Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings camp recap Day 2 (Part 1)

Episode Date: July 25, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about what he saw at Vikings training camp on Day 2 of camp, which included Justin Jefferson missing some of the practice and the QBs struggling at times.

Hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of purple inside or Matthew collar here. And I have just gotten back from a very, uh, toasty day out at TCO performance center, first outdoor practice. And, uh, I was prepared in terms of the sunscreen, but my body not prepared for spending that much time outside. So I'm going to have to work my way into a training camp, being outdoors for really long portions of time. I mean, it's truly me who is exhausted after practice, not the guys who are

out there on the field, right? So a lot to get to though tonight in terms of some news and notes from day two of Minnesota Vikings practice and of course I've got some players for you a decently long conversation with Dallas Turner that was pretty insightful along with Jonathan Grenard and Byron Murphy jr. spoke as well after practice so I want to bring you those things got just more video from practice as well to show you guys and talk and answer questions so start to jump right in I'll go through my notes get your questions in and then we will have the usual camp practice night Q&A conversation so whatever is on your mind questions and thoughts about the Minnesota Vikings and practice let

me know but the first thing to start out with is Justin Jefferson about halfway through the practice, maybe I don't know, 40% of the way through the practice. Jefferson made a really nice catch on the sidelines. Great throw by JJ McCarthy, let it loose along the sideline, kind of a deep, out breaking 18 yard reception. And after that, we didn't see Jefferson. He was just standing on the sideline with a towel on his head and talking to everybody and looked like everything was okay. And we expected, okay, I guess he'll just, you know, take a couple of reps off and then go back in, but we didn't see him go back in at any point in the practice,

which I want to talk about what that means when one wide receiver goes out of a practice for the Vikings, because that could be a thing in the first couple of weeks of the season with Jordan Addison and a potential suspension. So we got the tiniest snapshot today of what the depth chart looks like if there is a top wide receiver that is not playing. So Jefferson didn't come back in at any point, but he did speak after practice and just called it tightness. Now we've seen enough of these over the years to get a sense of when something is serious and when something is not serious. And if the player doesn't even go into the training room, then it's probably not serious. And if the player talks also after practice, then it's probably not serious. We'll see if Justin Jefferson practices tomorrow. If he doesn't, I'm guessing though it'll be when they get back into pads and then he'll be good to go. Uh, otherwise if he had left and gone back into the trainer's room and missed

the rest of the practice, it wasn't standing out there or if he had, uh, he was due to talk with us today, if he had skipped his media thing and then, or, you know, delayed it for another day, then you might've thought, okay, this might be something to watch, but, uh, in this case, we'll just take his word for it that Jefferson had some tightness somewhere, leg, I don't know. And that's what you kind of assume when you hear tightness. I mean, I don't know. Maybe he didn't want to go into any details, but I don't think it's anything to pay too

much attention to. The more interesting part of it was just what they looked like without him that with Jefferson in the lineup the start of practice was a little bit jockey but wasn't going to abnormally after Jefferson was out and I know we're talking about the best wide receiver in the world so naturally it's not going to look as smooth after that. But when Jefferson was on the sideline, it was a more disjointed practice. There were some more issues offensively

and it was not as smooth as it was in day one. I think there were a lot more problems with the offense. There was a false start. JJ McCarthy dropped a snap and then had to run, had a couple incompletions. One of them actually when Jefferson was in the lineup where he overthrew him and then they had to have a conversation on the sideline. There were multiple times today where McCarthy and Kevin O'Connell were standing there watching. They have these big video screens and I wish that we could see

them because it would be great to see a replay. They have these big video screens and I wish that we could see them because it would be great to see a replay. They have these huge video screens that show a replay of every single rep. So O'Connell can just look over there and go, all right, I see, you know, here's what happened to the quarterback. It's like real time film analysis that they have on the sideline. Great little feature there, but you can tell sometimes when something wasn't executed totally right because they'll stop and they'll look over at the board and this it does, you know, it's not always, and maybe they're looking at it and saying,

great job. But there were a few times where there were incompletions or there was a throw that looked like kind of a quick hitter type of thing that he decided not to let it rip. And they had a long conversation after that. There were still typical good JJ McCarthy throws. There was one where it might've been a sack, but he was rolling to his left and then delivered kind of a rocket to Ty Felton, who was one of the receivers that got an opportunity with Justin Jefferson sidelined for half of this practice.

The first wide receiver that came in was Rondell Moore. And that has been something that I wasn't sure about at all. Is Rondell Moore going to practice? Is he going to practice just a little? Is he still coming back from that injury? And not only is he back from the injury, but he was the next man up and part of that I'm sure is just the fact that he's a veteran. Lucky Jackson also came in there. We saw a little bit of Thayer Thomas. They did rotating for

guys taking that spot after Jefferson was out, but Rondale Moore was the first one that got in there and at one point they actually tried to throw a deep ball that was kind of a back shoulder to Rondale Moore and it looked like he was one that got in there. And at one point they actually tried to throw a deep ball that was kind of a back shoulder to Rondale more. And it looked like he was going to make the play. And then Isaiah Rogers got a hand on it. And that's another one of my notes from practice is that Isaiah Rogers from OTA is to mini camp to the start of training camp has looked to me like a starting outside corner. Uh, he's got great physical tools and he gets his hands on the football.

He always seems to be sticky in coverage. He moves extremely well. I mean, it stood out to me when he was returning kicks in mini camp or at least catching it, accelerating a few steps. You just saw that instant acceleration, but he's had his hand on the football a couple of times here early in camp. That's standing out as well. Being in man coverage with someone as quick and fast as Rondale Moore and then being able

to break up the past was pretty impressive there. And then, you know, I briefly mentioned Ty Felton, but Felton was another guy where I didn't know, is he going to be behind Lucky Jackson? Is he going to be behind Thayer Thomas? These guys have been on the team for a couple of years. Like how slow are they going to take it with Felton? You look back at what he did in Maryland. I mean, he only played one real full season and had a great year last year, got him drafted the third round, but it was only really that one full year for Felton. So the question round, but it was only really that one full year

for Felton. So the question was, well, how much is it going to be of him just developing and kind of sitting behind these other guys? But he was one of the first ones out there to get some reps with JJ McCarthy and then kind of ran a deep comeback around the sideline and McCarthy let one rip and he made the play. There was another one that was actually it was out of bounds because it was not a good throw by Sam Howell who if you were hoping to hear much better news about Sam Howell, I'm sorry I don't have it for today. It was kind of the same. He started out practice with a couple completions and then it devolved from there and was not great. But how will over through tie Felton, but Felton kept sort of going.

And even though he was out of bounds into double coverage again is a bad choice and a bad throw by Sam Howell. But still into the double coverage and flying out of bounds, he was able to make the catch. I've been impressed multiple times with Ty Felton and his ability to track I've been impressed multiple times with Ty Felton and his ability to track the football and his hands which Were a question and will remain a question obviously until he's playing in real games, but they were a question coming out I haven't seen drops from him and I've seen some contested catches from Ty Felton so far and

On some some real routes like a deep comeback or a crossing route, uh, not just, you know, your typical go route or screen pass or something like that. Uh, so a lot of other wide receivers getting in the game today, again, not a great run for Sam Howell, the practice. It was a bit of a slog. And after the practice, I'll get to a few other things that are on my mind as well. But after the practice, everybody sort of stood around and Kevin O'Connell talked to the team for an unusual amount of time after the second practice. And I can't put words in his mouth. I can't hear him from several hundred feet away, but it felt to me like, Hey guys, let's, let's make this

better in the future because it was a messy practice from my perspective and it's got to get better from here after I thought a pretty good start, but that was, you know, the first practice, second practice. I mean, we're, we're talking about still no pads yet, just getting up in the ramp up period, but they had some kind of silly mistakes, like jumping off side on defense multiple times, false start on offense. And then another thing to take away from today's practice was Levi Drake Rodriguez is known for his, you know, his excitement level and he got a little bit too excited today. And so actually did Jeff Okuda at one point where Okuda Didn't slow up on a play with Jefferson and Jefferson

That was the play where he had the the tightness or whatever But he kind of I don't want to say he made a tackle But he didn't not make a tackle and there was some physicality and you don't ever want Justin Jefferson hitting the ground But he went down after that catch so there was that and then there was some physicality and you don't ever want Justin Jefferson hitting the ground, but he went down after that catch. So there was that. And then there was Levi Drake Rodriguez being pulled out for a play after bullying over an offensive lineman, which there's no pads on. It's not fair for the offensive lineman.

Like you can't go 110% Ram it into somebody when they don't have pads on it. It's just not fair, uh, to the offensive lineman. because they just got to, you know, take the hit there. So he ran somebody over. They kind of had to, you know, take him out for a couple of plays and then he came back in. But maybe not everybody fully understood. Like this is not the physical part of practice. You want more physical play for sure, but not this physical. Uh, the other thing that was happening today was, uh, Josh Mattel is did not practice.

Now, uh, they say he had an ankle injury and we'll just believe that, uh, as it is, but maybe a sign of something on the way with an ankle injury for Josh Mattelis maybe it's like an earache for TJ Hawkinson possibly I'm only speculating there a little bit that maybe it's that or maybe tomorrow we walk out there and find out that they've worked out an extension for Josh Mattelis because you don't want to practice on the day that you're getting an extension done because what if you got hurt out there while your agent was inside still, you know, signing the final paperwork or something.

So I don't know if that might've been it or if Josh Mattel has just tweaked an ankle on the first day, but did not seem serious. And Mattel was out there watching practice and walking fine on his ankle injury. It would be nice if they could get that taken care of and out of the way. It seems so much that Mattel is wants to be a Viking long-term. The Vikings want Josh Mattel is and they have to find a middle ground and they'll get there. And also Mattel is's agent has a bit

of a reputation of a guy who gets deals done. Drew Rosenhouse. And he also represents, I believe he represents Christian Derrisaw. They got a deal done with him on Josh Oliver. They got it, I think, right? Josh Oliver was the other guy he represented. And I think Christian Derrisaw, I want to be a hundred percent right on that but they have a relationship with Rosenhaus and his side and they've gotten plenty of deals done with him through the years so this should be workable and we'll see if he comes back with his ankle feeling perfectly fine once he gets that contract extension. But we'll wait and see.

It's just that did ping in my mind that, you know, TJ Hockinson had the back issue right when they were just about ready to get that deal done. Maybe that is the case here. Another note from today about Josh Mattelis was Brian Flores was asked about Mattelis playing the more traditional safety position was how Flores was asked about Mattel is playing the more traditional safety position was how the question was phrased because it's true that Mattel is over the first day of camp and then back to mini camp was playing in Cambynum spot.

And when Mattel was asked about it after practice yesterday, he said, well, Hey, you know, I came up in the league as a safety, so I'm comfortable doing that. And that's a position that I've played before. So, all right. Well, it looks like that's the position he's going to play. When we asked for us about it and the word traditional was used, Flores said, well, there's nothing really traditional about me and my defense. And I would agree with that, that Flores is outside the box and doesn't, you know, always do things traditionally at the same time. Uh, you know, he mentioned, well, he's going to be up on the D line.

He's going to be in the nickel corner spot. He's going to be, you know, here and there and everywhere. And I, what I started to wonder about was, is that going to be more of a third down thing? Now, is it going to be, Hey, on third down, when Theo Jackson is back there in a dime situation, then you can move Mattel us around and have him in the box and have him essentially play a hybrid linebacker and blitzer and that kind of thing. But on first and second down, maybe he is playing more of a three, four base free safety type of position. It's also possible that in years past, Harrison

Smith has been the guy who's hovering around the box and he's moving up and dropping back. You can envision the games he played with Aaron Rogers for all those years. Maybe that's Mattel is maybe that's Mattelis' role now. And what Cam Bynum was doing last year will be more like Harrison Smith on first and second. With Flores, the possibilities are kind of endless. And that's why when we talk about Mattelis changing roles, I tend to lean toward, well, this man knows what he's doing when it's on, when it comes to carving out roles. I have some concerns about Mattel is because of the long speed I think he's got great quickness, but a lot of those deep safeties

They have the only way I can describe it is long speed where if you got to go 40 yards across the field on a particular play Some guys are really good at sustaining a high level of speed and they get over there quickly. And I don't know that that's been him because we haven't seen it. And until we see that type of role and him playing there for multiple games, it's going to be a little harder to know. That's not something that you can necessarily pick up on a 40 time or something like that. But he isn't a guy who ran a four three and isn't a guy that I look at as, wow, you know, if someone's 20 yards away, he's closing the gap quickly.

I look at more as someone's flying across the middle of the field and he's got to take three steps and then drill them. That's what Josh Mattel is does really well shooting gaps, blitzing. So we'll see. But at least Flores kind of said, Hey, let's not be saying that Josh Metellus is just going to play a regular routine and normal safety position here. Another thing to bring up is that Max Brosmer did get some reps today. And I expected that after it was so rough from QB2 and QB3 that

Brosmer would get his chance. And one of the the first play I think was a handoff and the second play from Brosmer he ran a play action and he threw a deep ball that I think if it was a good wide receiver it would have been on the money and it was not a good wide receiver. Dante Fleming who I don't know. I mean just there there's a lot of guys right you need a lot of receivers you need a lot of people to be out there running routes and you never know who could find their stride and turn it around but I just haven't seen anything from Fleming yet. This is I think the guy who's probably last on the entire wide receiver chart and so he threw it up to him kind of the third teamer he got his feet caught on the entire wide receiver chart. And so he threw it up to him kind of the third teamer.

He got his feet caught on the corner and the ball just, you know, wasn't completed, but I thought it was a well executed play for Brosmer. They ran a couple of screens with him. At very least he took the third most snaps in this practice. And I think it is a sign of things to come with a competition between Max Brosmer and Brett Rippen. And after Brosmer took no snaps on day one, I kind of walked out like, did I, did I miss, you know, something or was I off in mini camp and thinking that Brosmer looked really good?

And at least today, okay, like we weren't crazy that they're going to get Max Brosmer a decent amount of reps. And I think he will get a lot of preseason playing time When he's playing quarterback whether it was running that play action play or whether it was just a couple of screens or handoffs It just looks like a guy who gets the mental side of it, right? And I think he has a strong enough arm to throw the ball downfield There's another guy that stuck out to me a little today and I'll bring him up as kind of the deep cut of the day. How about this?

This is like the deepest deep cut of the day. And then I'll toss an attempt to read between the lines. Okay, so the deep cut of the day is Xavier Scott. All right, raise your hands if you know who Xavier Scott is. I will tell you Xavier Scott was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Indianapolis Colts in 2023. He played at Maine and he was a wide receiver slash running back

at Maine. So he kind of did both was in the backfield caught a lot of passes averaged. I don't know, seven yards of carry as a running back, something like that. So a kind of a hybrid type of backfield player. And he was let go by the Colts. The Vikings picked him up last year. He was on the practice squad and now here he has some opportunity to show something.

He got quite a few reps today, caught a couple of passes and looked pretty smooth doing it. And I mean, I don't know with the comments from, and I'm not saying he's going to make the team as RB three, but with the comments from O'Connell about not being the most excited about Ty Chandler, where he pointed out that Ty Chandler had explosive runs and then huge mistakes in pass protection.

Maybe there is room for one more guy to do something interesting back there. And I had wondered about Trey Stewart, who was from Jacksonville state. He got a rep or two, but sky actually got a fair amount. So I'm curious to see if Xavier Scott gets an opportunity to kick return what he looks like in preseason. If he's a guy that they want to keep around on the practice squad. So that's your deep, deep cut. And my one attempt to read between the lines. Once again, Zamiya Vaughn got a lot of work with the second unit. And I think sometimes it's like, was that the first rep? Was that the second rep was that, you know, things like that.

But I think that the first rep with the second team was Jeff Okuda and Zamiya Vaughn out there and actually not Dwight McClothern with the second team. Now he got in eventually. And of course, Mackay Blackman was in with the second team as well. But I'm getting the sense that they're seeing what we're seeing with a Zamiya Vaughn as well. And so I asked Brian Flores about it and his answer was essentially, uh, it means something to Zamiya Vaughn, which is kind of Flores is wink nod. You're, you know, you're onto something with this guy.

That's something that they talk about all the time, like how important football is to these players and just talked about his physical tools and his height and his length and things like that. So, uh, I think with Vaughn, they may have something here. Pads are going to matter. Uh, it's only the second practice and carrying over from a very good mini camp. But the more that I watch Zamiya Vav on, the more I see him move and cover wide receivers, the more I think I could see it. I could see him making this team. I could see him being on this depth chart at some point.

So there is a, I think very serious battle going on and someone like, uh, Mackay Blackman, just for example, now he was playing some nickel with the second team. And I wonder if he is kind of the, they like to have a clone of the backups. They like to have, Hey, if this guy goes out, here's the guy who's been practicing his job. And I wonder if he's kind of the Byron Murphy clone because Murphy plays outside and inside. And they've done that with Mekhi Blackman. But as of right now, through two days, it's been exclusively Jeff Okuda when they are in nickel playing on the outside and Blackman has played a lot on the

inside. Um, so you got Vaughn kind of emerging. You have, um, you know, Mackay Blackman fighting for a spot. You ha Oh, that's right. That's a good reminder. Good reminder. I need a scroll. It's only day two. Thank you. I should have thought that beforehand. I was putting together all this B roll and the sounds. It's only been two practices.

Yes, hold on. We'll get this. Here we go. It's only been two practices. Right. So I don't have to say it over and over and over and over again. It's only been two practices, but I think that the larger sample is that, uh, Zamyavon is showing something. Um, yeah, Nick, I don't think that, yeah, I, yeah, I wasn't sure about that. Brian Flores can be a hard guy to read, because Nick was saying like, was he late? Because Flores said to my question, he said a couple of times, you have to be on time.

And so that's possible. I wasn't sure whether to take that as a hint about Vaughn or just to any young player that it's very important because these coaches are obsessed with being on time. So was he referring to everybody or was he kind of hinting that he hadn't been on time? I think if he hadn't been on time this early enough, then he wouldn't be getting those second team reps. So I don't want to make that jump. I think he was talking because he went from talking specifically about Vaughn and his skill set and just what he's seen from so far in his first impressions to then general terms. So maybe we don't make that

jump. I don't know if I see him, I'll ask him to clarify what he meant there, but one way or the other, it's a legit battle. It is a legit battle. Mackay Blackman, Jeff Okuda, Zamiya Vaughn, these guys are all in the mix here. Dwight McClother, and it seems might be a little bit behind in starting and very clearly Isaiah Rogers and Byron Murphy are the guys. Those are your starting outside corners in 2025. And maybe, see, hold on.

I gotta give the scroll to myself because I kind of want to plan a flag with Isaiah Rogers, but it's only been two practices. I'm looking at, I'm using the scroll on myself here. It's only been two practices. Isaiah Rogers has looked great through many camp and through these first two practices. And when Brian Flores really, really like somebody, uh, oftentimes this is what happens. And I asked Byron, actually, you'll hear it coming up. I asked Byron Murphy about, uh, just Isaiah Rogers and what he's seen. And then I also asked Byron about why it seems like they elevate the

play of cornerbacks in this system. And he talked about the environment of just the other guys that you're working with in the secondary being useful and really helpful. I also think that Flores has a really good understanding of his players skillsets and what they can do, which does open the door for somebody like Jeff Okuda, which does open the door for an undrafted free agent to make noise or for a guy who has gotten to his peak at 27 years old, but hasn't really had as much opportunity like Isaiah Rogers. The physical skill is there when he's one-on-one with somebody, there is not a

lot of separation and the play he made on Rondale more today was absolutely terrific. So, uh, let's see. We can go one way or the other. We can go with some sound from today or we can answer some questions. So how about this? Why don't we answer some questions first so I don't get way behind and the people who ask the questions are still here. And then I'll bring you some sound a little later in the show. So let's also get the b-roll going here of some practice video. I'm very proud of my new camera that I've been taking this video with. So I hope you all enjoy

it while I answer your questions, because also this particular drill is one of my favorites and I had to get it on video where guys get the ball and then they jump on this mattress. And this is exactly what my brother and I did when I was like nine and he was 12 where we would just run and jump on the mattress with a football like we were jumping over the pile. So I enjoy this drill, but I was trying to actually videotape the quarterbacks throwing, but I got this wonderful drill here instead. So let's answer some questions. We'll start with Andy says any first impressions of Rondale more Vikings included a catch and run of his in their highlight reel yesterday and he looked quick. You're exactly right from the highlight reel that I have felt like I got to see him closer today just being outside.

If you look at this angle that we had today, it's pretty great to be able to see everything. So I got a better sense with Rondale more today. I think he looks like Rondale more. Uh, and if Isaiah Rogers hadn't made a phenomenal play on a back shoulder throw from JJ McCarthy, it was a very accurate throw. I thought more would have had a great back shoulder catch. He reached back for it. It was right there and Rogers Just knifed an arm out there to knock it down But more had some separation he showed some speed and there was another I think it was a quick out to him Where he had to you know go seven yards and then snap Outside and the ball was there on time and it looked good

I mean it looked like the guy who played for the Arizona Cardinals a couple of years ago. And I think that is a very early one of those, Hey, how much can we take away from the first two practices? Because as you see at the bottom, it's only been two practices. But I think when a guy like that is coming off of an injury, then we can say, okay, him looking as fast as he looked like that matters. That is a early camp first two days development. And I think it's big for them, but it's we're going to see more of him tested when we get into the pads. And as we go along and he plays some preseason games, but looks looks like Rondale more and that's a good thing

for them. Kit Fisto's dental plan. You're going to explain that one says what stood out as notably consistent or inconsistent from day one of day two. I'll tell you what's been consistent from the first two days. The office of linemen don't have pads. I might have to make a scroll. There was no pads. Jonathan Grenard is just murdering everything in front of him.

Jonathan Grenard has come across from day one of workouts. I mean, we're going back to April when he did his first press conference. And you'll hear from him a little later in the show. He seems extremely focused and ready to go and motivated to win this year and he has shown up ready to go, ready to practice. Unfortunately for Logan Brown, who is left tackle on the second team right now. He undrafted free agent Logan Brown, also represented by my friend, Jeremiah Searles. I texted Searles in the middle of practice and I said, you're guys learning a lot from Jonathan Grenard today.

Cause Grenard just completely smoked him on one play, but then he got Brian O'Neill later in the practice. He's just looking fantastic. Looks like he is juiced up for this season. Now he was one of the best edge rushers in the league last year. This isn't breaking news that Jonathan Grenard looks great, but it's been consistent. He looks really, really strong. Uh, and aside from that, I mean, we're only talking about a handful of plays so far that we've seen 11 on 11, uh, As you're seeing from the warmup drills, like

this is a lot of practices working on individual types of things. And then, you know, there's only a handful of actual, you know, 11 on 11 reps that we get to see. I did capture some warmups here with wide receivers that you get to see there. But I don't know, I guess we're going to have to let that play out. I mean, I have thought that the cornerbacks have looked pretty good I have thought that Jordan Addison has been on point so far But I'm mostly telling you hey these good players who are really good. They've looked great Didn't see and I'll have to check with this with some of my fellow writers I didn't see Will Fries taking too many reps today. May not have taken any

at right guard. So that may be kind of a day by day type of thing. Son of a Beaver says, did Max Brosmer throw today? Also, how did the second and third string DBs look? Yeah, I mentioned Brosmer with, he only got two or three actual throws in, but he looks a little more in command. And the thing that I liked about one rep and it's one rep, I don't need to scroll for that, uh, for max brosmer. But the thing that I liked from him is that he came in and ran a play action play and threw it on time down the field in the general location of where it was supposed to go, but he didn't hang onto the football.

He wasn't looking scared. He looked like a pro quarterback stepping in to these couple of reps and can't always say the same for what we've seen for the other quarterbacks on the roster. It was not a horrendous day for Sam Howell, but it wasn't a good day either. Took a sack on a play that was supposed to be a deep ball. And just the worst thing you can do back there in practice is take sacks because then the receivers feel like what am I doing out here? If the ball's not even coming out, I'm just running around on some grass on a nice day in

Minnesota. And some of that was frustrating, I think, from how, as well as the inaccuracy, some of the decision making. But as far as how, as well as the inaccuracy, some of the decision-making, but as far as how the second and third string defensive backs look, so this is the thing when you have on your second team, Jeff Okuda and Mackay Blackman, and now this emerging undrafted free agents of Maya Vaughn, like that's looked pretty good. The second unit looks pretty good. And then I didn't even mention Dwight McClothern as well. So those guys as a second unit are, I think, quite strong. But as far as, you know, is Okuda going to be the starter? Is Blackman going to you know, beat him out or eventually as the summer goes along, how's that going to go? Could we be shocked by Zamyia Vaughan making this, you know, emergence?

I don't think so, because I think that Flores prefers veteran players on his unit, but there are things to be still worked out with who's going to play how much and when as of right now, it looks like Okuda, if it started today would be the starter, but we are a long way from it actually starting Matt says, what's the update on Jeff Okuda watch formal apology for Rob E forthcoming. Well, we just have to, we just have to see how this plays out when it comes to Okuda because, you know, I know that Rob has been a, a big supporter on a nightly basis of Okuda. And I think that everybody loves that story.

That is a training camp story as old as time. As a guy who was a former top draft pick who a team signs to try to give one more shot in the league as a starter. Hey, maybe we're the ones that can figure it out with him. We can find the role. He'll be different here. And my skepticism is based on the fact that it usually doesn't work and the times that the Vikings have done it before. And I know Joanne Williams wasn't the third overall pick, but it was the same sort of idea. Flores loves this guy. He's big, he's lanky.

He was a second round draft pick and it just didn't really work out for Jawan Williams. And there's a number of other guys that they've tried this with as well. So I think it's fair to be patient with the Jeff Okuda conversation. And coming out of 2023, they were ready to start

Mackay Blackman and so that made me lean a little bit more toward, I still think that they want Mackay Blackman to win this job, but sometimes, sometimes it works. Sometimes a team does find somebody who they get the right position for, the right scheme, the right position for the right scheme the right role and you know, I noticed today that they sent Okuda on a cornerback blitz and it blew up a run play and that is the one thing about Jeff Okuda in his history that you'll see is that he has been excellent in terms of being a run stopper and

excellent in terms of being a run stopper. And it's possible that his physical play just meets what they want to do here really, really well. So can you hang on for dear life in man coverage where it's been a real struggle for Okuda, but then play in zones, bring your physical presence and your tackling ability lock up with some bigger wide receivers when we ask you to do that and you know, you've got a veteran starter, I still think it's on Mackay Blackman to show that he needs to be that guy or that he can be that guy

who is starting and maybe it is a little bit of a lack of size, but Blackman was a really good tackler in 2023 also could be that Blackman is coming back from a very serious injury that was suffered one year ago, but that doesn't mean, you know, he's had many opportunities to actually play real football. And that's why we let these things develop over training camp. And I think that that was also quasi-daful Mensa's answer when he was asked about the secondary of, I think he alluded to this. I don't think he straight upset it but kind of alluded to hey these things morph as a As a training camp goes on and last year they had Andrew Booth jr. And a Caleb Evans early on and

At the end it's Shaq Griffin and Stefan Gilmore So I mean they barely practice with their starting corners last year. So there's, there's time here, but everybody wants that story to work out. And I feel like I'm a little bit of the bad guy. If I'm the one who says, I don't know, you know, historically, it hasn't worked out that good. And I think it's a little hard to evaluate him so far. I think he's done well, but you know, no pads and that kind of thing. Where's my, where's my scroll? Yep, it's only been two practices, so he is, you

know, hard to evaluate. His physical tools are phenomenal. He's incredibly big. He was walking off the field with Brian Flores today, and a lot of the corners sort of look Flores close to in the eyes, not the tallest guy. Jeff Okuda towered over Brian Flores walking off the field. So if they can find and look, you know, I'm a reporter, I tell stories. So if they can find this guy who was the number three overall pick and have him be a key player for them, great story. So I'm not against it. I'm just a little more, you know, let's let's not jump the

gun because he's starting on day two. Slaw says, how do we properly evaluate depth wide receiver competitions? If the backup quarterbacks are not performing adequately, that's a great question. I feel like the last two days hat. That's it right there. Like you nailed it is they can't.

The answer is they can't. And I wondered today, now I know Jefferson being sidelined, you need guys to run routes out there for JJ McCarthy, but I almost wondered if a little bit of all the rotation was need somebody to be able to get these guys to football and the second string quarterbacks not doing it. And there was, there was a throw today from howl and this isn't going to be the bag on Sam Howell show. We'll, we'll move on quickly. I promise.

And, you know, here's another scroll for you. I don't care that much about the backup quarterback, but I do for this perspective of exactly what you're talking about, which is, we're going to wonder about these battles is they are. Thomas taking the next step. Can anybody step up? I haven't really seen any of Silas bold. And I think that he is probably a, just a punt returner. And that's the only thing he's kind of here to do. But the rest of the guys, Rondale more tie Fleming, I mean, uh, they,

they want, they want to have these guys be able to get, you know, reps Felton, Dante Fleming is another guy. Uh, but Ty Felton, like they, they need these guys to get the football and they're just not getting it. And if you take a sack and you don't even throw the ball, cause a lot of times when a quarterback takes a sack, they'll still throw it and finish the play. But that didn't even happen on a rep today. I mean, that's just everybody just going and running around like it's a playground. You need the ball to come out. And that was frustrating. And there was a throw today where I kind of looked over at Kevin O'Connell. And I think you guys know

this look by now with O'Connell, where he just, uh, you know, where he kind of throws his head to the side and just looks a little bit like, Oh, I, you know, he's not a yelling type of screaming coach, but everybody has frustration levels. And it was a play that most of the receivers went down the field and how well checked it down. I think it was just seven on seven, but he checked it down to tie Chandler and the check down was a bad throw. And it was at Chandler's feet and it was just, is this what we're doing here?

And they, he's got to pick it up soon because they need to practice. They need to have these guys get in the football. Uh, son of a Beaver says Christian Wilkins for the one-time question. Yeah. I, I figured that would come up and I have to look cause it, the news dropped right as I was coming on the air. So the Raiders are releasing Christian Wilkins. I'm reading this off, off my, off just off my Adam Schefter, you know, uh, update that goes to my phone.

So they're voiding his $35 million guaranteed money and the NFL PA is filing a grievance. So that must mean that Wilkins has a very serious injury. I believe it was a foot injury. He played against the Vikings in the preseason last year. When did he get hurt? Did he get hurt in that game? He got or early in the season or something. I mean, it was a it was a pretty bad injury and that must be why they're doing this. So the answer for me would have to be, can the guy, I mean, if his team's releasing him, can the guy even play? Like, is it possible that he can even get on the field again, or could this be a career ending injury for Christian Wilkins and you know, free agency. Last year, what the Vikings did was phenomenal, phenomenal.

I mean, Jonathan Grenard, Andrew van Ginkgo, Blake Cashman, Stefan Gilmore, Shack Griff, and all these key players they brought in. But I think they did want Christian Wilkins and maybe it was bad luck of what happened for his injury. But sometimes in free agency, it's just like the draft. You have to have things go your way. Kind of like how Rick Spielman tried to resign Matt Khalil once upon a time, and he also tried to sign Russell Okung and the backup backup option was Riley

Reef who was good. It wasn't it wasn't Christian Darasaw, but he was good for years and they just kind of landed on that. So this is one of those maybe dodge the bullet situations for Christian Wilkins, but I wouldn't expect that they would have that conversation based on where his health is at. I don't know if anyone is going to be able to have that conversation. I hope so. I mean, he's a really good player.

I hope that this isn't career ending for him. Matt says biggest thing this off season was for the offense getting a weapon in the short passing game. Love that they doubled up with that with Moore and Felton and those two seem to be the wide receiver column four and four a at this moment. I suppose more being the first guy up when Jefferson was not in for a few reps and Ty Felton came in pretty soon after that. And I thought that Felton has looked pretty comfortable and Rondale Moore has looked really good in these first few days. That is a big camp question

is when if I'm assuming Addison's going to be out three games could be too, but either way someone's got to be in that role. And I also, I mean, Jalen Naylor, a lot of times you watch Jalen Naylor on a play where he doesn't get the football and he's got an edge on a guy. He's out running somebody down the field. If the quarterback threw it to him, he probably would have a good chance at a long play. But the other two receivers are just so good that sometimes you feel like, oh man, nobody has run more mileage without getting the football open than Jalen Naylor. But I think that he's looked good so far in these first couple of days.

The muscle didn't disappear, the extra muscle that he put on from mini camp, but Naylor is preparing himself to move up into that spot. So then it's between these other two. And you're right about the playmaking element. I think we really saw just a little tiny hint of that today for Rondale Moore. Joel says every year the Eagles sign a player at a position that they already had a decent amount of depth and continue to dominate

the Vikings have an opportunity to do that with Wilkins. We got to find out if Wilkins is even going to play. And I don't disagree with you. I mean, even when we were talking about, um, you know, Jair Alexander, Jalen Ramsey, my thing was you've already come this far with these guys. You've already spent a ton of money on veteran players. What's one more, what's the roll in the dice on one more great veteran player to bring in? And if Christian Wilkins was healthy enough, there's a lot

of caveats here that if he was healthy enough to play 500 snaps and you can sign him for a very cheap amount with very little guarantee that you have no them for a very cheap amount with very little guarantee that you have no risk for the future. Then of course, yeah, take that guy have Jonathan Allen, J. Vaughn, the all injured last year team, the Minnesota Vikings 20, 25. But even if you could get 450 snaps out of somebody who's that good foot injury for a defensive tackle sounds pretty scary

And if his team was willing to go this far to void the guarantees I mean, I can't remember the last time we've seen that maybe you guys know but I can't remember the last time we've seen a Team sign a player for a hundred million bucks and then a year later be like no We are not paying the guarantees you have this injury and I'm sure there's more details that we're going to find out very soon. Uh, Dayton YT says feels like a natural fit for Josh Mattelis to fill in Harrison's role once he retires, but I would prefer Harrison never retires. Yeah, fair enough on that second part.