Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Day 2 Vikings joint practice breakdown with The Athletic's Alec Lewis

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider here inside the Cleveland Browns facility in, what are we in? Berea? Berea? Berea or is it Berea? I'm sorry to those from Ohio I never asked what it was but we're here and practice just got over with between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns here with Alec Lewis of the Athletic and where do you want to begin? We watched a lot of Sam Darnold. We watched a lot of defense. You know, the defense ahead of the offense thing usually applies to early training camp, not joint practices, but it sure applied to these joint practices.

We didn't have any catastrophic injuries today. There was no drama. No other travesties were announced. So we're good there. We can actually talk about what we saw in this practice and what we think of Sam Darnold going forward isn't that fun yeah I mean what a ride this has been good lord in terms of the last couple days uh really going back to Monday night where I don't know about you but um and we don't need to rehash the whole deal but going to the Vikings facility for Monday night's night practice the last thing I thought

was that it was going to turn into something that was really relevant at all like I thought it was just going to be a pretty boring fun uh normal night and it was not um but yeah to have a day where you just kind of watch football and felt like all right this the season still is being played and Sam Darnold will be Sam Darnold will be doing the quarterbacking. I thought there were some – I'll just start – I think we should probably start with him. Like, I thought there were some plays within seven-on-seven periods in the red zone and some full team periods that, to me, were impressive. I mean, some impressive throws, some stuff over the top.

And then at the end of the practice, they did like a two-minute period where it was like the team's down eight. you score on the Browns defense and there were a couple over overthrows from Sam Donald it wasn't the sharpest there were I think a lot of decisions that he was having to make in the pocket that were muddy pockets with the Browns bringing some heat with Miles Garrett and others so just all in all I-so day probably is what I'd say. But I think if you were to talk about the Browns offense, like Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston, specifically Winston looked absolutely out of sorts

against the Vikings defense. So it was just that kind of, I mean, really that kind of day in two days, I think, where the defenses here were clearly superior. Yeah, I thought thought so the Vikings spent a lot of time today doing their red zone drills and they I thought ran the ball very well in those red zone drills and created some touchdowns that I think would have actually been touchdowns was their tackling Trent Shurfield had a really nice catch Justin Jefferson roasted

his man in the red zone a couple of times it's not shocking for you guys to hear justin jefferson's doing amazing things at camp but he brings it every year when he goes into these joint practices it was a great battle with their main corner who was going up against him and i thought that when they did those red zone drills sam darnold looked very comfortable getting it to his guys and they were effective in a lot of those then they get to the 11 on 11 and that was what was interesting because that was going on when the Vikings defense was going 11 on 11 so it was mostly red zone drills on one side mostly full team on the other side so we'll get to the defense uh in a minute but when they got to that two minute drill those have really been fascinating for me to watch throughout this entire training camp just because I think that it really emulates what it's really going to look like and it felt like the

speed of it right exactly like everybody's kind of bearing down and like let's go and and then focusing in they're throwing out play calls and Kevin O'Connell said that sometimes he throws out a play call that maybe they haven't worked on or didn't script or something and with Darnold he completed his first pass really nicely like on time to Brandon Powell all right off we go and then took three shots to Jefferson that seemed like I just want to see how far I can push the envelope with Justin Jefferson none of them ended up getting into his hands and then on fourth down he ends up throwing a pick that he probably should have dumped it underneath to an open tight end. Which he said. Right.

These are the things that with Sam Darnold, he's got to learn in this offense. And I was thinking about this a lot today as I was kind of going through what I'm going to write and everything about how they're turning their offense over to a guy who just got here when the rest of the group has known this offense. And there's still this process going on. And Garrett Bradbury talked to us about it yesterday that I thought was really interesting The rest of the group has known this offense, and there's still this process going on. And Garrett Bradbury talked to us about it yesterday that I thought was really interesting of Darnold getting to understand how far he can push the envelope with Jefferson, when he's going to have to take what's in front of him. We still do see him just taking shots and getting picked off, though.

I mean, you're never going to take the Sam Darnold out of Sam Darnold. But today was a much more functional day overall I think for him to get a lot of work in the red zone to feel like they were scoring touchdowns over and over again and it would have just been nice for him after a pretty tough first day to have a better two-minute drill and not have it end like that but it seemed like everybody viewed this as going up against maybe the number one defense in football and there actually being some progress made even if it looked ugly yeah well it's interesting because a lot of the Vikings players and coaches talked about how different it was going against this Browns defense and I asked Sam Darnold a little bit about like what

makes what they do different and he essentially said like they kind of just line it up and play like they are so talented and so dynamic, I think, on the front and even in the back end. Like, you mentioned the cornerback going up against Justin Jefferson. It was not Denzel Ward, who has a gigantic contract. It was Martin Emerson, Jr., a guy, I got to be honest, I didn't know a ton about, but you watch that dude out here and you're like, man, could the Vikings just find a guy

like that like it would just be more right just spectacular to find a guy like that so um to me that that was as interesting as anything else just the the difference in what the Vikings were facing but the Sam Darnold comment is really a lot of how I thought about today it's like when he could just be in the pocket and make decisions quickly from one to two to two to three get rid of it you feel like it like he's got the arm strength to pump it in there um the plays are set up for it to work like that but when he's scrambling outside he has the athleticism to look dynamic but I am like holding on tight for dear life that like don't throw it into triple coverage

and get picked off like there was a play yesterday um speaking about Wednesday where he he scrambled out to the left and it looked like he had Jalen Naylor kind of in the flat instead he tried Justin Jefferson deep into double coverage it was picked off and so I feel like the way I will watch Sam Darnold over the next few weeks and into the season is like, how capable is he of just being calm and quiet in the pocket? And I think it's like, given what we've seen over the course of his career, we'll see. him pre-snap so that he can just sit there, point and shoot in a way that he can be really effective given the arm strength and the overall just the fluidity at which he throws the football. I think what I came to as a conclusion after watching these two days is that the Darnold in Darnold is not going to be removed. And while he was a lot better than Jameis Winston, who was horrendous in these two practices, I mean like comically bad in these two practices but they have something in common which is I think

that something clicks in their brain when it's time to try to make a play and they just go insane they think there's something and Nick Mullins is this too where instead of just being like and Kirk was the opposite where Kirk had to almost press himself as he went through his career and learn not to always check down, and then he did it anyway in fourth and eight. But in some points in his career with the Vikings, I thought he actually got better at kind of putting it up for Jefferson and trusting him a little bit more, whereas it's the opposite with Darnold, where if he had a little more Kirk in him, you didn't hear me say that, right?

But it's actually true. If he had a little more Kirk in him you didn't hear me say that right but it's actually true if he had a little more decision making just like oh no I can actually just play this safe and get a completion and move on as opposed to oh my gosh got to do something insane got to be the goat got to throw a crazy lot and and he was he's still doing it but part of me can understand like can you imagine if you're a high schooler and you're doing that and you're just dominating and at USC is your sophomore year if you're just scrambling and throwing balls over then like I mean you would think over a seven year span you you start to realize I can't do this anymore but I to your point there there might just be with some of these guys in an inability

to turn that dial off and again it's why sometimes you watch Sam Darnold and you see the flashes of athleticism and arm talent where it's like well that cannot be taught but a lot of times where I mean in this league as we found out last year towards the back half like turnover I mean throughout the whole year really turnovers lose you games. Just minimize, mitigate the turnovers. And it is to where you mentioned the running game in the red zone. I think I already thought the run game was going to shoulder a gigantic load for this to work offensively. But I think even more now it is going to be on Aaron Jones and Ty Chandler to perform the way that I think at their highest end,

if they're fully healthy, can perform. And it's going to be on the staff and the offensive line to symbiotically structure their scheme and just their ability to block for those guys. So, I mean, really, that was another thought I had today. I already really thought Aaron Jones was going to have a good year, and he needed to have a good year. But to me, it's just kind of settling in more, I think,

just watching what I've seen the last two days. When Sam Darnold had, in 2022, more clean pockets, more play actions, more screens, he performed better. And then occasionally he could do something wild. And then occasionally he would do something terrible. But they really kind of reigned him in a lot and I don't think Kevin O'Connell's offense is a reign a quarterback in type of offense but I do think it starts with Aaron Jones to some extent because it opens up

those other things you can do we've seen them run a lot of screen plays in not necessarily in these practices but just over training camp in general being better in that part where they were horrible last year at the screen game. Their numbers were really bad in the play action. They were not as good as Kirk Cousins usually was in his previous seasons. Those are things that make life easier and decisions simpler on the quarterback. Dropping straight back and having four options and Miles Garrett pinning the years back and all that stuff was just insane and even justin jefferson was like what the heck was that that we just watched i

mean it's crazy uh you know it was funny because sam darwin was like well you know you know garrett's pretty good just jefferson was like he's a freak i got a very funny the difference i gotta say and i don't like this maybe you shouldn't say it on the podcast i don't really know but we walk outside of the practice uh practice fields on wednesday and i was on the podcast. I don't really know. But we walk outside of the practice fields on Wednesday, and I was just like looking around. I don't know where I am. I'm in Berea. I'm in Cleveland.

Why am I here? What am I going? And I looked in the weight room, and I just see Miles Garrett shirtless sitting on the bench press with a headband. And I was like, is that a superhero? Like what is – it was the – I was like, this guy is at a level at which, from a physicality standpoint – and then you hear Christian Derusaw talk about, like, the technique and the speed, and it's just – I mean, he –

there was one play where Brian O'Neal, who I thought has looked really good, like, he got, like, sideswiped by Miles Garrett. I was just like, who – oh, obviously, that's what it was. But, yeah. I mean, you might be talking about the best player in the whole league when you're watching him. I mean, he really is that good. It's crazy.

Other than Patrick Mahomes, obviously. I mean, on defense. But putting that aside, our marveling at seeing Myles Garrett up close. If you can't – that got a little weird. If you can't appreciate, though, what that guy looks like, I don't know why you would even do this, come to a practice like like this but the point on Sam Darnold is you're never going to stop that button in his head that goes off or that blinker that goes off that says just do something insane with your arm because you're crazy talented and if it was then he would have stopped doing it by now but he still does it

in practice all the time I think it's about everything else it's about hitting those deep balls to Justin Jefferson when you get the chances. It's the play caller, setting up for as many play actions as you possibly can with Aaron Jones being in favorable spots where he performed a lot better when he was with Carolina, not allowing the Miles Garrets of the world because they will play them. Daniil Hunter's on your schedule. You're playing a lot of freaks of the world. Sean Gary, Nick Bosa.

They're all coming to town. And even at the beginning of the season, Dexter Lawrence is going to put a lot of pressure on them. It's never going to stop. Right, it's never going to stop. You're not going to not have a guy who's freakish on the other side. So how can you limit the potential plays where you could get damage? And I think what we saw today was it's third down it's the two minute drill he's going to try to do something great and I think that that probably puts a

ceiling on what this can be with Sam Darnold even if it can be good but I want you to project for me after now a big sample size of beginning a camp all the way to now we know he's qb1 going forward project for me the floor and ceiling if sam darno plays 17 games which is very possible right now with no jj mccarthy project the floor and ceiling you didn't proceed this is the thing you don't prepare me for these things and now here i am um i mean the floor is is to me it's just so many turnovers where it's like untenable like i mean that to me is the floor. Now, what does that mean from a statistics standpoint? What does that mean from win-loss?

It doesn't mean that the people watching the show are probably as locked in as they were right now or in past weeks. That's what that probably means. The ceiling, I mean, I think it is like the Baker Mayfield of last year where it's not always going to be perfect but there are going to be enough flashes where last year with Baker Mayfield you would hear like you know he's not doing that thing where he's dropping his eyes and his helmet as much as he used to did Dave Canales coach that out of him and so I really that's it where maybe it's 25 touchdowns and and and interceptions and fumbles but to where you are competitive in every single game and you are not being placed in situations where you're placed out of games because of the turnovers.

To me, that's the ceiling and the floor is, again, it's like last year where it's like, all right, who do we turn to at this point? Now the problem is if you turn to Nick Mullins, he's like maybe this without the potential ceiling and on Red Bull like it's it's just like it's a totally uh different deal but you know the one thing that you said that I was thinking about um and it kind of ties a little bit with Jordan Addison and what his potential health's going to be but like I I felt like we've seen a lot of heavy personnel all training camp whether it's two tight ends whether it's 21 personnel

with cj ham in the backfield now maybe you're going to tell me rightfully that you've seen cj ham using training camp for seven years and then when the season happens it doesn't work but i feel like with their receiving core and and how much they're going to need to run the ball they're pro i would expect them to stick in more heavy personnel than they have in the first two years after talking about it a little bit with Kevin O'Connell. So that aspect to me of then how you structure your pass game around that is going to be interesting. But to me, it does confirm the fact that I really do believe, as much as they've talked about running the football more effectively,

as much as Kevin O'Connell has talked about play style, like that they are committed to this in some regard because they have to be with Sam Darnold as quarterback. What do you think about the projection, though, that I gave? I mean, I think that the projection is reasonable that it's if it's a Baker Mayfield nine and eight, that means there were some serious ups and downs because Baker Mayfield, people acted like because he won a playoff game that he had this unbelievable season. I think they were 20th in offense. I mean, even when you go back to – Their run game was terrible.

Right, yeah. But, I mean, even Mayfield, maybe he was like 15th in quarterback rating or something, 15th to 17th in PFF grade. I mean, it's not like he had this MVP type of season. He had a really fun throw it up to mike evans and chris godwin those players sound similar to what the vikings have here and uh o'connell reiterated that it's not going to be too serious for jordan addison and his ankle so we can count on him probably for week one and that he's going to have this opportunity to throw

to those guys a lot but he's also going to have some really bad games and some big mistakes that are costly and they have good enough and we'll talk about the defense is good enough defense good enough scheme good enough players around him to be in the conversation still as they go down the stretch for a playoff spot but I think that's probably the ceiling where the ceiling was different with J.J. McCarthy because I don't think the wins and losses were different, but the excitement level was different. A nine and eight season with Sam Darnold could be really entertaining, but I don't think it's like the future is so bright. That's what it would have been if it was a JJ McCarthy, not to kick y'all while you're down, but that's just the fact of the matter. Um, so I think that you're being

reasonable also with CJ ham. the last time they had a good running game they used CJ Hamm all the last times that they had there was 2019 2020 and 2021 they had good running games and he was a big part of the Kubiak style the Kevin Stefanski style once they didn't use him it wasn't the same that's kind of their edge because no one is prepared for a fullback and a Josh Oliver but it really comes down to the running back last year was not a fit for the scheme and just was very bad the running back is good what we've seen of Aaron Jones has been extremely extremely impressive so far but the interior offensive line also has to be good as well and I don't have a lot of confidence

still in those guards until we really see them do it. And I think that group has to be good beyond just the protection. From a blocking standpoint, both on the ground and in protection, like as we've – I think you've learned and I've learned and it's become pretty obvious, like there is more on Garrett Bradbury's shoulders here in terms of pre-snap, assessing fronts, assessing coverages, assessing when to change the cadence, protections. There's more on his shoulders and the offensive line's shoulders than there has been because Kirk Cousins, I mean,

he pretty much commanded that entire unit. Like if he saw something, it seemed like, listen to Garrett talk about it the other day, Kirk made the calls, we trusted Kirk, that's how it went. And I'm sure there was a little trial and error there, but it felt like Kirk was running the show and everything was kind of at his whim. Whereas now Sam Darnold, who is trying to learn this complex playbook system that took Kirk Cousins into the season still trying to learn,

has removed some from the overall scope of what you'd have to learn in terms of protection and cadence and all that and and Garrett Bradbury's assumed some of that role so that Sam could just focus on concepts and and developing rhythm with Justin Jefferson and all that stuff so uh beyond just run blocking and and holding up in pass protection, that interior group has more on its shoulders from a mental football aptitude standpoint. And to me, for me, like they have to prove that they are capable of taking that onus that is now on them and turning that into a positive. Like I need to see that. And out here, it's a different deal, of course, obviously.

Like, I mean, you don't fully get to see everything, and that browns front is menacing. But, yeah, I mean, I think they're going to have stuff to work through in that regard on that unit, which is an important one. Folks, U.S. Cellular noticed that the way we use our phones has gotten ironic. We try to put our phones has gotten ironic. We try to put our phones down for dinner, but the menu is on a QR code. That's ironic. We hit like on social media posts that we don't actually like. Ironic.

Which is why US Cellular created Us Mode to help us reconnect with each other and use our phones less ironically. A phone company wanting people to use their phones less ironic let's find us again with us mode from us cellular visit us cellular.com slash built for us to get started in that i just need to see it in real games i mean i just of course they were going to look bad against the Browns at times. I thought that they had some good reps in the red zone against the Browns today. That was a lot different, I think, than yesterday as far as the offensive line went. But I can't tell you.

I mean, what's the difference with a guard between giving up three pressures a game in two and at the end of the year, that's a huge difference between a top-notch player and an average or a mediocre player I can't tell that from here whether Blake Brandel has not taken anything but first team reps that's what I know they haven't mixed anybody else in and that's all I can really tell you is that they must trust him enough but when you're run blocking in a real game versus even in a joint practice and the running back can get tackled or not get tackled that's easier to see the result than today or it's like maybe he would have bounced it outside or maybe he was in the right spot and this in this case I truly don't know was he

supposed to hit the linebacker was he supposed to do something else so we're going to find out when it comes to that if the run game is good the ceiling is higher because you can play everything off that and I think Sam Darnold needs it really a lot in order for this thing to succeed. Now, just real quick, this is the Purple Insider podcast, but it's also the Alec Lewis show. This is a joint podcast, by the way. This has never happened in Purple Insider history. Maybe not. You can't prove that it has. Where two podcasters have recorded the same podcast and both put it on their podcast feed, it may be illegal, but we're going to do it. So that means what I'm going to do here is now I'm going to hand it over to you.

If you haven't checked out The Alec Lewis Show, by the way, it's Alec's new podcast. Make sure you go download it. Check it out on YouTube. I already clicked don't recommend channel when it popped up in my feed. You and everyone else who watched it. I was going to say, I think that's what you're supposed to do. So, okay, now you host. Now your turn.

Now you ask me what do you want. You didn't tell me when you were going to turn it over. I know. So this is like Kevin O'Connell. I'm going to keep you on your toes. It's like Kevin O'Connell calling a play that was not on the play sheet. It's to keep me on my toes and keep me preparing. No, I'm glad you did it.

Let's talk about the defense for a little bit. What stood out to you? What are you most excited about when you watch what's possible with this defense, with this new personnel? Well, number one, what stood out to me here was everyone was good for them. I mean, it was just a great couple of days. Now, I saw Amari Cooper go back to the room. That changes things because he says he's one of the best players in the entire NFL so that I'm sure hurt them in the same way that it did the Vikings losing Jordan Addison

but at the same time the entire front seven was causing and Blake Cashman has a finger injury I guess he's going to get a underwinter procedure stitches though but when you say underwent procedure i didn't want to tweet that because i thought oh that sounds like his finger fell off stitches and kevin said he'd be good to go yeah okay he's a linebacker if a finger caused him problems what kind of linebacker would he be i'm calling you out blake yeah what are you talking what do you know yeah now you're taking my host thing and you're just calling out Blake Cashman, the linebacker? Who's this guest on your show, on the Alec Lewis Show, calling out linebackers? No, truly, though, Ivan Pace had an interception today.

He looks great, I got to say. He looks bigger to me, not taller, but he looks thicker and more explosive this year than he did last year when he was just coming out of college. He really took it seriously this year. We haven't talked about him a lot because we just assume that he's good. I saw confusion on the face of Deshaun Watson over and over and over again today. And remember, this is a closed practice, so we're seeing the scheme. It's not like in front of the fans just going with the base stuff.

You know what I was surprised by, though, over these two days was the interior of the d line i'm not suggesting that over 17 games they're going to be above average but i thought they had a good time with this browns offensive line now i went and watched some browns podcasts to see what they thought and they were complaining non-stop about the line so maybe maybe it's that but van ginkle dallas turner had one hell of a pass rush today i was gonna bring it up he put his hands on a man and drove all the way back into deshaun watson he showed the power not just the quickness he really showed the power it has been a great run for dallas turner andrew van ginkle i mentioned on the show uh yesterday was really really good in practice yesterday i just think that this defense

is a lot more talented than it was last year even despite the issues at cornerback and today Kevin O'Connell reiterated it sounds to me let me just paraphrase we want you Stefan Gilmore would you please sign with us am I viewing that wrong he's a player we really respect. We really love him. He has the relationship. We're going to keep in communication with him. He smells great. Here's the deal, though, with Stephon Gilmer, and maybe I'll get your take on this.

If you are a 33-year-old as accomplished as he is, why would you not wait for the market to potentially need – for teams in the NFL to have cornerback injuries to where your services are needed more than they are right now? And why would you show up to training camp this early if you don't have to? Like, yes, the guy's going to be in shape. He's Stephon Gilmer. He knows what to do to get his body right.

But, I mean, what do you think about that? And he's also got money. I mean, he's made his money during his career. It's not like if it's $3 million or or seven million that he's going to be like oh man well you know I really need that extra couple I think I don't know how he manages today signed for like 8.1 million I saw which is probably in the ballpark of what you'd have to pay for Stefan Gilmore and that's there's no downside to it if they really want him to be here. But I agree with your main point, which is at this point in his career, he may have family considerations where he wants to play in a certain city.

He may have money considerations that someone else might come in with a bigger offer. So I was making fun of that, but that's also possible. But what's the most likely is either family or Super Bowl. And I don't think the Vikings, at least as of this moment, fit into either one. I think, is he from South Carolina? That's where he played? I believe so, yeah.

Okay, so you're talking about quite a ways away from here. And then also a team that, if you look at the Vegas odds, is what, 6.5 or 7 win team? They probably have the 25th best odds to win the Super Bowl. And by the way, their super exciting young quarterback just got injured for the year. That doesn't scream to me 34 year old player maybe he just wants to keep playing and he's going to go on from here and keep playing and so he'll eventually decide yes he wants to come here but I'm I just would think that at his age there's other considerations

because it sounds to me like the Vikings are going to put the dollars on the table to get him, and they're going to give him a lot of, you know, pats on the back and we want you here and everything, but I don't know if it's actually going to happen or not. Well, you mentioned, I mean, I was thinking today as I watched Andrew Van Ginkle look as good, I mean, he's healthy. He looks as good as I expected him to look. I thought at the time of that signing, pairing him again with Brian Flores in this scheme, in a place that's near his home, for a guy who, if you look at pressure rates over the last couple years,

he ranks, depending on how you qualify it, he ranks very highly from a pressure rate standpoint. And then PFF has him as like the highest graded coverage edge rush in the entire NFL. So I've thought for a long time that he would be as effective as it looked like he was out there today. And then Dallas Turner, the rush you mentioned, and then going back to Saturday and how he looked against the Raiders,

that group has really excited me. So I thought today, like, you know, if you added another lockdown cornerback who can play man coverage and Shaq Griffin is back healthy as they're expecting him to be for the season, like, I mean, I'll ask you, what does this defense, like, what is the ceiling and floor for the defense at that point? If you were to add a player like him on the edge and play man coverage,

which Justin Jefferson just kind of admitted, like, we don't really ever see man coverage, even though they've talked about wanting to play it more he kind of just said that um but what like what would you say as a ceiling and floor for the defense if you could add a player like that at cornerback so maybe not putting so much emphasis on the schedule because I do think the schedule has a lot of really good quarterbacks and right out of the gate a lot of really good offenses overall but taking the totality of the season they lot of really good offenses overall but taking the totality of the season they play Tennessee they play Jacksonville teams like that I think that

the ceiling of this defense and it also could be a little bit high on the defense and this offense isn't that great their offensive line isn't that great and their quarterback hasn't been great in a long time now still i think that i would probably put it in the top eight it would be their ceiling i don't think it can quite be in the top five now i was looking back uh miami in 2020 was sixth and they went i think 10 and 6 that year with a very mediocre offense maybe the 15th best offense in the league and i don't think that's a ridiculous thing that could happen here i was actually saying to a friend of the show tyler dunn who does go long buffalo guy

like myself and we were talking and i said i think this team's gonna win games 17 to 14 i mean it just i know that you know sam darnold's probably gonna have his ups and downs but they may have to win games defensively i just thought as much as we've talked about the injuries on the offensive side with mccarthy and now addison getting banged up if griffin does come back as kevin o'connell has insisted he will by week one and morrow maybe whether they bring in gilmore or not i'm not sure that might change the ceiling but everything at every other position is so good they probably have like nine players who are a B or higher caliber player and two

cornerback starters that are a C or less the safeties are I mean that first day out here I remember Cam Bynum I mean incredible read deflects a pass in the middle of the field I believe Josh Metellus had an interception today. Those guys are just so versatile. I don't know what you think about this, but Harrison Smith, to me, he looks maybe more athletic than I remember him looking last year. I don't know. It just stood out to me. To me, he's always cerebral enough to where he's going to put himself

in optimal situations. But this year, for some reason, his command out there just looks like a different deal. And maybe that will be proven to be very false months from now. But that room as a whole just gives me so much confidence, especially because of just how much of a role they have from a communication aspect to it. To me, they are kind of the hub of what Brian Flores wants to do. And then you pair them with Ivan Pace Jr., who will also have a pretty big role in communication.

And there's just a lot of continuity. Brian Flores, I just have a lot of trust in with how much he can affect opposing teams, even if the quarterbacks are better. So it's an interesting unit in a way that, like, I've been skeptical because of the quarterbacks, better so it's it's an interesting unit in a way that like I've been skeptical because of the cornerbacks and I still am but if you were to add there it turns into like the obvious identity of the team which it became last year after Kirk got hurt well and that's part of it too is that Brian Flores has been able to build this thing in his own identity as opposed to just taking on these players he's been able to have an entire year with Metellus an entire year with Cam Bynum

who I agree has been one of their better players in all of training camp I think that he's emerged as someone who went from you know well they drafted Louis Seen thinking that he wasn't going to be anything and then all of a sudden he wins the job and two years later he's considered a really good player in this defense it's just that when you look at the starting lineup outside of corner defensive tackle is pretty meaty in there and they don't get after the quarterback a lot but tillery is better than what they had last year and he's been pretty good since he survived the revived the cleating of 2024 thank goodness uh but uh but uh i mean i think overall it is a a deeper team than it's been it's probably the best defensive unit they've had since 2019 and then when you know the guy who's calling the plays that's really big for them and i and i think when

we talk about the overall ceiling of this team that we're always kind of fluctuating back and forth, what could it be? If they do take on a different identity, one that Kevin O'Connell has not had with Kirk Cousins, but more of a play action, run, play defense, take the ball away on defense, and maybe if they get some fumbles go their way this year and not the other way, then you could see them being a team that other teams don't want to face because that's what Miami became once he was able to build that defense and his vision.

I think they went from his first year, they were like 32nd. Yeah, it was like. And the second year they were sixth. And this is year two for Flores with a lot more talent. So health is going to be a big deal. How the corners play is going to be a big deal. But these last two days, they were just phenomenal. They were just straight up dominant. So, I mean, maybe it's a little too much because of what we just saw, but it to be a big deal. But these last two days, they were just phenomenal.

Just straight-up dominant. So, I mean, maybe it's a little too much because of what we just saw, but it was really a dominant performance. The red zone possession that ended practice where it was Jameis Winston. I mean, he was just sailing. It looked like some of his passes were landing, like, in the facility. It didn't go well, no. He had no time. Even when he did have time he looked

quite affected by it but I mean you mentioned the interior the defensive line and the two things that I think will be worth watching is what is their stunt usage look like this year compared to last year I've seen a lot of looping in and a lot of pressure generated off that even in the game Saturday against the Raiders that's been a constant theme the other off that, even in the game Saturday against the Raiders. That's been a constant theme. The other thing I saw today in the red zone is they really, like, and I don't know if it was just third downs, but I think it was all downs where they took Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard off the field,

and their defensive front was just Ward, Jihad Ward, Patrick Jones II, Andrew Van Ginkle, Dallas Turner, Jonathan Grenard. Like, they had them all out there. They had them, it was like field goal block where they were all lined up in the line of scrimmage. And obviously the Browns weren't running the football in those situations, so it made more sense to do that. But Brian Flores got creative with the personnel last year,

and when you have the amount of edge rushers that they have right now and guys of different sizes like a Jihad Ward is, I expect more creativity probably for in that regard which makes i don't know i think you it makes you a little friskier in on that unit that uh besides cornerback would probably be the one area that you'd be like man they don't have total juice in that regard well and john ward has kind of been an interesting guy because he is a little bit of a mix between a defensive tackle and defensive end because he's so freaking large gigantic so he can do that their package where they put in for third downs they got basically all defensive ends going

in there and or edge rushers and they can have them kind of go wild with a lot of different creativity for flores and i guess i'm just becoming more sold on the entire operation and the flexibility of it and also the vision coming to life with Flores to believe that they could survive the early part of the season because they're going to have some good defensive performances and that you know you're going to face good quarterbacks as well but maybe you get into slug fests with those teams and you are playing a little more of a low-scoring style because I think this defense, as of right now, unless it changes health-wise, which it always can,

is going to be quite good. Now, I know you've got to catch a flight soon. Very soon. Let me throw this out there to you. We can't close this out. I don't know what's coming. You should. You should. The Vikings closed out their joint practices here with will reichert five for five bang bang bang bang and then from way downtown i don't know how many yards it was this is like 50

52 bang over the top of the goal posts almost almost. This dude is just crushing training camp. He's missed two kicks the entire offseason. The entire offseason. He's like 25 or 27, something in that range. Are you surprised? Yeah, a little. He's a sixth-round kicker. I don't know.

He had a good history. Now, I get the history that the listeners who are – they're probably like, you're an idiot because you don't know what we've been through. Stop hyping the kicker. Yes. He's going our hearts yeah we've heard it my whole story was essentially alabama i'm from alabama alabama as the people who listen to the alec lewis show hopefully know by now are you talking about all the time because i've definitely heard on the show yeah um yeah uh alabama's kicker situation for like 15 years under Nick Saban, people thought it was cursed. People were like, Nick Saban can recruit all of these NFL guys, Mark Cooper, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, TJ Yeldon. I don't know what Derek Henry, Mark Ingram. I mean, it was nonstop,

but we can't recruit a kicker. Like that was always the idea. And Will Reichard, who wasn't going to go to Alabama, he didn't grow up an Alabama fan. I think part of the reason he went to Alabama beyond wanting to be close to family was like enough of this crap. Like I'm going to change the tide. And he did change the tide. That was no pun intended, but pretty good. And six years he set the record above Daniel Carlson of the most leading scorer in college football.

And it's so funny. When you sit down and talk to him, like, he's a very, as all kickers are, he's very interesting. But there is, like, this quiet confidence of, like, I know I'm good. I know this is going to work. And then when you watch him kick, it's just, I've compared it. It's like it would be like standing behind Scotty Scheffler on the range. It's just like ball flight's perfect. The fluidity's perfect.

He's such a small guy, but the power seems to be there. It has been – I tweeted it per usual because it's just I expect it. Now, at some point in week one in New York, he misses the game. You're going to clip this and be like, you're an idiot, which I am, and that will be great. But it's been – I mean, he is just money i got a theory i got a theory about will reichard you want to hear my theory i guess all right so you know how baseball pitchers when uh i was young if you threw 96 miles an hour oh my god i mean you were like a superstar you were roger clemens would

throw 96 it was unbelievable and then all of a sudden internet comes around specialists come around and biochemistry comes around it comes around and all these things for the biochemistry now every pitcher understands this is exactly the most efficient way to do it you mentioned scotty scheffler he's got a little bit of a weird swing but with the golf swing like john rom these guys he's an example of a guy who's like gotten biomechanically assessed they understand exactly how to create the most speed for the club the most speed for the arm to the point where it rips their arms off I think that Will Reichard grew up in an era where he had all this stuff special training

video analysis all that stuff from the time he was six years old I think he's coming from a different place than a lot of the kickers who have been in the NFL for a long time and he is part of an era of guys who throw 104 as opposed to 96 it's just different batters who now strike the ball to hit home runs as opposed to your line drive hitter he's part of a different generation and when I see him kick I the ball looks different than any other kicker I've ever covered the amount of distance and height it's just you know what I'm talking about. The way that it goes, a 52-yard field goal should not go over the top of the goalpost. It's so perfect.

And right down the middle. But here's the one thing I will say about him. If he stinks, then please bring that back up to me. That'll be the funniest, because that sounded really smart. No, the theory is accurate. I mean, I do think there is more being done from a technological development aspect than ever before and that he grew up in this era but but the one thing I think there's a lot of guys who are tape tailor-made to with their biomechanics and and the

way they swing the ball to to to boot the ball for power and accuracy. But the thing for him, I think it's almost like a muscle memory, like a Steph Curry muscle memory where it's like some guys – He's Roger Clemens. He's Steph Curry. He's Scotty Scheffler. No, but you know what I'm saying where like there is a muscle memory aspect that I don't know if you can develop that. And then there's – to me with him, just watching him kick in big games,

there is like a psychological ability to withstand that may or may not come up just from what he's been through from an adversity standpoint but there is like a you can't touch me there's nothing about this pressurized 100,000 people environment that can that can affect the job that I'm out to do right here that that that I think he has now the nfl is different every sunday you're the best of the worst um the the the narratives will go crazy yeah but to me i think over time we will see that that that aspect separates him at a way that even though he does strike the ball incredibly impressively um i think that that aspect exists too you know what he has too he has nerd swag you know where like you know you get uh the kid who's top of class but he knows it

and he walks around like yeah that's right i'm the i'm the best at this and that's how he walks i think i heard in one of those final kicks i i'm pretty sure it was justin jefferson like let's go will i'm thinking like justin's yelling at will reicher but i just think there is kind of like a this guy is is him like type thing let me tell you something funny and then i want you to put a bow on these last two days before you go to the airport okay i was standing next to justin jefferson so he came off the field after he made a catch and a red zone drill and he walked over and he was standing next to me and i said good catch and he said thank you and then lucky jackson caught one right in front of us and he sort of next to me and I said good catch and he said thank you and then Lucky Jackson caught one right in front of us and he sort of charged forward to celebrate Lucky Jackson's catch

and there was a cord there that he tripped over for a second and he went like like this and caught himself and then was like yeah Lucky let's go and he walked back over because it was I was near the water and I said there is a cord there we do not need this okay like you watch that right there so this close to justin jefferson celebrating a lucky jackson reception wish you hadn't and tearing everything in his knee it's a delicate situation but i just thought that was it went through my mind i would have been standing right here for like the worst moment in vikings almost history uh i want you to put a bow on the whole thing that there was and take as long as you need miss the flight if you have to thank you uh but two days a lot of work for this team and now we're in the final stretch this is it i mean the preseason game sorry to friends and family of the

third stringers doesn't really matter the other preseason game really doesn't matter this is it this is the big peak of camp and now we're on to the kind of final stretch here so uh what will you be thinking about on your flight back to Minnesota you know oh man I'll be I'll probably be thinking about over the last two years and covering this team and you've been here a lot longer than I have but they have navigated a lot of adversity and I know in every building guys get hurt there are years where your superstar wide receiver and your quarterback gets hurt there are years where cornerbacks tear acls i mean but i just um i really felt last year once they bounced back from the one and three start which i believe it was after a lot of the turnovers like their response from that until kurt cousins towards

achilles was like the ultimate test of what they've talked a lot about in terms of the guys we bring in here, the culture, all that stuff. And I, it was, I mean, for me covering the NFL, it's not something they talked about in baseball all the time, but it was something I really was like, you know what? Like, I'm not sure if I put enough into like the chemistry of this stuff and how much it matters. And so given all that they've been through this year um and what we've seen this week with with the jj news and obviously totally different situation with the kairi jackson tragedy like to me if they are to perform just given all that's happened and compete in a against a schedule that is really tough me, it will be the ultimate test of, like, the metal, M-E-T-T-L-E, of what kind of this building and some of these guys in this locker

room is about. And, like, we could talk about the run game and the offensive line and defensively if they can perform, but I really do think it is, like, do these guys have the grit, to use a word like that um are they are they led with that type of quality that allows them to transcend what i think a lot of us probably believe uh is is likely to happen just given given how many hits there were like look was sam donald always going to start probably week one yes like i think everybody who covers the team has been around was going to do that but even then there was like a positivity that i think there was like a positivity that I think is almost like a wind at your back uh type of thing in your sails that they were going to benefit from with the hype around JJ and so to not have that again to me it just it places more

on the Harrison Smiths the Josh Metellus's obviously the Kevin O'Connell's too like can we lift this boat amid the tide? And so it's just been – it's a gut punch. It's been gut punch after gut punch, really. And I've given them credit for the way they've handled it. But it's going to be tough sledding. And so, yeah, I really – I know that's kind of a rambling way of going about it. But to me, it's just – if this season ends and they go 9-8 or they go even, I don't know, 8-9,

if they go 9-7, whatever, I know I'm throwing out these random records. 9-7 probably can't happen. 10-7. To me, it will be the ultimate testament of just kind of the quality of people and ability to withstand in that building. And to me i do think it's in there but it's good it is is not going to be an easy path yeah you know i think i walk away thinking about of course the weight that this organization is carrying with kairi jackson

and almost with jj mccarthy you could see how people's reaction is different than maybe it would have been i think it would have been much more dour, much more down. Most guys have said, oh, he's going to be in the building. He's 22. It's going to be all right. That whole thing, people say all the time, well, put it in perspective for me. But I think it does. I think it did for everyone with what happened with Kyrie, that the real perspective is that he's still going to be the franchise quarterback going forward.

But still, with that on top of it and as promising as mckay blackman was to have these injuries every year there are injuries but these ones were especially difficult and then with what happened with kairi jackson i mean last home game they have his family in and they're you know his little brothers walking out onto the field i mean these are really difficult emotional moments that I think they have a very good coach to guide them through. I would agree. Because Kevin O'Connell is very positive-minded. I think that's how he always approaches these things.

But then I kind of came back to, you know what, this season in itself is all going to depend on whether Sam Darnold throws that correct pass to the tight end for a first down or launches it to Justin Jefferson for an incompletion because he's insane and that's the hard part about all narratives with all teams this will come down to whether they can get the most out of Sam Darnold if the defense gets them in a lot of games maybe they have a chance if they aren't as good as we thought they were this week then they won't but the way Sam Darnold looked at his best today versus at his worst today was so wide that I thought this can kind of go one way or the other and a lot of it's just going to rest on those shoulders and that's not what you wanted for this year what you wanted was he's a just in case JJ isn't ready he's also a guy you can easily pull and never feel bad about it.

And now it's, you're the guy, pal. And he's never been the guy to the point where he's taken a team to the playoffs. This is going to have to buck all of his previous history, and that's pretty daunting for a team that's already went through it. So I thought, if the offense looks like this, they won't make the playoffs. That's just how it's going to be. If they play like they did in these two practices, they won't make the playoffs. That's just how it's going to be. If they play like they did in these two practices, they will not make the playoffs, period.

I'll say this, though. With Darnold, and I agree with what you said. The highs are high and the lows are really low in terms of just watching him on the practice field. But this was always going to be like, I think a lot of his views, this is probably his last true opportunity to like, can he make this happen? And now there is not that fallback option for them.

So it's like, you are the front face. This rides on you. And so for him, I mean, like he was always going to have to prove it. And if he did play well, it was going to prove a lot. But to me, it's even more now. Like, can you be the guy in this circumstance? And, I mean playoffs yeah to me with the schedule that came out and and just looking through it it was always

to me going to be really tough sledding but um yeah I mean it's the defense though does give you some really like Brian Flores sometimes you would sit and watch and you're like, how would anyone sort through this? So that's – we will find out. All right. From the cross-country mortgage campus in Berea or Berea. Even Kevin O'Connell wasn't sure. Berea, Berea. I don't need to come back to Berea anytime soon. I don't either.

This was – It was fine. There's a – we went to IHOP. So, no offense. Shout out IHOP. The Alec Lewis Show is your podcast. That is it. You may be hearing it here if anyone is subscribed yet.

And we'll see you back in Minnesota. Thanks for your time so much, Alec. We'll see you back there. It was fun. And thanks, everybody, for watching slash listening. Football.