Training camp recap, Day 8
JJ McCarthy had a stronger day but still took most reps with the second team
The Minnesota Vikings held their eighth practice of the year, which was a long, padded workout at TCO Performance Center. Here’s what went down in Eagan on Friday…
What I heard
The O-line is being pushed
There has been a vibe at training camp that the offensive linemen are going to start taking the bull by the horns as they are being driven by new offensive line coach Keith Carter. It appears from what Donovan Jackson said on Friday that they have a new mantra.
“There are still errors that we have to clean up but that’s what training camp is for, everyone comes in every day with an attitude of wanting to get better,” Jackson said. “As an O-line, we just have to fire off the ball and that’s rule No. 1, play with speed, violence and effort.”
Jackson enters Year 2 with expectations of taking the next step in his career after impressing as a rookie.
“It’s totally different than what I did last year,” Jackson said. “Last year I was learning and trying to figure everything out, now it’s another year in the offense, another year of playing next to some of these guys, so some things are a lot easier.”
Jamal Adams working at safety
The veteran was back at his natural position on Friday, mixing in with Josh Metellus and Theo Jackson.
“Jamal is a heck of a player,” Theo Jackson said. “He can play anywhere you want him, so we just try to get him up to speed at safety and then we can plug him in at linebacker too. It’s great because we have Josh as well who can do the same thing.”
Gavin Bartholomew on getting back out there
The second-year tight end missed his entire first year but he has looked ready to roll in Year 2 by making daily plays on offense.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “Throughout my career I’ve been pretty healthy. Last year was definitely unfortunate but I’m just grateful to be out there and take some reps… really soaking it all in.”
Zavier Scott one-on-one
The Vikings did not have a walk-through that was open to the media so there weren’t press conferences but I did have a chance to talk with running back Zavier Scott about his mentality going into this season and he detailed his work in the offseason to prepare for 2026 after seeing playing time last year.
PI: How did you approach the offseason after getting a chance to get in games and make an impact last year?
Zavier Scott: “This past all season, I asked myself the same questions [as always], and I shaped my workout routine off of that. Incorporating boxing into things, incorporating some other types of training , and keeping some of the things that got me to where I’m at. It’s just like a constant science experiment. But also the meat and potatoes are gonna be the meat and potatoes. You gonna have things that are gonna be necessary no matter what. So, yes, just asking myself the questions and answering, you know, sometimes it’s hard, like, you gotta be honest with yourself. And you can’t try to make sugarcoat it to yourself.”
PI: What was the coaching staff’s message to you after you were able to show them that you can run with the ball, pass protect and make some plays in the receiving game?
Scott: “Very encouraging. Very encouraging conversations. Saying, things they liked about me… and just adding a little of these things could just take it that much more, ‘cause it’s such, it’s a game of small margins. I was able to see that how close those margins really are, and they mentioned those to me as well and I just attack them, attack them every day.”
PI: So where is your confidence right now? You’re seeing a lot of opportunities and it seems like everything is out in front of you.
Scott: “There’s a level headedness you need to have in this league. To the highs and the lows, to be able to bounce back to the next play and and take the learning moments from winning or losing from good place or bad place. You got to learn, regardless.”
What I saw
Friday’s practice was padded and pretty intense as the Vikings worked on situational drills and red zone. The quarterbacks both took an equal share of total reps but Murray once again got the lion’s share of the first-team work. Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune added up the total from the last three practices and it came out 43 to16.
Let’s have a look at how both QBs performed. Here are the total passes, completions and positive/negative count:
Here is Murray’s chart for the day’s throws:
Murray highlights:
— On the first situational drill of the day, the Vikings were set up with a fourth down conversion attempt and Murray ripped a pass to the sideline for a completion to Justin Jefferson that was right on the money for a first down.
— While it was a wide open reception, Murray made the right read and got the ball to Tai Felton for a deep touchdown. That connection has happened a number of times in camp now on explosive plays.
Murray lowlights:
— Murray threw an interception on a play where it appeared that he and Jefferson were not on the same page. The QB looked like he expected Jefferson to turn a different direction and was trying to throw the ball up for grabs to him.
— In a red zone drill, he took a sack from Ty Ingram-Dawkins. Murray had more plays where the ball seemed to come out slowly on Friday than usual during camp.
— One play where Jefferson was running a deep double move and looked open, Murray passed it up for a checkdown. He’s hit those normally through camp.
Overall:
It was a shaky day for the veteran quarterback. His accuracy wasn’t as a strong as it has been during his best practices and the decision making wasn’t as precise. It wasn’t a terrible practice but it also wasn’t anywhere near as sharp as he’s shown to be capable of.
Here is McCarthy’s chart:
McCarthy highlights:
— McCarthy had his most accurate day of camp. At one point during 7-on-7s, he completed four passes in a row, capped off by a strong throw over the middle into a fairly tight window to Ben Yurosek
— Had a well-timed throw to the boundary that hit Jeshaun Jones for a first down, somewhere around 15-20 yards downfield. He has been good at these types of throws during camp.
McCarthy lowlights:
— Took a sack during the situational drill that was a third down failure.
— Got a chance with the 1s vs. 1s and was late and inaccurate on an incompletion.
Overall:
It was McCarthy’s best day of training camp. He didn’t push the ball downfield a ton but was accurate in the intermediate area and seemed to make decisions a little quicker than we’ve seen in previous days. Something to potentially build on.
However, with Murray getting 14 first-team throws to McCarthy’s seven and the direction pushing heavily toward Murray in all of the recent practices, it’s hard to see O’Connell turning things back toward McCarthy going forward. It looks like a decision soon is inevitable.
Other notes:
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