Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings camp Day 9: McCarthy's best day in pads gets chippy (Part 1)

Episode Date: August 3, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about the Vikings' 9th camp practice, which ended up having several pushing matches break out, one including McCarthy

Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here. And I got to tell you, this was one of those days where I could not wait to get home, fire up the live stream and talk football with all of you guys, because a lot of stuff happened at Minnesota Vikings training camp today. And I had a feeling yesterday because it was a fairly light practice with pads. And this was going to be a very, very physical practice because tomorrow I believe

is going to be a walkthrough. And then Monday night is the night practice. It's been hot out there. The guys have been hitting each other quite a bit. They probably all need a preseason game at this point. And as camp does sometimes things boiled over a little bit today. So I want to dive into exactly what happened with a, I want to, I wouldn't call it, call it quite a melee or a fracas or fracas, however you say it. But I would definitely say that there was a lot of pushing and shoving. There was a lot of angry words exchanged and there was also some guys that

were pretty pumped up about this team and the way that they responded and backed up each other. And that begins with quarterback JJ McCarthy. So I'm going to tell you about the biggest moment, the most notable moment and one that honestly, if JJ McCarthy becomes what the Minnesota Vikings want him to become, we're going to talk about this one for years. This will become JJ McCarthy lore. If he takes them where the Vikings are trying to go.

So let me take it through you through it. So throughout the practice, there was just pushing and shoving in general because they have gotten very physical with each other offensive, a defensive line. I'm sure the offensive line has heard about how the defense has pushed them around. And so there were some back and forth there between different players, Brian awesome. While we fries. They got into it. A couple other guys. They kind of came together. Then they broke it up. So then later on in practice, they had a run play where JJ McCarthy hands off to Aaron Jones. Now keep in mind, Aaron Jones had been hit a couple times pretty hard today, which is not something that anybody really wants to see. And Tyler Batty, who is an undrafted free agent from BYU, he got free.

Nobody blocked him. And rather than just stopping the play, uh, Tyler Batty smacked Aaron Jones. Like took him to the ground in pretty much a full tackle. So what happened after that was immediately JJ McCarthy jumped into the play and gave a big shove to Tyler Batty. And then of course, offense defense, they're coming in, they're yelling at each other, they're getting after it. But what you saw there was no hesitation from JJ McCarthy to go after a defensive end outside linebacker for hitting his guy and crossing the line at practice. And just to give you a little bit of a visual,

I think what I could describe it as is sort of like when you're watching hockey and somebody gets run and then their teammate is right there and immediately the gloves fly up. Like there was no hesitation. There wasn't a second in between it. There was no thinking about it. JJ McCarthy handed off, turned around, saw Aaron Jones get taken to the ground and then jumped right in to attack Tyler Batty for going too far on his teammate. Now they got it all broken up.

Everybody went to their sides of the field and there were several conversations from the coaching staff with the players. So far as I know, I didn't see anyone thrown out and I didn't see any real punches thrown. I mean, Will Fries and Brian Osimaw were kind of pawing at each other, but I wouldn't say that they were really, you know, taking helmets off or anything like that. And the same goes for McCarthy getting into it. But what McCarthy did today was something that I've never seen a quarterback in a practice do. I have seen guys go too far with physical play.

I've seen coaches get upset. I've seen players throw blows, uh, Xavier Rhodes and Stefan digs one time got into it so much to the point that they did a joint apology press conference after, uh, joint practices always seem to have at least one person who just can't stay behind that line, perpetual line steppers. Uh, and you know, awesome. Why seems to be that kind of guy. Um, but for JJ McCarthy to get in the face of another player and put hands on another player was something that I did not expect to see, but what you guys are thinking about this is the same thing that I'm thinking about this is that says

something about JJ McCarthy. And when we talk about the guys, competitiveness, the guy's attitude, how much of a leader he is out there, how much everybody looks to him, how people have talked about him as kind of a dog and, you know, somebody who they want to follow. It's hard when he hasn't played actual football games to pinpoint moments of where that is. You know, he's got the one preseason game. He's had some good practices in the past, but you know, where's the proof?

Where is the proof that, uh, you know, JJ McCarthy is that guy that everybody is looking to and he's the leader that everybody likes. And he kind of just reminds me a little bit of Philip rivers in the way that he carries himself with that extra level of fire, where, I mean, he's dapping people up and he's being a good teammate and he's being nice. But as soon as that line was crossed, he was willing to jump right into that thing and start pushing and shoving. Uh, even, you know,

when there was guys who are six foot, seven and 300 pounds whose job that is to do a lot of the pushing and shoving. So this was a cool moment for JJ McCarthy and it wasn't something that you could script or it wasn't something that you could, you know, try to do like, Oh, I'm going to do this. So I look like a leader or I look like a dog or that kind of thing. It was one that just, it's flipped in his head and maybe it's because he played hockey at some point in his career that that's not cool. And there's been a lot of pushing and shoving.

And so I'm going to get into it myself. And I thought that, you know, if you're a coach watching that, if you're a teammate seeing that, and I looked at, as this thing was going on, I looked at Jonathan Grinard and he was basically fist pumping. Like he, he loved it. He loved what was going on. That the competitiveness of this team has been taken up a notch. I also think too, that, um, maybe over the first couple of years, or at least

the first year under Kevin O'Connell, first two, uh, their practices were probably lacking in intensity a little bit. I do not think that's been the case over the last two years. I think that O'Connell realized that yes, you want to keep people safe, but this is also the national football league. It's an aggressive environment and sometimes you gotta turn it up a little bit, uh, when it comes to how many 11 on 11s, how much

pads, how much hitting, how much aggressiveness, and you have to tow the line a little bit when it comes to that. I think that the next time we're going to hear from Kevin O'Connell is Monday before the night practice. And I'm sure that that will still be on people's minds of JJ McCarthy getting into the muck there with, uh, one of his teammates and defending one of his teammates. But, you know, I think the takeaway is very clear here. We don't have to work hard on it. It's a, it's cool.

It's a cool moment. It's a cool moment for him. It's a cool moment for the team to see him do that, to see him show that type of fire. And here's the other thing too, that that will be the thing we remember from this practice because it was so different. I mean, I never saw Sam Bradford, Sam Darnold, or, I mean, you've maybe heard of a couple of quarterbacks through the years who have got into it

with somebody, usually it might be a cornerback for talking too much smack or something, but they're usually not going after guys who are six foot five and 260 or 70 pounds like Tyler Batty. But it made sense because they hadn't just hit Aaron Jones once they had hit Aaron Jones multiple times, which is something that nobody wants to see and the defense was pushing it too far. Honestly, I think that the defense has been pushing it a little bit on the edge for the entire training camp. And today felt like the offense got a little bit tired of all that and pushed back. But if the offense had pushed back and there had been pushing and shoving everything else and they weren't good, then none of this would really matter for them. It would kind of make them look silly.

But this was also paired with JJ McCarthy's best practice of the year from start to finish. So I want to take you through just what that looked like and some of the throws and some of the things that I noticed from my notebook today on JJ McCarthy, uh, in day four, he was really good at throwing the football down the field and we can, uh, came off saying McCarthy had shined, but that was without pads. So there wasn't any real pass rush that he was facing today. Clearly, uh, since there was, you know, pushing and shoving and chippiness, there was pads and so this was his best practice, I think by a country mile when it came to, uh, the pads and just a few of the throws that, that stood out really right from the start, it

looked like McCarthy was ready to go, um, because the whole thing about touch passes and layering and like, uh, I hope that I just never have to say layering again after this training camp. But it has been a thing that McCarthy, every time he's talked since OTA's mini camp, he's talked about when you don't throw for as long as he didn't throw, it's hard to get that back instantly. And it's something that he's really been focusing on day in and day out is these touch passes, the right arc.

It matters. Every single detail matters in the NFL. There's so much less space. The other team is moving so quickly, etc, etc. So layering matters. We maybe we can make shirts like layer that ball JJ or something because it just over and over again. But I'm watching for it every single day.

Is he putting touch on the ball when he's throwing it down the field? And one of his first throws was a dead on perfect timing, accurate, drop the ball up over the defender right into the hands of Jordan Addison. Uh, sometimes on the sideline, I'm trying to count the yards, 10, 20, 30. I had about 30 yards down the field to Jordan Addison to start the practice. And that just seemed like it really got everything off on the right foot for JJ McCarthy when he made that throw.

So then they went to, uh, that was ones versus twos, I believe. And then they went to a ones versus ones in seven on seven. And this was the best period of practice that I've seen from JJ McCarthy so far seven on seven. I think one ball hit the floor, uh, hit the grass, but I don't think it was because of an inaccurate pass. I think it either got broken up or maybe was one that Jalen Naylor should have brought in. Uh, there has been a few times during camp so far that I have had that same thought of, Oh, that was Jalen Naylor. Had it been Justin Jefferson, he's going to go up and moss that thing.

Uh, so there was one pass like that. Every other pass hit its intended target. He had a line drive throw to Jordan Addison, a completion to Jalen Naylor that was along the sideline that was a little bit short. And Kevin O'Connell came over, had a conversation with him, but still was a completion throwing to the right space and finding Jalen Naylor. And then I thought the best throw of the day from And then I thought the best throw of the day from JJ McCarthy was they ran a seam route for Josh Oliver, who has looked fantastic. I always think Josh Oliver looks great, but he has looked really, really good in this camp.

So he's running a seam route and McCarthy reads it and rips it and hits him. I mean, 2530 yards down field, dead on the hands. And after that play, Kevin O'Connell, and if you've watched enough Kevin O'Connell on the sidelines, what is his go-to move when he's really pumped when he's really pumped? Does he go for a high five? Does he go for a fist bump? Does he go for a, you know, where you jump up and hit shoulders together?

No, the low five is what belongs to Kevin O'Connell. She, she shows the big low five and brings it in. Well, that's what JJ McCarthy caught after that throw. That's the point in camp. We are, by the way, is that I'm studying, uh, body language from KOC for how much he liked to throw. But this one was really exceptional. It had the exact right arc, the right speed, perfect accuracy, 30 yards, 25 yards down the field, and just so much comfort in throwing the football from JJ McCarthy today had a couple of more completions when it came to, um, you know, the later period. And then there was the one where Jeff Okuda may have knocked it away or

it may have been nail or not bringing in. It was a deep ball that you would expect a superstar receiver to bring in, but maybe not nailer. And then later in practice, he had one more that was really, really good as things were getting a little bit edgy out there. He threw a back corner fade to Jordan Addison. And again, it was one of those that took touch where he dropped back. And this one was 11 on 11 in the red zone.

So a lot of bodies there and just looped it up over the defender. Addison goes up. I want to say it was a Maya Vaughn that he made the catch over. Uh, it was just a, a great play by Jordan Addison, a first round pick star player kind of catch, but also a very, very nice throw by Jordan Addison. So I think, uh, what's the wind up on the low five. It's, it's kind of, it's almost like a golf swing. Like he brings it way back and then way low, almost like he's hitting a, a six iron or something.

But that's usually when O'Connell is very excited. I think that, you know, it was kind of funny to stand on the sideline after practice today as guys were walking off and not a lot of guys talked after practice today, it was really long, it was really long. And the coaches and players had families out there today. So, you know, we'll probably have a lot more conversations tomorrow, but a lot of, uh, you know, Brian O'Neill said like that was sick. Um, Jonathan Grinard said, you know,

made a comment about how pumped up he was about it. Uh, Flores walked off the field with a big grin on his face. This team wants it. And the quarterback wants it. Grinard wants it. The quarterback wants it. Granard wants it. The leaders want it. And the competitiveness is the most that I've seen in a long time from this team out there. And that's been brewing. And I kind of figured at some point, it would boil over a little bit. Uh, but we have really seen that hockey slapshot. Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess you're right. It is kind of a hockey slapshot low five. Um,

but the point just being that, you know, the, the throw that he made there, and then there were probably four or five other throws that were made by JJ McCarthy that you sort of just point like that. Yep. That's the one that's the one you've been looking for. And I thought that throughout the early part of training camp, through the first handful of days, even up to yesterday, where I thought he was quite a bit better and he had bounced back. It had just been one good throw, one throw that was kind of off. Hey, that one was a rocket to somebody because he's got a strong arm and he could fit

it in, but it wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Today was the day that I thought JJ McCarthy had all the throws in his bag. The deep ball that probably should be caught by Naylor if he's Justin Jefferson and the touch throw on a fade route to the back of the end zone or to the outside, which I've been watching really closely on McCarthy, the out breaking routes, which he threw a couple of interceptions on during mini camps. So he showed improvement there and really, really good on a couple of those today. And then the grip it and rip it type of throw of you got a tight end screaming

down the middle of the field and you're going to fire that thing into Josh Oliver's hands. And I got, I honestly, I truly think that the Vikings have two of the top, maybe 12 tight ends in the NFL. Josh Oliver is really good. And if they are missing Jordan Addison for a few games at the beginning of the year, I wouldn't be surprised if they just run two tight ends

and Hawkinson is basically your slot receiver. And they do that for more than half of the game because Oliver has been so good. And when they signed him, I think a lot of people went, yeah, really? Another tight end. That's weird. And I think, uh, when they extended him, even some were like, really? You're just continuing to pay this back up tight end. I think it's going to pay off. I already think that it has that he's been very good, but this year, uh, I think there's even another level for Josh Oliver because it's, he seems to be,

uh, really performing well so far in a training camp. So I'll get, uh, all the success was not against the twos today. Some of it was Tom, some of it was, but not all of it. Um, so let me get to all my other notes about prayer. And this is what's so great about training camp is any guys, we just spent all that time right there on, on just one guy's day. And so then a bunch of other stuff happens every single day that they have a real practice pads versus pads, 11s on 11s drills and stuff, a new developments come about. And that's

what makes this really fun. Uh, so let me get to my other notes here from practice. Uh, TJ Hawkinson was taken out of practice, uh, after maybe about half, he came off limping and the rest of the day it was Giovanni Ricci and Ben Yurisak that we're mixing in at tight end. Uh, so Hawkinson is something to watch here. Looks like, now this is not me trying to play doctor. I'm just saying kind of what it looked like might've been something groin related, uh, as he walked off and he just kept trying to stretch it,

kept trying to shake it out. And he did not return to practice. Not clear how long that's going to keep him out. If it's going to keep him out, if it was just something today, we're always looking for signs of, is this bad? Is this not that bad? And Hockinson stayed out there and watch the rest of practice on the sideline. That would be an indication that maybe not that bad.

As he walked off, Andrew Kramer did ask him like, how, how are you doing? And he kind of gave him a thumbs up and said, he's going to be okay. That's really all we can really go on at this point. But the fact that they took him over to the trainer's table that they have outside and kind of looked him over a little bit, and then he stayed outside, didn't run right into the, or, you know, it wasn't carted off or anything like that, probably a good sign, but just something to watch going forward with TJ Hawkinson, if there is some sort of injury there and maybe he might miss some practice time, but not, not clear at all.

Uh, just did not look very serious from the way that everyone responded at practice. Uh, another thing that I noticed today was, uh, Jayvon Hargrave was not practicing during training camp. They don't have to give us updates. They can, if they want. And oftentimes they are nice enough to, but that's a goodness of your heart thing. Uh, or maybe I don't want to be asked about it constantly thing from coaches and not always, uh, they don't have to, like, they don't have to put out an injury

report or anything like that. So I don't know if it was just a veteran day for J Van Hargrave. I would guess that it is, but that opened the door for a lot of different guys to get first team reps. So we saw a lot of Jalen Redmond, a lot of Levi Drake Rodriguez. And this was the one that really popped out to me, a decent amount of Tyree on Ingram Dawkins and Ingram Dawkins when he was drafted. You know, the first thing that I do when

they draft the guy, if I haven't studied them, I mean, we're talking about fifth, sixth, you know, day three is I look up what NFL.com has to say. I look up what PFF has to say. I look up his pressure numbers, sack numbers, and then I look at his athletic scores and with Ingram Dawkins, when you're looking through the other stuff, you're like, wow, this guy didn't really play a ton of football. And then you get to the athletic scores and you go, Oh, what? Yeah. One of the highest athletic grades, not just this year, but even in the last 20 years, just for the combination of athletic scores versus his peers.

And I think we've really seen that from Ingram Dawkins and they've been having him play a kind of a three, four defensive end type of role. And, uh, you know, he's definitely gotten some welcome to the NFL moments from the offensive lineman. Definitely when he faced Christian Derriss off for the first time, I don't know if he's ever seen power like that, but him getting some first team rep action, um, maybe says something about where Ingram Dawkins is right now that they like his progress because he's been out there more and more as training camp has gone on. Uh, also I'll tell you a player who stands out to me every single day for his physical play and this was his kind of practice. Kobe King was everywhere today. He was in the backfield hitting running backs.

He was slamming into linemen. He was creating pressure. He was doing everything. And I just continue to be impressed with the way that Kobe King has played so far. So a good day today for the back end of a very small draft for the Minnesota Vikings. Um, Sam Howell, if you were wondering, did look a lot better today. It was certainly not perfect by any means, but Sam Howell for the first time today, to me looked like a regular backup quarterback.

He was getting the ball out a little bit faster and yesterday might have been one of those days that it's a little bit of a, Hey, you got to wake up, you got to turn a corner here, or this isn't going to go in a good direction. And we talked about that yesterday, that they might be close to picking up the cell phone and calling some other GMs and seeing about backup quarterbacks. And still Brett Rippon got some run with the tubes. And that remains a signal that they're trying to make it into a little bit of a competition

to say, Hey, you're not just gifted this job, but how had one particular throw that stood out to me where he dropped a nice like dime over the shoulder of Ty Felton and Felton had to kind of track it up over his head dropping into his hands made a really nice catch. There was another one that Felton probably should have had that he didn't catch but every day you see just a little bit of Ty Felton flash and you go oh okay and then you see a little bit of Ty Felton look like a baby deer and you, okay. And then you see a little bit of tie. Felton looked like a baby deer and you go, okay. He's going to need to continue to develop, but we're seeing the skill from Felton. He was also taking some kick returns today. And I'm wondering if they really want to lean into that for this year of giving him a shot at kick return and a Gazink ad. You're right.

All the padded practices, Kobe King has gotten mentions. Yeah, you're absolutely right. And he is that kind of player, very physical player, always seeing the pads popping with him. He did get beat on a, now I think it might've been seven on seven. So that's a little tough for the corners, but they did get beat in coverage one time and I don't think coverage is really going to be King's thing. I don't think he's quite explosive enough for that, but you could see a role for him developing maybe not

this year, but into the future, possibly this year, I suppose, but definitely into the future. And you just like the way that he carries himself out there. And he's played every snap with Eric Wilson as the linebackers with the twos. And I know some of you have mentioned awesome while being cut. This is probably what I'm gonna do tomorrow because I get the idea based on the schedule that they're probably going to have a walkthrough tomorrow. And I was debating,

oh, should I still go live after a walkthrough? And you know what the answer is? Yes, I definitely still should. But I'm gonna need something to kind of make that fun. Cause I won't be able to go through every single play of a practice. It's a walkthrough is just not a practice. So I think what I'm going to do is put together a 53 for tomorrow. We could go through it and I don't know whether awesome was going to be on it.

Um, you know, I don't have any issue with him getting into it with a guard who seems to want to fight everybody and that's fine. Uh, but I think the way that Kobe King has played, they should feel very confident about their top four linebackers. Something else I noticed today, a lot of Andrew Van Ginkle and Dallas Turner on the same side of the defensive alignment, almost like a double outside linebacker in passing situations. And I am really interested in this to see how van ginkle and Turner, if they do this in sort of a NASCAR package, which is where they've just got all the edge rushers in a passing

situation, they put them next to each other. One guy can drop, one guy can rush, they can do games, stunts and twists with each other. I mean, there's some real possibilities there with Van Ginkle and Dallas Turner playing together. So not a bad day for Sam Howell, much, much better than it was before. You know, it's starting to stand out and this is why I try to give a sample size on things before. So some of you might ask me about a player and I'll say, you know what, give me a little more time. I'm starting to notice Donovan Jackson a lot more on a daily basis. One thing that I noticed about him is I could see why they wanted him to play

tackle. He's very wide, just naturally very, very wide. And in the run game, that is where I have really noticed Donovan Jackson. Hey, he took somebody today and sometimes it's just a massive humanity. It's hard to say, was it this guy or that guy? He took somebody and moved him 15 yards down the field today on a run play. The running was once again, very good. Uh, this is something that I could not have come out of another training camp in recent years and said that they are running the ball very, very well on a daily basis. I have been really impressed with that. And Donovan Jackson today, I think was the most that he has stood out to me, uh,

by far, you know, physical practice, get the kid in there, you know, pushing and shoving people around. And, uh, I thought Jackson had a good day. There's still pressures that get allowed every day, uh, because he's a rookie, there's blitzes that went up front because it's Brian Flores, but progress and aggressiveness starting to see that from a Jackson, maybe, maybe confidence is building there as well. And the last thing I know, nobody wants to hear this, but it is the fact of the matter, not a good day for Will Reichard.

And the other day, Dane Mizutani, we did a show together and he mentioned to me that the internet had been flipping out about Will Reichard and the other day, Dane Mizutani, we did a show together and he mentioned to me that the internet had been flipping out about Will Reichard. And I said, Oh, I mean, he's, you know, it's just been a couple of 50 yarders. It's not that big of a deal. Today it was not 50 yarders. He missed two of them that were under 40 and then had two more that were kind of scraping the post on the left side. Ball was kind of spinning a funny off of his foot.

And at one point they let Oscar Chapman hold and he missed. So then they said, no more, no more Australian holder. The ball spins the wrong way when you're holding. So let's get Ryan right back in there. But then he missed again. And I don't think, you know, I was standing next to my friend, Judd Zolgad, and I made a joke, you know, to Judd. I said, Judd, I got a panic button here in my hands. Do you want to push it? Um, I don't think it's a panic button situation, but this has had a different feel from Will

Riker than it did last year during training camp. I mean, last year during training camp was the best kicking that I have ever seen from any kicker that I've covered in all the training camps leading up to the season. And then he came out and looked exactly like that. This has been a little bit more spotty, a little bit less sharp and in control. And, uh, we're going to talk to Matt Daniels again, I'm sure at some point, but oftentimes in the night practice, uh, they put a lot into the kicking. They do a lot of kicking, you know, fans love to see the field goals and stuff.

And there's a little bit more pressure. The fans are there, you know, the music's playing everything else. Everybody's watching. Uh, I'm curious to see how he performs in that environment. There was no wind out there today. There was no reason to have any excuse today. It just wasn't a good kicking day. And what that means in the big picture, I do not want to overreact to,

but you also have to take note when the guy was as accurate as a sniper last year and then came out of the gate that way. And so far has come out of the gate a little bit off. You do have to question like what exactly is it, uh, that was going on there with Will Reichardt, I'm, I'm not really sure. And, uh, maybe we just need a bigger sample because he's only kicked. I think he's kicked a total of maybe less than 20 times, but now you're looking at maybe, I think it's 16 or 15 for 20, 15 for 20 is not going to get it done in the NFL.

15 for 20, you're cut. That's what math majors, 75% is, is only good in 1983 is not good enough. Now, I mean, you should be making 90 plus percent of your field goals. If you're going to be an above average kicker again, it's the start of camp. We're not in the season yet. We'll see how it progresses, but suddenly that's become a thing to watch at training camp. So there you go. Uh, I want to get to some Brian Flores as well, because he had some interesting things to say, but how about we, uh, take five minutes or so and answer some questions because I see them loading up in the chat.

So why don't we answer some questions for the next five minutes or so? And then I will get to Brian Flores. First name, last name says I saw a clip of Ryan Kelly throwing a defender into the ground on what wound up being a screen from JJ to Aaron Jones. Did you catch the play? And if so, who was the defender? I think it might've been Levi Drake Rodriguez, but I don't want to say that for sure. Without Javon Hargrave in there,

and I think this was a big reason for the offense's great day, without Hargrave in there, it wasn't quite the same as they were rotating in the number twos. There is a clear drop off and Redmond, I think is a good player, but there's a, Hargrave is one of the best in the league. Like there's a clear drop off there.

And, but to your point that you're just demonstrating right there, how physical of a practice it really was. I mean, these guys were really going at it today as if they were ready to play next week and that's just what you want to see from this team. I mean, I don't think if it's a, it's a chill training camp, it has to be bad. But when you have a season that they are putting the target on winning the Superbowl, being in contention. When we get to the playoffs, all that sort of stuff, and you're going to come out

and say more is required and you're going to bring in veteran players. You can do all these things. The expectation is that you get into training camp and you're competing and you're playing hard and you're battling each other every day. And that's what they've been doing. And, uh, I have enjoyed the ramped up competitiveness. And as long as nobody gets hurt, I didn't like seeing awesome law throw a fist or a swipe at Will fries, like pushing and shoving is fine. Getting each other's faces, trash talking, just nobody push it too far. I think

that's what the coaches are emphasizing. I also think the coaches went back to their offices saying, I like this. I like this team. They are ready to fight. And it might be the first time that we could say for an offensive line that they have a guy like Will fries. You talk about a perpetual line stepper. That's Will fries.

Like this guy is going to push to the edge, to the very edge of what he's allowed to do from the national football league rules. That is quite clear. When is the last intimidating offensive lineman when I mean, not tackle. We've seen that from Darasaw, but when is the last intimidating guard the Vikings had the Vikings had survived guards. They didn't have guards that you thought, okay, this guy's going to be the first one into a fight.

It was much more, hopefully this guy lives when he plays against the Keem Hicks and they usually did. Uh, Aaron says, uh, backup quarterbacks. Who can we get? Wentz Cooper rush. Doesn't Cooper rush play for someone? Uh, Bridgewater, Flacco, obviously, um, hate it for Sam as a UNC alum, but we need a competent backup.

Any chance Ripon or Brosberg. I mean, I guess there's a small chance that they would go with Ripon if he looked great. Uh, he has gotten more twos. I would be very surprised though, if they were going to trust Brett Ripon in that situation, the way I look at it is today was a big day for Sam Howell to look like a real quarterback. And I think he did that today.

Today was what I want to see from Sam Howell. I don't need perfect. I need completions to receivers. I need touchdowns in the red zone, or at least giving guys a chance at jump balls. Like he threw one up to Thayer Thomas who has had another very good camp. He's three for three for good camps, but he threw one up to Thayer and gave him a shot today. Got the ball out, checked it to some running backs, threw it underneath to a tight end.

Like he did a good job today of being a backup quarterback. And if it starts to click for him and he has a good preseason, like this could still happen. And that's why I always bring up the case Keenum example where Keenum struggled so much. And finally it kind of came together for him and it clicked in the first preseason game. So if that happens with Howell, then I think there's still time. There's still another week or two before you would want to pull the rip cord here. I think when was it that they decided to trade for Nick Mullins?

It was probably in the middle of August when they did that. I think we need to give it until at least maybe August 14th. Let's put that date on it before we start having that conversation. Uh, Steven says not only did McCarthy jump in the fray on the baddie hit, but Will fries came to Aaron Jones defense earlier in the day, love to see fries getting in there. Do you think Ingram would, uh, you know, I think at Ingram had some nastiness to him, I just think he was bad at playing.

Um, you know, nastiness wasn't really the issue for Ingram. It was that, you know, on a down to down basis, he just had so many problems getting down what the offense was supposed to be. I don't think that'll be an issue with fries. Uh, and because of that, if you're getting run by a bunch of times and have huge misses because you lunge at people all the time, like at Ingram, you don't scare anybody, uh, that's not will fries. Now he's lost some reps. And

by the way, he's back to taking all of the reps as far as I've seen, which is really good news in terms of his leg. Also Ingram, Ingram was fairly big. Ingram was not humongous. Will Fries is humongous. Will Fries is a tackle sized guard. He is six, six, six, seven, really big guy, really strong guy. Um, so he adds that little, uh, intimidation factor. Uh, Alexander says, should we be worried about Hawkinson? And while Alexander, you're the doctor, you tell me, um, I don't think groins are your thing. I think it's feet, right?

Uh, I don't know. I don't know. You never want to see a player limp off and you never want to see them go to the training table. But if we're trying to judge from my perch, which you can see the video of kind of where we're standing, how injured he might've been, there's only a few little signs that we can try to pick up on. And one of them is, does the guy leave the field?

Because if it's a very serious injury, he's going to leave the field right away. And he's going to get right back into the training room. And if it's a very, very serious injury, you'll see the cart come out and they'll, you know, pick the guy up and he'll go back into the training room. That's not what's happened here today with TJ Hockinson. It just looked a little bit like he tweaked something or, you know, fell the wrong way or landed the wrong way or whatever. I wouldn't guess that it was a serious injury,

but I don't want to come back and say, Oh, he's totally fine guys. He's good. And then he's actually out six weeks or something like that. I don't want, uh, to, you know, mislead you guys at all. Uh, so I'm a little bit careful when I'm trying to talk about injuries. Uh, Alexander adds, uh, what's your impression of fries been? Now my impression has been good. I do not think that will fries is going to be a flawless player who never gives up a pressure and never swings and misses or anything else like that.

But I do think he's going to move bodies in the run game. And that's where it's really stood out for this entire offensive line. Kelly's been fine, but Donovan Jackson or you know, what you'd expect from a really good center, but Jackson and fries. This is the guard combination you've been dreaming about for, uh, 10 years, 12 years. How long have you guys been waiting for guards that could actually move people and cause havoc? I'm going to guess a long time, a long time. And I think that it's actually there. Uh, Brett with the super chat. Thank you so much for that. Great to see JJ get fired up. The offense needs that. I think so too.

I know that, you know, Kevin O'Connell said yesterday, and we kind of went through that of like, Hey, toughness in this league is a down to down, get everybody back, organize and line up and make the right decision and make the right play over and over and over again. And that's what real toughness is, right? That's how you are sort of guiding your team through the storm is to always be the guy who gets them back lined up runs the next play never rattled that sort of thing. But I also thought with today, it was just the right situation.

If he did this in any other situation, if it was just pushing and shoving and then McCarthy threw himself in there, it would have been weird. This was the right situation where nobody really saw what happened except for cause the office of Lyman were blocking forward and Aaron Jones gets hit alone in the backfield by baddie. The only person who saw what happened really was McCarthy. So he decided at that moment that it was his turn. Like he had to do something about it. He had to get into it. And he does have that fire to him. He really does have that fire to him. And we knew that,

but this is just a little bit more evidence of that, of this is why everybody is drawn to JJ McCarthy. It's his competitive fire is one of the reasons that you get drafted 10th overall, even though he didn't throw that many passes in college, right? Um, Jude wants the daily Zamiah Vaughn update. Well, he, uh, was welcome to the NFL a little bit by Jordan Addison, but that is not unusual in practices like this. I think Vaughn's been great. And I was really, so I didn't pull the clip to play for you guys, but my eyebrow was raised when, uh, Brian Flores was asked about Dwight McClothern. And the answer was kind of, yeah, it's nice that he's gotten some interceptions, but he's got a lot of other stuff that maybe we're questioning. And that wasn't verbatim. That was my interpretation. Cause trying to pick apart

the coach speak, there was a hesitation to say, we love what Dwight McLaughlin has done in this camp. And Vaughn continues to get all those second team reps. Him and Jeff Okuda are the outside second team corners and Okuda mixes in on the nickel. When he's with the first team, Vaughn is huge and he has really, really good ability to mirror and stay with guys who are smaller and faster than him. And I think that they just like him from a technical perspective. He had, I believe it was a pass breakup today or, or a throw that kind of went awry that was into his coverage. I just think that he's looked really comfortable. Um, when it came to playing that outside corner role, like that pure

outside corner type of role, he's looked like an NFL corner right away. And sometimes that happens, you know, undrafted free agent. And there you go. Like he, he just, you just found another one. They've done this, you know, undrafted free agent. And there you go. Like he, he just, you just found another one. They've done this, you know, Gabriel Murphy's out there. We haven't mentioned them a lot, but he's taken a ton of second team reps next to Dallas Turner and Bo Richter. Bo Richter is another undrafted free agent.

They might, they might just be good at this and finding those guys. Uh, blazee says, did JJ play better because the defense called off the dogs today or did he just ball out? Um, this was not a call off the dogs practice, not, not to the point where, uh, they're fighting with each other. No, this was an all out type of practice. I mean, some of it may be that, uh, he was going against the twos in some of these, uh, periods. So there's a little more time to throw the ball, but even the red zone that was

much better was against the ones. What I think is that JJ McCarthy today and also some of the seven on sevens, I believe was against the ones as well. I think JJ McCarthy just had a really great day. He looked like a first round quarterback who can win a lot of games with his football team today. back who can win a lot of games with his football team today. He has not looked always that way for every single practice this year, but these are the types of days where you go.

Yeah. I think you guys did the right thing in going to JJ McCarthy. Now, two days from now, we might say, ah, you know, he had another down practice, but the highs of these practices from McCarthy have been quite high. Um, last Saturday was one today was definitely one. Maybe he's just a Saturday quarterback. I don't know.

You know, get it right. But, um, no, he's had several practices that have shown the high end. And that's where, when Kevin Seifert said on the show the other day, that he just has already gone past the idea that McCarthy won't be at least a competent starting quarterback. I agree with him because if he couldn't do it, we'd see it in practice, but he can do it. Now, what are the levels of that? Are the levels of that like a super high level, a super high ceiling, or is the level to that, you know, maybe just good, but not absolutely marvelous. Like we're trying to, we're trying to figure it out or is it superstar?

That's what we're trying to figure out by watching on a day to day basis. But a practice like today, if you're not a good quarterback in the NFL, you can't have this practice with the aggression, the way the defense was playing, all those things, it was really one of those, aggression, the way the defense was playing all those things. It was really one of those, Hey, you made the right call. And then everybody walking off the field with smiles on their faces and grins on their faces because of that natural thing that he did jumping in to defend his teammate. It also kind of, I think, and not to over dramatize it, but again, this is going to

be JJ mythology. If he becomes a truly great quarterback, I think it was one of those until this point, McCarthy has been the young quarterback that everybody's bringing along now after today, he's the Vikings quarterback. He's the guy he's the dude. And I'm not saying that players weren't buying into him. They most certainly were. And every comment we heard from them, it seemed like they were,

but you also have to show it. And in him going after another defender and dropping dimes left and right all over the field, that's one of those like I'm the guy because you need to show it. You can't just say it, you can't just dab up enough people, you can't just be a magnetic personnel. You gotta show it on the field. And today, he showed it on the field, for sure. Real quick, let me get to the FanDuel question of the day,

and you guys can drop into the comments your answers to this. I noticed on FanDuel that it is plus three 60 for three NFC North teams to make the playoffs. How likely is it to you? You can give me a percentage chance that three NFC North teams because plus three 60 is not crazy odds at all. So that's FanDuel question of the day. Give me a percentage. three NFC North teams because plus three 60s, not crazy odds at all.

So that's fan dual question of the day. Give me a percentage. What are the odds or in your mind percentage wise that three NFC North teams make the playoffs? That is the fan dual question of the day. So we'll get to your answers a little bit later. Alexander says, uh, I'm not ready to panic regarding the kicker. I think we need to learn our lesson with Daniel Carlson, let the kid work through the yips. And we know that he has the talent. I agree with you for right now, but it is kind of a redox, isn't it? Of the 2018 season where there was so much pressure and Daniel Carlson was struggling

in camp and then struggled in preseason. I think Riker needs to kick in some games for sure. And he may, maybe they need a couple of more kicking periods to just get him back on track and figure out what's going on because it has not been as sharp as we would expect from what we saw last year. That's through 20 preseason kicks. There is a long way to go. There is an entire, another month and whatever number of days before week one. So I agree with you overall,

but it is one of those like take note that he struggled early on. Stephanie says, was it camp today? And it was fun to see the crazy Levi Drake Rodriguez energy and his personality. He's pretty hilarious. Uh, he, yeah, this was his kind of practice too. Uh, Levi Drake has brought a lot of energy to this team. I also think that he's shown pretty well so far. Um, I do think that, uh, Levi Drake has taken that step forward that we've been looking for from last

year and he's getting all the twos and could be in the rotation. He was certainly in today when Hargrave was missing, they were rotating all three guys, probably to try to get a sense for who's really going to be there. So, uh, John says, uh, here's the thing. Our team has been S O F T for a long time. time. We didn't get fries or Kelly to be Mr. Nice guy. Rip him up. Yeah.

I mean, I think the interior of the line has been soft for a long time. I mean, I wouldn't say that about the whole team. I mean, I wouldn't say that about the defense last year that was in the top five and run defense, top five and takeaways, top five and sacks. Like that's a nasty group. Um, and different areas of this team have been tough over the years, but the interior of the line has been soft and probably in terms of actual attitude of the overall team, like would you take them in the bar

fight versus another team? Uh, there have been some years where certainly it was not the case that you would have taken the Vikings over other teams in a fight. So maybe now they are feeling that way. I just, I think that the expectation in the bar is raised by guys like Jonathan Grenard, uh, the leaders of this team, Aaron Jones have just, I think pushed it up a notch after last year. Some of these guys are feeling like this is, you know, one of the last years of my career that I'm

going to really get a chance to try to win a super bowl. And I think that's where someone like Granard feels like, like, Hey, like we only get so many shots at this and this team is good enough to really take a shot at it. And he seems to be individually setting the tone. Um, I, I know that I've, I've felt that and, uh, Brian Flores talked about that as well. I have felt that, that Jonathan Grenard is, it starts with him for setting the tone for the team's overall toughness. Uh, but Will fries is also certainly coming in and said, uh, let, let me as well on the offensive side. Uh, Alexander, does the team need a red zone jump ball specialist?

I thought that guy was Hawkinson, but he struggled and contested catches. Um, you, yeah, kind of like a Kyle Rudolph. They throw it up really high to him. I don't like jump balls in the red zone anyway. Uh, I, I don't like jump balls in the red zone anyway. I don't like the idea. Oh, Jude said it was it was McClother and who got lost by Addison. Okay. I mean, either way, like whatever young guy it was, it was a great catch, but it just just when it comes to the the red zone and so forth, you don't't really wanna see them having to make a lot

of jump ball catches and stuff like that. You don't wanna see a lot of fades, but I agree with you that Hockenson has really not become that red zone monster like Kyle Rudolph was. Rudolph was just so big, his hands were so huge. I mean, maybe it's a better idea to try to get the ball to Josh Oliver in the red zone more often. Um, but I don't think they're going to go out and look for one specific

guy to try to throw the ball up to him so he can jump up and catch it. Uh, John says, uh, how did Jordan Mason look today? He's like, he just looked really good. I had the run game in general has looked very, very good. So there are times during the camps over the years where I've thought to myself, is this something that's real or is this something that's just in camp? Like what's the real conclusion that I should be drawing? And last year was kind of that way with the defense.

So day in and day out, we were impressed by Granard, Van Ginkle, Cashman, and then, you know, Gilmore shows up, but I remember the joint practices specifically coming out of those and going this defense, am I wrong? Like this defense could be really good. And I felt that way about the run game. I think the run game could be really good with Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones, if they stay stay healthy because they are blocking extremely well in front of these guys. But then Mason just has this gear that he turns into very quickly. They pitched him the ball on the left side today and he cut back to the inside

and it was like a lightning cutback for somebody who is his size. Whoa. Uh, he does that almost every single day. And Aaron Jones has looked fine. Probably about the same as he looked last year in camp doesn't look like he's slower, but it's really, I mean, the line and the physical play from Jordan Mason is just so different from last year. I mean, you think about who they were blocking with last year. Cam Robinson was one of the worst run blocking tackles for the last 10 years and, or however long he's been in the league, he is a decent pass blocker, but he's a terrible run blocker.

And at the left guard position, it was Blake Brandle, who's a tackle that was playing guard out of position and couldn't really get to the next level. Couldn't really get low. They had the lightest center in the league and then Dalton Reister, great pass protector, horrendous run blocker. I mean, that was probably what maybe like the 25th best run blocking from Brian O'Neill over like after Brian O'Neill, everything left of him. Was, you know, maybe it was definitely bottom third of the league.

And now what do you got with a first round pick who is very athletic and very big. And then, you know, one of the better centers of the last decade and one of the more violent run blockers, like this is just so different when it comes to the run game. And I know, uh, Kevin O'Connell made a crack the other day about the, you know, us not saying enough about the run game and it's, it's hard to do because they're not tackling. But as the days start to build up with really good run reps, I am starting to get that impression. David says, uh, given the last nine days of camp, in what way, if it all has your opinion on McCarthy changed since this time last year, I would not say that it has changed a lot at the end of training camp.

I felt like JJ McCarthy was ready to start in the NFL at the end of last year's camp. Um, I thought that, or well, when he got hurt after the end of the first preseason game, if you go back and watch my podcast with Dane from us bank stadium after the first preseason game. If you go back and watch my podcast with Dane from us bank stadium after the first preseason game, what I said was, cause I went back and watched this, uh, not that long ago. Uh, so what I said was that he was checking all the boxes of things that he had shown in camp.

So he did all the things like pocket presence, touch on the football, being able to see the field, make the right reads, throw the ball to the right spots. And then occasionally there were some throws that weren't on time or were a little inaccurate. And that's exactly how he looked, but I felt he was in total command. And that's why I liked that word a lot because you can overcome, all right, you say all the throw here. You dirted a ball there. All right. That's going to happen.

Uh, and maybe he does it 5% more than other quarterbacks in the league that have thrown a lot more passes in their careers, which you can't overcome as someone who doesn't look like they're in control and McCarthy today, especially. I thought the most of any practice looked like he was in total control. He was in control of where the football was going, how hard or soft he was throwing it depending on the situation. And then in control of the franchise enough to say, I'm going to be the one

who ends this, you know, the, the physical play of guys going too far by getting in this mix. So, uh, you know, I, I think that it's all been along the lines of what I expected to see from McCarthy, even in the early practices, if it wasn't accurate, I'm pretty sure I came on and said, Hey, there's some issues here with this, that, and the other thing, but I think that he'll get better. I think that he'll grow from it. I think he'll learn from it because that's all we've seen from him. To me, he's looked like an NFL starting quarterback who can win games.

To what degree is what we're going to find out. But I, I think that he has looked like that so far. That's, that's about as far as I can go right now. I am coming off of a really good practice from JJ McCarthy, but that's, that's where I want to go to, to, at this moment is that like, he's looked at the part he's looked like there shouldn't be regrets from the Vikings organization for making the move to move on from Sam Darnold, uh, that at, at this moment, there are no regrets for doing that.

Uh, and we'll see how that plays out, um, going forward. Uh, Preston says, what's with all the 87 negativity in the chat? You know, I do have a little bit of a theory on this when it comes to some folks who kind of want TJ Hockinson gone or don't like his contract or, uh, haven't been a fan of his as a player. Well, one is, you know, last year was hard. I didn't think he had a bad year last year considering what he went through. But he didn't get the same number of footballs that he did with Kirk Cousins.

What I think is that there is so much talent on this football team. And there's so many guys who are playing well or look like they're ascending or, you know, are proven players that Hockinson is coming off a down year. And I think we're just looking for things to be concerned about. And I mean, if he's going to be banged up and not be as fast as he was, then yes, then that is a concern for sure. Uh, it is a concern if he's going to have some issues with health like he did last year, you know, coming back from the ACL injury that not say it was his fault at all with

the ACL tear, but he wasn't as quick. He wasn't as explosive coming off that injury. And if there are further injuries, then yeah, then you start to go. Okay. Well, that's a pretty big contract and he's under contract for quite a while. But as far as him as a player, I think he's going to be extremely important to JJ McCarthy this year. And you know, the first game that he catches nine for 76 and a touchdown or something,

you're going to go, oh yeah, TJ Hawkinson. He's pretty darn good. Uh, let's see. I think 87 way overrated like Rudolph was, you know, that's like, what are we talking about overrated? I mean, I just, I just think the most recent thing that you saw from TJ Hawkinson last year was that. He was coming off of an ACL injury, trying to join the team in the middle

of the season with a quarterback he had never practiced with, and he still was fine and he still was fine. And he's, I mean, they don't win the Chicago game last year without TJ Hawkinson. He was great in that game. And I honestly think it's just a lot of nitpicking. Um, it's just a lot of nitpicking away at TJ Hawkinson because you go back to before his ACL injury and he was fantastic. He was a pro bowl tight end in 2023, uh, one of the best players on the team and one of the best at his position in the league. And he's been doing well at training camp. Um, but it's for some people,

any opportunity to get really down on a player who's got a contract that that happens too. And I don't like overrated. I don't know, according to who, like he's made pro bowls and he has played exceptionally well. He's put up huge numbers at times in his career. He's been a very reliable weapon. Uh, I, he's not Antonio Gates who went into the hall of fame today. I would say that, I guess if that makes him overrated for not being like one of the best ever.

Uh, but I think he's, I think he's pretty darn good and he's going to be very important this year. Uh, I'm a carpenter says how many reps did Darasaw get today? He did not participate today. Um, they gave him today off after yesterday. Uh, probably a smart, probably a smart move. Uh, is John Parker Romo still in New England? I don't know.

Someone's got to find that out. Why are kickers so weird? If I knew that, uh, then I would tell you, but I do not know that. Um, what, what kicker got cut after half a season? It wasn't half a season, Kevin. It was, uh, Daniel Carlson who got caught after two games is Matt Daniels. Not training the guys always in forever folks. The special teams coordinator does not have anything

to do with whether the kicks go in or not. That is an individual thing on the kicker. There's nothing you can say to them. There's nothing you can do. There's no lesson you can teach them. They got to figure that out themselves. Uh, real quick, the, uh, fan dual question of the day, the NFC North, uh, plus three 60 to have three teams representing it in the playoffs. What are the percentage chance that actually happens? I'm going to go lower than that. I'm going to go lower than 50% on that. I think with some other divisions having quite a few good teams and quite a bit of depth in them, I don't think that the NFC North is sending three again. Uh, if I had to guess today, I would go lions and Vikings and the Packers

missed by a game and the bears win seven. That's where I would go right now. I'll go 45% chance that, uh, and some of you math people can convert plus three 60 into a percentage. I'm not one of them, but that is my answer to fan dual question of the day. So, uh, yeah, Jack said, uh, Riker was 80% last year. Not great. I get that, but I also think we have to factor in that. What was it?

Three of those misses or two of those misses came in the game. He was injured. And then when he came back, um, so I'm not saying you can take those out. Uh, but I do think that we have to be fair with that. He showed what he could do at the beginning of the season. I mean, he was what 12 for his first 12. I just an absolute ace and that's the capability he has. I will say that I've always warned against drafting kickers because you have to keep them. And if we'll Riker had made 80%

and then was missing left and right, and he was an undrafted free agent, it wasn't somebody that the organization had loved so much, they'd have another kicker in here today. So there is a little bit of that, that I will give you, uh, that they have to be, uh, you know, a little more committed because this is someone that they've fallen in love with as a kicker, but I also think his talent is just extremely, extremely high and they need to give him as much time as he needs to get to where he wants to be here in training camp. Like, let's not, let's not go and, you know, cut the kicker halfway through training camp. Cause he got off to a slow start or let's

not completely judge him by August 2nd. Last time I checked, he's got a month to get it together. Uh, Joseph who was holding, uh, Ryan Wright was holding on one of the miss kicks and Oscar Chapman on the other one. Um, Chapman, um, was pulled out after the first miss. So I think that they probably blamed him for holding it, but then the next one, and even two of the makes were kind of going off to the left a little bit more than you would actually want. Uh, how did the corners look? Anybody stand out?