not doing everything that we’re going to see in Week 1. First is running out of shotgun and pistol formation. KOC talked about wanting to do that back at the owner’s meetings and we’ve definitely seen it with Kyler. Getting to the edges seems to be a big part of it and having the O-linemen really come off the ball as fast as they can. I also think KOC saw how much CJ Ham’s presence impacted the run last year and wanted a lot more where that came from with Max Bredeson.

MT… JJ McCarthy for Anthony Richardson. Who says no? Besides the fans sitting in the first row getting hit with errant passes.

There is one obvious thing about Richardson that is attractive, which is his outrageous athleticism. He started 15 games and ran for 634 yards and 10 touchdowns. You could make a little better Malik Willis argument for Richardson because the running is such a factor but I think both QBs need a similar path to Willis where they are someone’s backup for a couple of years and then end up being much more ready when they see the field next.

The notable thing is that neither QB had very much experience in college and they’re still chasing that. McCarthy got nine practices to work on his game this summer. It’s not like that’s a lot of real time to work on his game. He needs those day-after-day practices during the season running scout team and working after practice.

Ramsey K… I saw some “highlights” from the Rams-Chiefs preseason game, and it looked like they did a PA bootleg 15 times for Ty Simpson, and it got me thinking. This might be a dumb question, but given many coaches’ indifference to winning a preseason game, why don’t coaches take preseason games as rep counts? For example, if we really want to perfect a particular play, why aren’t we running that 8 straight times, even on 4th down? Followed by 8 straight times practicing I Right P15 Weak X Drift? In some ways, it might be a better way to evaluate backups than random zone defenses that we won’t play in the 4th quarter.

Yeah, it’s a real balance because they have things that they are trying to evaluate in those games. The coaches want to see how linemen handle certain techniques and how receivers run routes and all that type of stuff. If they ran the same play every single time, I’m not sure they would get a genuine look at those things but I wouldn’t be surprised if some teams actually do run the same play multiple times with hopes of getting different looks.

Nothing about the preseason is all that helpful though outside of special teams. Everything is against guys who aren’t going to really play and they aren’t showing much on defense.

However, every year there’s a guy or two that steps up in the preseason and makes the team because of it.

Matt D…What’s your level of comfort on where the DL is at right now? Sounds like LDR is taking another step but the rookies are slow to come along and I’ve heard mixed reviews on Dawkins.

I would have said about a three out of 10 at the start of camp and that’s probably up to about a six now. The way that LDR and Ingram-Dawkins performed against the Ravens really impressed me. They have both clearly developed in terms of their strength and understanding of how they need to play in order to succeed. LDR has Harrison Phillips vibes. I’m not exactly sure what Ingram-Dawkins will be because he has a unique body type and might be able to rush the passer more than we think.

Having Banks and Orange play as rotational players from the jump rather than them needing to take on an entire starting role for 17 weeks is a big bonus of the development of those two young players.

Eldon... With the discussion on QB2 making the rounds I have a strange question. Now I do think McCarthy can be a quality starter long term but I wonder if heaven forbid Murray went down if the team might turn to Wentz if it’s minor where Murray would only miss say half a game but if it was a longer injury timeline McCarthy might get the call, what are your thoughts?

I’ve been thinking along these lines too. It really depends on how confident KOC is in McCarthy being able to effectively operate the offense. If he feels good about it, then McCarthy should just be the backup no matter what the situation. If they don’t see him as being ready to run the show if Murray got hurt mid game, then Wentz should be QB2 on gameday because we know he can do it.

If there was a long-term injury, it has to be McCarthy. He’s under contract through next year, so you can still get a look at how far he’s come along and figure out what’s next. There’s always a chance that it clicks for him, whereas we know the ceiling on a team long term with Wentz is probably .500 football and it’s going to be hard for him to stay healthy for a long period of time when he takes a lot of hits.

I’m very curious to see which way KOC goes with it for Week 1.

Steve C… The thing shaking my confidence the most is the fact that our C can’t consistently execute a deep snap. Nobody wants to hear QB2 snap counts. Can we get a daily flub rate for the starting C?

I’d say there have been probably four or five totally flubbed snaps that hit the ground because they are so bad and maybe 10-15 more that were suspect. It’s clear from KOC’s answer the other day that they are tired of that as well because he said they were going to put focus on it over the next two weeks and make sure it’s not an issue come game day.

I think it’s a legitimate concern. It’s a plus that he didn’t have any big miscues in the joint practices but it has the potential to crop up at the worst times in the games. It’s really a matter of Brandel just getting it right. I’m sure it’s way harder than we think but that’s not a thing that can be 99 out of 100. It’s gotta be 100 out of 100.

Arin J…Hi Matthew great coverage loved hearing from Tyler Dunne and excited for the season did anything in the joint practices give you an option can the defense be top 5? Maybe a pie chart?

In terms of a pie chart, I’d probably do it this way: Chances at ranking top 5, between 5-10, between 10-15 and worse than 15.

I’ll go: 20% chance they are top five, 40% between 5-10, 30% between 10-15 and 10% worse than 15.

Being top five is extremely difficult to achieve but it’s not impossible when playing the NFC South and getting nine home games. I’m putting more percentage toward ranking somewhere around 5-10 because they don’t have the natural pass rush in the front seven to just line up and dominate teams. They’re going to have to really work for their sacks and pressures, which does come at a cost sometimes.

Jason… This seems like an offseason question but I am asking it anyway. How is covering KOC different than Zimmer? One seems more guarded in their answers but the other seems more aggressive with reporters. I’ll let you decide who is who.

Always happy to answer questions like this.

Zimmer could be more difficult sometimes when he was in a bad mood but I found him to be incredibly insightful when it came to learning the game. I thought I knew football when I got the job and then spent a few weeks around Zimmer and was like…my gosh, I know nothing about this game. He made us all better in that way. I loved listening to his evaluations for players on the other team before games and his thoughts on different scheme stuff. And I always felt like I knew where everyone on the team stood because he would just say what he thought. Overall, I enjoyed covering Mike.

KOC is more willing to give a polite answer on a bad day than Zim was. He is more detailed with his answers because I think he genuinely wants us and the fans to understand what’s going on with a player or situation. He thinks a lot about how the fans perceive things and he knows he’s talking to them when he’s at the podium.

He’s also aware that players and their families see press conferences, so he’s not going to be critical of players in any type of mean way. He’ll acknowledge issues like Brandel’s snapping the other day. Zim would have probably said something like, “snap the ball right or we’ll find someone else.” I think that wore on guys.

It’s definitely different but I’ve had a good time covering both.

Kip N… Do we say a JJ trade ? Feels like he could learn and play if Kyler gets hurt. What’s the pulse right now with JJ ?

It doesn’t feel like there’s any interest in trading him. There hasn’t been any bad vibes in practice or statements from coaches or teammates that there’s interest in doing that. It’s pretty much been business as usual.

I don’t see the upside to moving him. You lose a backup QB option and get a Day 3 pick in return. Does that make a lot of sense when the head coach is in a season where his team really needs to get back to the playoffs?

It feels like an Anthony Richardson situation from Indy last year where you just let the guy be the backup, continue to develop and hope he’s ready if you need him.

Walt K… Hey, Matt. Just popping in after being banned from the internet last week so hopefully you’ll see this. We know that defenses are usually ahead of the offense in training camp, but what does it take before one becomes worried on the progression? I know our O goes up against a great defense in practice every day (I think that’s an added benefit) and Baltimore is no slouch either so that should be taken into account, but how do the coaches determine whether the offense is making strides when it seems like the defense is always coming out on top?

Also, when are you going to give us your 53 man roster predictions?

Do I want to ask why you were banned from the internet?

That’s a good question. I get the sense that the coaches go into it knowing what they want to work on. It is way more detailed than just calling plays against each other and trying to win.

For example, let’s say they want Kyler to run a quick slants play against a certain type of look from the defense that they are anticipating seeing in the regular season. They will set it up for him to get that play call against a certain type of defense that the Ravens like to play and then if the rep goes badly they will work on it in walk-through and practice or they might decide it doesn’t work and toss it.

Coaches are not watching these things with the same eyes as us. When there are mistakes, they coach them up. They don’t look at a bad sequence and panic like media and fans tend to do.

I’ve seen joint practices go lots of different types of ways over the years and I’ve never found it to be a predictive measure. I thought overall it was an OK couple days for the offense and they’ll now start working on getting ready for the Packers where it’s a true gameplan.

My theory is that we so desperately want football back in our lives that we overreact to everything. It wouldn’t be fun if we didn’t but who won joint practices doesn’t really tell a story long term unless there’s a big injury or something truly catastrophic.

Eric… I have heard very little about Jauan Jennings over the last month. What can you tell us about his camp experience thus far. Keep up the good purple reporting!

Thanks Eric!

Jennings has looked good. He and Kyler started connecting more recently and had two legit great plays on the second day of joint practices.

My two observations about Jennings are, A) he’s really big B) he’s really good at tracking the ball and has great hands. If he’s given a chance to go get it, he’s going to get it. A great option for Kyler to have.

That’s really the thing you can see in camp. He has one heck of a supporting cast.

Matt R…How’s the kicking game look? I’m assuming good because 1. Will is awesome at kicking footballs and 2. You’ve barely mentioned punting.

Reichard did have a couple of misses at the end of joint practices, which was pretty surprising. No need to panic but you always wonder about a new holder. He made one from 46 that was easily good from 60.

In terms of the punting, Brett Thorson can legitimately bomb the ball. He has a huge leg and I wonder if Matt Daniels is seeing another Ryan Wright type of project punter. They can keep him on the international exception if he gets through to the practice squad, so I think they’ll do that if they go with Hekker. It really comes down to the holding for me. If they truly believe Thorson can do it at Lambeau Field with the game on the line, OK then. But I’d probably go with the guy who’s been there.

Anglo Vike… How has Brandel looked in the joint practices- still a cause for concern or has he settled? The last thing we really need is to have replace the center at this stage of TC

The snapping was passable. I think overall the blocking was pretty good, though it’s a tough evaluation from where I stand to say with any degree of certainty how a center was performing unless he was getting cleanly destroyed. During camp he’s been good as a leader of the O-line and he’s done alright with pass protection. I’m not totally convinced when it comes to him being a difference-making run blocker but they have several of those on the line.

It’s really just about being consistent with that snapping and I think the rest will be alright based on what we saw last year and have seen in camp so far.

Jeffrey S…Outside of AVG and of course Turner, do any of the OLDs/DEs look like viable in a rotation? Or should Teasley be on the phone now?

Tyler Batty and Bo Richter could both get on the field and manage if they did a lot of mixing and matching in terms of pass rush but I don’t see a guy whose skill set is that of a pure pass rusher. If Turner went down, I think we’d see Ingram-Dawkins, Golday and Eric Wilson do some type of patchwork over the OLB position and they’d just rush different people on every play. That’s not really that great of a strategy.

I’d say that Teasley should be in the market for OLB options.

It reminds me of what they did in 2024 with the cornerback position. They waited it out until the end of camp and then grabbed Stephon Gilmore, especially because they were sure the defense was going to be good.

Chris C…Talk me into a world where it would have been better to keep Bynum over Metellus.

I like Metellus BUT if Flores ever leaves I feel like Metellus role is much more specific to Flores and I feel that Bynum has more scheme versatility. We talk about JJ over Darnold and using the cap we spent on DT to keep Darnold. However I always thought we could have ran it back with similar caliber DTs as the 24 team (if not the same guys) and used the money to keep Bynum. I would feel a lot better about our safety room with Bynum back there.

I’d say that it would have been better to keep Bynum than spend the money on two aging defensive tackles that didn’t really fit with what they did. I totally agree with you about the idea of keeping Bynum and that his presence was sorely missed last year. I think they believed they could just develop the next guy and the free safety spot is fairly replaceable but Bynum’s downhill tackling, deep play making, leadership and energy… that stuff doesn’t grow on trees. One year after the deal, $15M doesn’t look that bad.

That doesn’t mean I’d want to part ways with Metellus. He’s so vital to Flores as the main communicator. There’s very few guys that I’ve met who have higher football IQ than Metellus and that’s going to be really big this year.

I also looked at the numbers for Metellus last year when he played free safety and by PFF there wasn’t a game where he gave up more than 30 yards in that small sample, so the concern might be a bit overstated.

Tony T… It’s definitely cheaper, but wouldn’t it be more valuable to try to develop our young talent at defensive end rather than hiring an aging free agent? Sure they’ll play better, but don’t they just keep potential talent in the bench?

It’s always a good thing to develop younger talent but this isn’t really a development year. This is a win-now year. They’re playing Kyler, they kept Hock, AVG, Jones and extended O’Neill. They have to do everything they can to create the strongest roster possible outside of going absolutely nuts and giving away a boat load of draft capital.

Remember, this was supposed to be the winning window. When they put McCarthy in, they talked about 2-3 years with this group.

Jeffrey S… Kevin Seifert had an interesting article today on Keith Carter and the O-Line.. What are the chances we have a top 10 OL this year?

I’d say if they are healthy 70% of the time, they should be a top 10 offensive line. The way Darrisaw is playing is really jumping off the page to me in camp. He looks like that dude again. Fries looks a lot better, Jackson is growing. He looks confident and physically bigger.

They have the pieces and I really like what I’ve seen from Ryan Van Demark as well. I’d consider adding a backup interior player if possible but otherwise it’s a group that’s good enough to give them a chance every week.

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