Training camp recap: The Night Practice
By Matthew Coller
Ah, the night practice. A magical time in the middle of the summer for the Minnesota Vikings.
Here’s everything we took away from the event…
What I heard
Kevin O’Connell’s assessment of the QB play
We did not expect that O’Connell to name a starting quarterback before the night practice and… he did not.
However, he did talk about what he has thought of the QB battle to this point.
“I think it’s really shown us a wide variety of things that we can coach off of,” O’Connell said. “Comfort in the scheme and then how we project that moving forward.”
The Vikings’ head coach mentioned that reps that don’t always look the best from the stands or the media perch might be good in the eyes of the coaches because they are aware of what is trying to be accomplished on a given play.
As far as where Murray stands with the offense, O’Connell complimented his knowledge of the scheme.
“I think mentally, he’s definitely probably ahead of where I thought [he would be],” O’Connell said. “I think there’s been some new layers to our offense that maybe as a whole, our offense, whether it’s Kyler or JJ in there, it’s new to those guys.”
The Vikings begin preparation for the preseason next week so it’s plausible that there will be an answer by the opening preseason game.
Jamal Adams’ role
Over the past few practices we have seen Jamal Adams play safety after starting with the Vikings at the linebacker spot.
Where is he going to be playing in the regular season, assuming he makes the team?
“It’s a matter of having the flexibility,” O’Connell said. “He’ll play some safety. We feel good about his multiple type roles that he’s kind of found early on, his movement skills and just that physicality that he brings that he’s always brought.”
O’Connell said he’s been impressed by the way Adams has picked up the defense.
“I’ve been really happy with Jamal, and he’s one of those guys that is just attacking it every day the right way,” KOC said. “It’s a lot of things new for him, and he could easily say, ‘look at the player I’ve been,’ but it feels like he’s just in attack mode, which has been great to see.”
The Vikings are loving their new fullback
When the Vikings drafted Max Bredeson in the fifth round, it was clear that they were looking to carry over the usage of the fullback position that they had toward the end of 2025 with CJ Ham.
O’Connell appears to be pleased with the early returns. He mentioned that Bredeson has picked up the offense quickly and brought a physical presence.
“He’s always been really good getting fit in space on blocks, but he’s also been a really physical presence for us to help get runs started. And then he’s caught the ball a few times as well,” O’Connell said. “So obviously still a long way to go, but he’s had a great camp. And I’m not surprised in any way, shape, or form with that. And now we’re just going to try to keep building upon that.”
As far as his usage, KOC indicated that the offense is going to have a fullback out there.
“No secrets here, it’s becoming a pretty significant part of what we’re doing,”
Chuck Demmings hype
The breakout star of training camp thus far has been fifth-rounder Charles Demmings, who has made a number of pass breakups and big plays throughout the early part of the summer.
“He plays with great physical ability from a standpoint of the combination of size, speed, physicality, his length as a press corner,” O’Connell said. “He’s been very, very good in press. Some of the times where we either formation him to where he can’t get hands on people, that’s where you see the speed show up. And that’s what’s got you really excited about it. There’s still plenty of plays every single day where you see him.”
What I saw
It was a very eventful practice with the quarterbacks taking a high volume of passes and the team running a lot of situational drills.
Here’s how they both performed overall (context incoming):
Because of the way the situational drill played out, McCarthy hit two passes to set his team up for a touchdown and he was given four downs. He had several inaccurate throws that went down as negatives that were in very high difficulty territory with the defense dialing things up to the max.
Murray took fewer throws because he went four-and-out on his situational drill and he had more scrambles than McCarthy on the night.
OK let’s look at where Murray threw the football:
Murray highlights:
— In 7-on-7s, had a really strong throw to TJ Hockenson for around 10 yards where he progressed from the left side of the play to the right side quickly and then fired the ball accurately right into Hockenson’s hands.
— In a high red zone drill, he scored a touchdown on a flawless throw to Jordan Addison, who was covered tightly. It was on time and perfectly accurate.
Murray lowlights:
— There were too many plays that included sacks or scrambles. He was having trouble getting rid of the ball on time and rarely pushed it downfield.
— Murray had his worst pass of camp on Sunday night. He rolled to his left, flipped the ball toward Justin Jefferson but didn’t put enough air on it and Isaiah Rodgers leaped up and grabbed it for an interception. It was a throw that never should be made unless he’s going to rip it into the receiver.
Overall:
Kyler Murray still got the majority of the first-team 11-on-11 reps by a 21-9 margin over JJ McCarthy. So the distribution of plays has been pointing toward him for weeks. However, three underwhelming practices in a row should have us wondering whether it’s time to give him all of the reps if he’s going to be the starting quarterback.
It also might make you wonder if KOC is going to give more to JJ McCarthy next week to put more pressure on Murray.
Let’s look at McCarthy’s night:
McCarthy highlights:
— Started 9-for-10 to open the practice with 7-on-7s
— Had his best pass of training camp (maybe ever?) to Justin Jefferson. As the pocket started to close on him, he let loose a rocket deep to Jefferson, who had gotten behind the defense for somewhere around a 30-yard completion.
— In the situational drill, he threw a bullet down the sideline to Tai Felton for another 20+ yard gain. It was a “honey hole” shot between the safety and cornerback.
McCarthy lowlights:
— After starting hot, he couldn’t buy a completion outside of two throws in the final situational drill, which were then followed by inaccuracy after that.
— Finished with four straight misses, at least three of which may have been makable throws if they had been accurate.
Overall:
The door has been opened by Murray over the last few practices to convince the coaches to give him more reps and it’s not clear if he was able to accomplish that. He has always been able to flash highlight throws with his very strong arm but consistency has not been there in camp and it wasn’t there during the night practice.
What else I saw:
— The run game was outstanding. Every running back put together successful carries but Demond Claiborne’s quickness stood out, especially on a touchdown run from the high red zone. Aaron Jones has looked spry throughout camp and had a positive run over the left side and Jordan Mason had several plus runs.
— The defense was monstrous in this practice. Brian Flores threw an array of blitzes at the quarterbacks and caused all sorts of pressures on both. The defensive line was missing Caleb Banks, Ty Ingram-Dawkins and Levi Drake Rodriguez and yet they still had positive reps getting after the QB and pushing the pocket with Domonique Orange and Elijah Williams both having positive plays.
— Dallas Turner had his best practice. He had one particular rep on a fourth down where he just whizzed by Ryan Van Demark for an instant sack. His camp overall has been promising toward the “next step.”
— Tai Felton is making plays every single day now. He caught another downfield pass. That could be convincing to KOC to use him in the regular season as a deep threat. It’s clear how much progress he’s made under Keenan McCardell. Myles Price also had a few catches on Sunday and deserves credit for improvement at WR.
— Cam’Ron Stewart may be a name to watch. The UDFA from Temple has been getting second-team run and has created some pressure.
— Jacob Thomas has done a lot of work with the safeties with two guys banged up and hasn’t looked out of place. He has smooth feet and instincts for the position. He had a PBU during practice.
— Christian Darrisaw did not practice out of caution for playing on the turf. O’Connell did say that Darrisaw has had a “phenomenal camp” thus far. He hasn’t missed any days before this.
— Jay Ward is in the concussion protocol. O’Connell indicated that it was out of caution and did not appear to think Ward will be out for long.
— Dontae Fleming, Myles Price, Trayvon Rudolph, Jeshaun Jones, Demond Claiborne were doing the punt returning.
— Price and Felton were the main kick returners. Dillon Bell, Terrill Davis also on KR with Rudolph and Claiborne.
— Jakobe Thomas still not a full participant