Training camp recap, Day 6

A lot of veterans had the day off, making for a calmer practice

---

By Matthew Coller

The Minnesota Vikings did not have a very intense practice on Tuesday, setting up for an extremely hard practice on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at what we learned….

What I heard

Kyler Murray and the ‘layered learning’ of the offense

A storyline throughout camp is going to be how Kyler Murray adapts to Kevin O’Connell’s offense. In the past, Kirk Cousins commented on its complexity and Sam Darnold needed a couple of weeks before he performed at a high level in camp.

I asked O’Connell how he will be evaluating Murray’s progress on a daily basis as camp goes on.

“We’re stacking some reps now, and you can see maybe growth from the first or second day to now, because the beauty of our offense is there’s a lot of layered learning to it, where one coaching point from, an early install, it will apply to how decisive you can be making a decision or, you know, your timing or your accuracy you’re throwing the football,” O’Connell said. “And he’s shown improvement every single day. And most importantly, just the comfort level that comes, I think, with all the hard work he put in over the summer after being exposed to a lot of this stuff in the spring.”

While we have been evaluating the throws by completions and incompletions, Murray’s decision making with the football has looked quick over the first few practices. There hasn’t been many scrambles or times where he pulled the ball down because he couldn’t figure out where to go with the football.

Tai Felton’s development

On Monday, 2025 third-round pick Tai Felton made the catch of camp that probably won’t be topped. He leaped up in the back of the end zone and nabbed a high pass with one hand while toe-tapping just barely in bounds.

O’Connell said that the catch was impressive but there were other parts of the play that showed signs of progress from Year 1 to Year 2.

“Everybody sees the one-handed catch yesterday, but I thought the route itself to get the separation that he did, his understanding of the details of things, I think he has a better plan at the line of scrimmage this year a lot of times,” O’Connell said. “When you get a young player that’s as fast and explosive as Tai is, it takes them some time to understand defenders, especially knowing. the juice that he has. They’re not just going to let you have a free run. You’re going to have to have a plan.”

O’Connell pointed out that he has been happy with one part of Felton’s game in terms of his route running but pointed to being consistent catching the ball as a point of emphasis.

“He’s been really good at the top of routes in transition… Tai working every single day on catching the football because he’s going to get open,” O’Connell said. “He’s going to have some opportunities, especially knowing the other guys he’s in the huddle with and how much coverage that they dictate. But he’s off to a really good start. Now, like I talked to him today, it’s putting it all together and continuing to show up because he’s showing up every day in some capacity.”

Felton could carve out a role within the offense because No. 3 wide receiver Jauan Jennings is vastly different from the player he’s replacing in Jalen Nailor. Felton has more of a similar skillset to Nailor being a speedster would could stretch the defense. If he continues to show up every day, as O’Connell said, that could give the Vikings an even deeper WR room than they already have.

Jordan Addison’s contract situation and growth

Just before practice for the Vikings started, news broke of Zay Flowers signing a contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens. Flowers was in the same draft class as Jordan Addison, who is eligible for an extension but there hasn’t been any noise about the potential of them signing him long term.

Addison said that he is just trying to “be where my feet are” and focus on training camp and not his future. His first two seasons of performance would have made an extension inevitible but he struggled with drops last season and has had three off-field incidents with the law and a one-quarter suspension overseas, making it questionable whether the Vikings want to give him top dollar.

O’Connell talked about what he’s seen from Addison and where he’s improved since the beginning of his career.

“He’s gotten stronger since we first got him, he’s always had that elite quickness and transition separation ability and he’s always been an elite catcher of the football,” O’Connell said. “I think the last layer of it is just the nuance of how he’s making routes look and feel the same, how he understands the timing of whether he’s on the front side or the back side of the progression, understanding what he runs and how that maybe affects somebody else around him.”

In terms of the character part of that equation, O’Connell said:

“He loves football, he’s a great teammate,” O’Connell said. “Clearly he was a young player when he came into the NFL and I think he’s I think he’s learned, matured, and he knows exactly what’s out in front of him. He knows what’s important to him. And I’m proud of his growth and development in that phase as well.”

What I saw

It was not a padded practice on Tuesday and a lot of the veteran players were not involved including Josh Metellus, Andrew Van Ginkel, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and a few more.

So we should contextualize the quarterback performances to note that neither was working with top wide receivers or playing in the most competitive environment. They also did red zone work, which limited the downfield pass attempts.

That said, here’s the summary of each QB: