Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings-Patriots postgame: Backup QBs and The Myles Price Game

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

Regulator, mount up! Hey, everybody, welcome in, to the post-game-in-to-in-to-in-to-the-post-in-in-to-the-post-game-in-to-the-post-game show. here on Purple Insider, where the Minnesota Vikings, I think they lost the game to the New England Patriots, but that was not so much the focus, the score and the final results, but who stood out, who changed the narrative, who made the difference? And you know, Dane, there have been times in the past where we've gone into a preseason game, and we've tried to talk about it that way, and we haven't really gotten all that far. But in this game, there were some difference-making moments that may shape decisions by the Minnesota Vikings front office and coaching staff,

and I think a great place to start with that would be Sam Howell. In the first preseason game, Mr. Howell, quieted down the noise about the Vikings potentially going out and getting a different quarterback to be their backup. Well, that noise has returned after a one-for-five performance in which he threw a very Nick Mullins-like interception under pressure, just heaves it up into the the atmosphere and it gets picked off a pretty miserable performance by Sam Howell and I think we are back to square one with the discussion. Don't you think, Dane, that the Vikings may have to do something else other than Sam Howell at their backup quarterback position. Where do you stand on

that? Yeah, I mean, I think gun to my head today, I probably would say Sam Howell is still the backup week one, but I would not feel good about that. I really didn't feel very good about that throughout training camp, but I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt early. He's learning the offense. He's trying to figure it out. It's going to click at some point. And then I thought it did click last week. I thought his performance last weekend against the Texans was very good. It looked like he played quarterback before in the NFL because he has. And then I thought he parlayed that into a pretty good week at joint practices against the Patriots. I thought he looked in control of the offense, command, confident. But then to kind of put a bow on this week by going out and

doing that. Yeah, it leaves a ton of questions. And I think it was kind of on Sam Howell this preseason and training camp, but really in the games to show, yes, you can trust me. If I have to play, you can trust me. You can't throw that interception then. There are things that I think Kevin O'Connell is going to look at from this game and give him grace. He said it in the postgame press conference afterwards. Basically, well, we were playing nobody and the Patriots were playing all their starters. So that's fair. I think if he walks away from this game with a less than impressive stat line, and that's it, there would maybe be some grace there. But what does Kevin O'Connell hate more than anything? Turning the ball over. And to turn the ball over in the ghastly way

that Sam Howell did, I really think that breaks a lot of the trust that he helped to build up. Because if you're Kevin O'Connell, you want a guy who you can trust, if Jason AJ McCarthy goes down for a short period of time to just not screw it up. And anecdotally today, he just screwed it up. You just can't throw that ball. I know what he was trying to do. He was trying to reverse pivot out, buy him some time, and throw it into the seats. But if you're going to do that, you have to throw it into the seats. You cannot throw it into the arms of somebody else, which is what happened. So, yeah, back to square one. I think that's totally fair. He has a lot of work to do, I think, to rebuild that trust here in the next couple of weeks before

cut down day. It looked to me like he was trying to throw it to maybe Lucky Jackson, who was over on the sideline, and he was trying to make some sort of heroic play. So I'm not sure what the actual thought process was for Sam Howell. And you're right that you don't want to over inflate one mistake in a preseason game or one bad appearance. And he had a couple of scrambles that were just instant pressure. It is the backup offensive line, but at the same time, it's not like he built up a bunch of trust and belief throughout the offseason to get to this point. He had a very rough mini camp when he got here. He had a very, very difficult start to the off season. And then I agree that he started to come along and he had some very nice throws in

the joint practices, but also had some two-minute drives that failed and had some periods where He wasn't very accurate and wasn't really on point. And to me, looks like somebody who doesn't really necessarily know where to go with the football when things go wrong. Whereas, and we'll talk a lot about Max Brosmer as well, whereas Max Brosmer and Brett Rippen are getting rid of the football a lot more. And somebody who holds on to the ball a lot, okay, if you're Sam Darnold, then you can hit a 30-yard pass on a dime down the field. Okay, then you are going to get people apologizing for you for taking a sack or making a big mistake. in the pocket when you're pressured. But if you're Sam Howell, you're not that guy.

Like, you need to play the way that Brett Rippin and Max Brosmer have played. And that moment was not it. That was, it was very much like it reminded me of Nick Mullins in Cincinnati where just don't do anything insane and your team probably wins the game. And then has the craziest interception fumble or whatever it was where I think that there are some quarterbacks who just have these panic points and that's how they are. And this is a guy who led the league in sacks. interceptions when he was a starter. And that's kind of the guy he looked like in this football game.

So I think that that discussion now comes back into the forefront. Is there somebody else that they might be looking for to be their backup quarterback or is that somebody else in house? And it was, if I recall correctly, the second preseason game when Kellynne Mon and Sean Manion were the backups where they came out and did not perform very well. And that was sort of the end of it for O'Connell and he went out and traded for Nick Mullins to get somebody else in here, will they look elsewhere for a backup quarterback after this? Because I agree. I mean, you said ghastly. I'll go with unconscionable. I mean, it's just an unconscionable interception to throw in that situation, in a spot where if you throw it out of bounds, even if you throw it at

somebody's feet and you just move on to the next play, like that's how a backup quarterback needs to play. And it feels to me like Sam Howell believes himself to be a gunslinger and he's going to gun sling. he's going to take risks and he's going to try to make plays, even though that's not right for this role. And he may be a guy who, yeah, if he starts the entire season, that, okay, we'll get you to 500 if it's a good team or something. And he'll make some plays that are exciting and make some bad plays. But a backup just cannot play that way. In fact, I want to get the Fanduel question of the day right out to you before we get to the other quarterbacks and the other players that stood out, which is, and this is, I think a good way to evaluate how you feel about Sam Howell.

How many games would your over-under be if Sam Howell had to play more than half the season for this team? Where would you put it if I told you Sam Howell played at least nine games this year for the Minnesota Vikings? Yeah, well, I think Vegas still has the Vikings at eight and a half as they're over-under. That might have moved to nine, depending what book you look at. But if the Vegas win total is eight and a half with McCarthy as the starting quarterback, well, then obviously, for our fan dual question of the day, it has to go down. If Sam Howell is a starting quarterback, how far down? I think I would put the line at five and a half.

And I think that's probably a fair line. I don't think the line would be two and a half. I think they'd win three games easily. So if they set the line at that, I think everyone would hammer the over and they'd walk home richer. So it has to be a line that entices both ways. But I think five and a half is totally fair. because I think there would be games, maybe stretches, maybe weeks, maybe months, where it's like, are they ever going to win another game?

And I think there would also be spot moments throughout the year where it's like, this looks pretty good because the offense is one that Kevin O'Connell creates where if you just throw to the right spots, you're going to gain yards and probably win football games. So I think Sam Howell is capable of both. I think he's capable of playing in the function of the offense and moving the ball, as we saw last week, and I think he's also capable of throwing the worst interception I've ever seen, which is this week. So five and a half was probably the over-under I'd go with, and I think I'd still end up taking the over just because of the talent on this roster.

But it would certainly go down. It's certainly something the Vikings don't want to find out what life would be like if Sam Howell was just kind of the guy for two, two, three months. Well, I think it really stood out to me today that Josh Jobs was way better than Sam Howell. what Josh Dobbs looks like and the ups and downs of Josh Dobbs and the fact that you can't make the playoffs with him. What you're usually looking for is a quarterback where that answer would be, well, they should still win seven, eight, nine games if that quarterback has to come in. I don't feel that way with the accumulation of what I've seen from Sam Howell. I think you would really, really struggle to win games with the sacks, the turnovers, the miscues, and then

occasionally you'd say, well, he threw for 350 yards. That was nuts. But there would not be enough of that consistently to even put you in the running, which that to me is the ultimate litmus test of a backup quarterback, as you could say, hey, if it was a very good backup, like a Gardner Minshue, you're still going to be in the playoff race. You would not be in the playoff race if you have to use Sam Howell. So then what are we doing here? And now the other two quarterbacks, let's get into their game, because I felt like Brett Ripon had some moments where he just missed throws that were there. So at the end zone, he's got a fourth down where if he drops it in the bucket, his receiver's there and catches a

touchdown. There was another one in the end zone. Same thing. But on a play to play basis, Brett Rippin was much better than Sam Howell. And he kind of has been in practice too. And he's been taking some of the second team reps. I wouldn't say that it's been a lot over all of the preseason. But when it comes to taking the snap, dropping back, looking to the right spot, letting it go. I think he went seven for 11 today and had a couple of those were sure screen passes. But at least it looks like the offense is functioning the way it's supposed to function. I would say the same for Max Brosmer. And I think if there is a competition right now between Brett Rippin and Sam Howell,

I would say just keep Brett Rippin as your backup quarterback and Max Brosmer and just go from there. I know that you want to get someone who's more experience. And if that's possible, they can look around over these last couple of weeks. I don't think it's too late right now. But I do think they have to make that decision pretty quick. But as far as just Brett Rippin goes, it looked pretty good. The offense was able to move. And then Max Brosmer, it was a journey for Max Brosber, but he hits a fourth and 17.

He gets them down in the end zone. He makes a perfect throw to Miles Price. Price can't bring it in. And after I just sort of overheard a discussion with them about that play, and I think that Price felt like he should have brought that ball in, I felt like Price should have brought that in. We'll get to Miles Price. and the rest of his day, but Max Brosmer once again showed me a guy who gets the football out,

sees where he's supposed to go with the ball, it's not perfect because it's fourth stringers, but it looks like NFL quarterback being played by him, and I want to see more. With him, I want, every time he's done playing, I think we saw a whole half of him. I think, give me three quarters of Max Brosmer in the next game, because I feel like there is potential for consistent growth with Brosmer, in this offense, and I'd really like to see him with the twos and see what that looks like because with the threes and the fours, he has performed like an NFL quarterback. Yeah, I'll touch on Rippin before I get to my guy, Max Brosmer, rode the boat, Scott Yamago Gophers.

Brett Rippin, he's been in the offense. I think that's probably his biggest tool in his tool bag is that he knows the offense inside and out. He's been here for three or four years, and I think he can kind of just be an extension of Kevin O'Connell on the field, which maybe that's all Kevin O'Connell really wants in a backup quarterback. So maybe there is some level of truth to, if you had to pick between Sam Hall or Brett Rippin, maybe you would just pick Brett Rippin because at least you can trust him to not throw the interception that Sam Howell did today.

I still think Sam Howell and the upside is probably better than Brett Rippin, who I think you could cut today, get through waivers, and get on your practice squad. No disrespect to Brett Rippin. I just think he's been around the league long enough and he hasn't been a backup, at least for an extended period of time. I think in Denver he was at points early in his career.

But I think Brett Rippin is what he is. He's a great mind in the quarterback room and I wouldn't feel great about him being my backup. Now let's turn the page to Max Brosmer. I thought he was really good today. I think you're right when you say it looked like legitimate quarterback play. It just looked like it should.

with a guy running an offense. It was quick throws right off his back foot right away, or not off his back foot, but hitting his back foot, planting and throwing. It was progressing down the field at times. Finishes 15 of 27 for 156 yards and an interception that he threw on the last play of the game because he had to throw the ball. He couldn't take a sack there with time expiring. So you can miss me with the interception. That doesn't bother me at all, especially on the previous play when I thought he threw a touchdown to Miles Price. hard to evaluate this day though because he took four sacks there were procedural penalties how much of that is on max brosemar not getting everyone set how much of that is on

playing with third stringers on the offensive line and third stringers across the board with playmakers i think i'm still going to give the benefit of the doubt to max brosmer that he is doing what he's supposed to just because of the way he speaks about football i i think he knows the playbook pretty inside and out as much as you can. So I don't think he's getting guys in the wrong position pre-snap. And the way Kevin O'Connell talks about Max Brozmer, we asked Kevin O'Connell this week, what is the most important trait in a backup quarterback? And he said you have to be able to learn without taking rep. Most important trait in a backup quarterback. And he said you have to be able to learn the epitome of that throughout training camp.

He has learned this offense without taking reps. Sometimes he gets like two reps in 11 on 11, and he somehow is still able to go out there today and throw with anticipation, throw to spots. There was a fourth and 17 throw that I think everyone will point to. Max Rosemar knows where the ball has to go. He drops back. It's fourth and 17.

You have to let it rip. And he said he didn't know Jason Jones was going to be there. He just hoped he was going to be there. He just thought he would be there. because he's supposed to be there in the structure of the offense, throws to a spot on the field, called it a spot throw. Jashon Jones is there to catch the ball. I think that's a good example of how much he's learned and what he's capable of if he does win this backup quarterback job. I don't think he will. I thought it was interesting that Kevin O'Connell called it a competition afterwards. He didn't say it's an open competition and Max versus Powell, but he did not say Sam Howell is the backup quarterback.

So while I don't think Max Brosmer will be the backup quarterback of this team with sky high expectations, I think if he continues to put together days like today and more practices like we've seen throughout training camp and maybe he looks good on Friday in the preseason game against the Titans, he's going to force their hand to at least have to keep him on the 53. And then if he's there, well, then he's going to keep chipping away, chipping away. And maybe he's the backup quarterback by the time this thing is said and done. But he's done everything that you would want an undrafted quarterback to do. He has still meat left on the bone, I think, and I think he feels that.

But I think that's a good thing to feel. If we talked to Max Brosmer after the game and he said, I did great, I would kind of look at him sideways because there were areas for improvement. The good thing is he sees that as well. So I think he has the opportunity now, and he's just got to keep running with it. folks i know a lot of you out there either own your own business or you are in a management position where you have to hire people and it can be such a headache you have to sort through all sorts of resumes of people who aren't qualified and you end up overlooking some of the best candidates it's

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So try it for free at this exclusive web address, ziprecruiter.com slash audio. Again, that is zip recruiter.com slash audio. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. This is why I would like to see Brosmer get more work with the twos that are actual NFL players because I thought some of it was instant pressures that he faced and got sacked. As you mentioned, Miles Price, who had a great day. otherwise was not able to bring in a touchdown, which would have made everybody feel quite a bit

different about that stat line and how Max Brosmer performed. That was not the only drop. There were several drops that were involved in this timeout for him. And I thought that was true of all the quarterbacks that there were drops. And we'll get into one receiver in particular who couldn't hang on to the ball today. But there was a lot of moving parts going on that were not helping Brosmer in this game. And he was able to fight through it and put them in a position to potentially win the game and make a throw that was good enough. And I just feel like he's in control when he's out there. And they've had bad things happen and he bounces back and he keeps it running. But it is very hard to evaluate when you're talking about, as you said, in practice, it's a handful of reps.

And in the preseason, it's mostly these fourth team or third team reps. I think early in the third quarter, though, the Patriots were still playing some players. And so anything in the preseason is challenging to figure out what does it really mean. But now we've built up a big enough sample size going back to minicamp to at least say, I think this is someone you want to keep on your football team and where this goes, we'll see from here. But the guy who's going to come in and answer that Fandul question of the day, if something goes wrong with J.J. McCarthy, I'm not sure that that person is on the roster, and I'm not sure whom they might have in mind to potentially be the backup quarterback. Remember last year, they were frustrated with their cornerback situation, and they signed

Stefan Gilmore at the last minute. Is that somebody? who is on the street still? Is there some other team whose backup quarterback has lost the job but has previous experience? I don't know, but I agree with you that O'Connell being non-committal about that is pretty telling and I don't think he's been thrilled

with Sam Howell at any point, even after the last preseason game, there was kind of this backhanded compliment of like, yeah, we needed to see him in a game which means because in practice it hasn't really been what they wanted it to be. So let's talk about some other players. that were difference makers today, I think that starts with Miles Price. So yes, he did drop the ball

in the end zone as a wide receiver, but as a returner, hey, we talked about that competition. Who's going to step up as a return or who's going to show themselves? Well, we got our answer in spades today, a 22-yard punt return, another one that was under pressure that he got out for maybe 10 yards, and then an 81-yard kick return where he was a little frustrated with himself for not getting it all the way to the house, but he ran right through somebody on that kick return and found the hole and got to open grass and I think has showed himself a few times in preseason, in practice, to have an ability with the football in his hands to make plays. And then he did it here today. We saw Ty Felt and Fumble, which was extremely concerning that he

would fumble on a kick return. We saw Chandler back there with him and then Xavier Scott back there with him. Maybe because Chandler has done this before. it helps him stay on the roster. He was the first running back out there today and Xavier Scott came in later. But are we seeing this one preseason game and this performance for Miles Price and saying he should be the guy? Or are you still in the camp of just go get somebody else, get someone who's proven and Miles Price can develop behind the scenes or just, hey, the kid took the opportunity with the pressure on and the punt returning competition and did nothing to make place? I want to call Marcus Sheryls and see what he's doing.

I think he's like 45 years old now, and he's been the most reliable punt return of the Vikings have had in the last decade. So I'm only joking, kind of. But I think Miles Price probably did enough that if they really are holding true to what they've said so far, which is this is a competition, we want someone to take the bull by the horns and win it, then he's winning it right now. And if that's the case, then I think he will be the guy who's the punt. returner in Chicago for better or for worse do I want an inexperienced undrafted rookie free agent

returning punts in Chicago and the swirling winds of soldier field I don't know probably not but right now I think he's the guy who has started to separate himself with that position in particular I think Rondo more was going to win that competition and I think when he went down a week ago today they probably looked at themselves and said well let's just see what we have in some of these undrafted guys I thought it was interesting because Miles Price got reps ahead of Silas Bolden, who I thought was the leader in the clubhouse. So I think Miles Price is already ahead of them, or is already ahead of his peers coming into today, and then he did what he did on the field this afternoon.

So I think he's probably the guy I would pick to be your punt returner right now. I thought it was interesting what Kevin O'Connell said. Post game, though, like I know Ty Fulton fumbled the ball, but it does seem like they want him to be the kick returner. and I think they're going to force feed him to be the kick returner. They said, and they keep saying he has all the elements we want in this really explosive play. You've heard Kevin O'Connell say it. You've heard Matt Daniels say it.

Ty Feltons talked about how he's relishing the opportunity to be the kick returner. So I think he's probably going to be the kick returner because that's what they want him to do. That's where they see him capable of making an impact outside of just being a receiver in the offense. So even though it wasn't good, even though I've seen him return kicks in practice and just fall down, trip over the yard marker and fall on his face. And I've seen him fumble today in his only rep. I do think that they see upside with him and they're going to continue to see it through there. So I don't know if Miles Price is going to be your punt returner and kick returner,

if nothing else because I think the coaching staff really does see Ty Felton as that guy. Well, and Felton was doing his returning against the Patriots, special teams unit. That was not the case for Miles Price, so we can't just go on the results. And they've had Felton back there since day one. So it doesn't seem like they would go away from that, even though Price showed himself to be exceptional with the football in his hands. Here's where this becomes such a big discussion and why we're talking about it so much. I don't know that I've ever talked about the kick and punt returner as much as we have. There's a few reasons, though. Number one is that the offense and defense are very good.

There are superstars all over the field, and they are good enough to be a team that's right there competing with anybody else in the NFC. Do you want to have a game decided when we're talking about a very tight division, a very tight conference, a game decided because a rookie fumbles the ball on a kick return because he's a rookie and he's not ready to really be doing this. And the same goes for a punt return. Do you really want an undrafted guy back there? Like, you better be really sure because there are. players who are out there that will get cut or are still free agents like Brandon Powell, who have done it for a long time and can probably step in and take over those roles. I would still be on the search for that despite what we saw today. And it was a great game for Miles Price. And maybe

there is something there with him long term. But you're talking about a team that just needs to survive special teams. They don't need to thrive in order to really be a winning football team. And hey, Will Reichard was great today. And Oscar Chapman made things interesting, I think, with a great punt and then also proving that he could be a holder on a couple of makes from Will Reichert. So maybe we still do have a punt competition. I don't know. But you're really trying to just get through the special teams reps. And the kick return, though, there's going to be a lot more. I think it's very, very clear that in the NFL this year, the way they've adjusted the rules, it's more beneficial for the kickoff

team statistically to actually kick it to the returner and make a tackle than it is to kick it out of the back of the end zone and give the offense the ball at the 35. That means Ty Felton, I mean, last year, Ty Chandler had 12 returns. Whatever. Okay, handful of returns. That's fine. Ty Felton could have 30, 40. Like, I don't know how this is going to go, but if you're telling me that he's going to return the ball 40 times as a rookie after fumbling today, I would say nervous, even though I really like his skill set for this, ball in his hands. I think he's got some special traits. It seems like this has been a Matt Daniels's plan since the day he was drafted of identifying this and saying this is a guy who should

be our returner. I just think that they're going to be putting their hands over their eyes every single time the other team kicks the ball off if it is Ty Felton back there or if it is Miles Price. So there has to be, I think some decisions here for this team at these positions and backup quarterback kick and punt returner. I thought we got some hints today, but I'm not sure that we still have the answer yet. I don't think so, at least not definitively. I think, I forget if I was talking to you at practice or somebody else, but I did mention that I think it's a possibility that whoever makes the 53 on Tuesday, August 26th is not necessarily going to be who fills those roles on, you know,

week one, Monday night football. You see it all the time. Oh, this guy made the team, congrats. And then someone else becomes available because they didn't make their team. And then the guy who was just scratching and clawing to make the 53 gets cut and they sign a veteran. So that's possible. Maybe Miles Price is a big story on August 26th, and maybe he's cut by August 28th, and on the practice squad by August 29th. That, I think, is a possibility. I think I would be surprised at this point if they went out and brought somebody in

to be a returner before cut down day. I feel a little less. I would be a little less surprised if they brought a quarterback in because I think you probably want a guy to absorb as much as the offense. But I think they're content to let the returner thing play out just because if they felt so strongly about a guy who was available on the open market right now, I think they'd already be here. I think they probably are letting this thing play out from a returner perspective. But I just kind of want to be clear. It doesn't necessarily mean if you make the team on cut down day that you're on the team in the season opener. We'll

see. But those positions, I think, still very much up in the year. Okay. I've got a few more things on my list to talk about in players, but what did you have on your list? What else was on your takeaways? I mean, clearly the backup quarterback competition and returners were the highlight of the day, but what else did you have for your notebook? Yeah, I think we're probably going to be on the same page for most of these. I thought one that I wrote down early in the game, like Gabe Murphy had a possession where he defeated a block, had a tackle for a loss in the backfield on a running back and then on the very next play, got to the quarterback, forced an errand pass, and it went for a turnover on downs.

I don't need to see Gabe Murphy anymore in the preseason. I don't think we will. I think preseason game three is almost always just last men on the roster fighting for spots. But Gabe Murphy's really impressed me in the preseason to the point where I would consider him in that starter caliber player as far as keeping them healthy. Dallas Turner didn't play today because they want to keep him healthy.

Donovan Jackson was another name I wrote down. He didn't play today because they want to keep him healthy. I think that also means Donovan Jackson is your starting left guard with a bullet. I don't think that's a conversation anymore. I don't think it was ever a competition, but I think Donovan Jackson is your starting left guard. But the more I see Gabe Murphy, the more I kind of want him to be a part of that. Like, just don't get him hurt because I think he could play a key role in the defense. You're continuing to see him pop this year or this preseason, and I think that gives them

a pretty good ceiling or pretty high ceiling from a pass rusher perspective, but he's a guy who I just think continues to stand out every time he's on the field. And it kind of goes back to last summer. They loved him as an undrafted free agent as a rookie and he just got hurt towards the end of training camp or I think he would have carved out an inch for himself sooner. But I think you're seeing it happen in real time now. I don't want to see Gabe Murphy at any point in the preseason moving forward. Another guy who stood out to me along the same lines was Ty Ingram Dawkins, who has been slowly and progressively showing up on the radar more and more as we have gone along. I mean, he got some first team reps last week during the joint practices. Levi

Drake Rodriguez was out and did not play today either, and that's just opened the door for Ingram Dawkins. He had a tackle for loss. He had a pressure. He had one play. The tackle for loss was very impressive because he sort of sorted through the junk, moved a guy, got in there, made an aggressive and violent tackle. And we talked with him the other day. a very bright kid. I think he really fits with the mentality of this team and this defense. And he's another one where I'm like, okay, I think he's good. I think he's on the team.

Just play other people in the third preseason game because he might end up having some sort of role. And there's kind of one role from last year, the Jihad Ward situation, which is up for grabs. If we figure that Dallas Turner is taking over for Pat Jones, then there is maybe a rotational spot on pass rushdowns that one of those guys could fill in, whether it's Murphy, or Ingram Dawkins, but I think these young players showed out pretty well. And I also thought that Bo Richter made some plays as well. And I don't see him having quite the same role. He's more of a special teamer.

But every time the guy gets on the field, he's making a play here or there. And so I thought the D-line was good. I did not think the same of the secondary and where I was really raising an eyebrow. If you thought that there was still a shred of hope for Mackay Blackman in the competition, and that shred of hope is now gone. I mean, playing in the second game, okay, playing the whole second game almost. He played three quarters. I think I had something like 50-something snaps for him in that range.

And I know they're trying to ramp him back up from that ACL injury. But at this point in the game, where we're only a couple weeks from the start of the season, usually, even if you're just going to be a direct backup, you're not playing this much. And I didn't think it went all that well. I thought there was a tackle or two that could have been made. I thought there was some loose coverage. There was a play by Drake May where he rolled out and found a guy down the field. And Blackman was in the next parking lot over.

And I just, that couldn't have been the right place to be on that particular play. He has not seemed as engaged. He has not seemed as aggressive or violent as he was before. And maybe there's still a process for him coming back from that injury. Jeff Okuda did not play. Jeff Okuda is on this team and Jeff Okuda is going to play for this team. Now, does that also make you? you a little nervous based on his history. I would say the answer is yes, but the fact that he

has won the coaching staff over to the point where he's not even playing in the second preseason game, I think is a good sign. And just to comment on what you said about Donovan Jackson, so the second day of the joint practices, I thought he was really good. I was trying to watch Donovan Jackson a lot more. First day had its ups and downs. But I honestly thought there was a practice play where he blocked for a screen and everybody got excited for him that, seemed to give him a little confidence and get him going a little bit. And he was violent and aggressive and really did a great job in past protection against some very good Patriots players in the joint practices. And if you recall, we go back. People have asked, well, where is he at

compared to Ed Ingram? Ed Ingram participated in joint practices. And if I'm not mistaken, then played in the preseason game, which was a real red flag for where he was in his progress. So it's a good sign for Donovan Jackson that he did not play today. So that cornerback situation is resolved. I think we're settled and set Okuda as the guy. Backfield, though, last week we were given Xavier Scott, your RB3, you're the dude. And he played well today, mostly in the screen game.

I didn't think he got much for blocking in the run game. Ty Chandler was out there before him. Where are you on RB3? I, like, stood on the table last week post game and declared. Xavier Scott, RB3, so I think I'm just going to stay there and kind of stand on business with what I said. But it's not like he played bad. There just wasn't a lot of running room. I think he had 70 rushing yards last week and finally finished with like 20, maybe even less this week.

A lot of that, I think the blocking in front of him, I think when you really started to see the level of difference in who Rayble was playing and who O'Connell was playing was in the trenches. so I'm not going to sit here and say, ah, Xavier Scott didn't generate on the ground, so the competition's back in tie Chandler's hands. I thought he still looked explosive when he got the ball in space, and I thought the screen game you mentioned was a good part of his game. He runs with the nastiness that I just, when he gets the ball in his hands, it looks like he wants to deliver contact, but he also has a little flash of speed. I still think he's a guy who needs to continue to prove it in practice,

but he's continued to kind of build his stock throughout the training camp. It's probably going to come down to very late in the game before cut down day, before they decide on Xavier Scott and Ty Chandler, and maybe they just keep both. I still would be pretty surprised that they end up keeping both, but I know they like Xavier Scott. I know they feel an attachment to Ty Chandler, and I know Ty Chandler contributes.

elsewhere, not just on offense. He's your kick returner. But I think Xavier Scott did enough today to keep me interested. They still like him as a kick returner at time. So I think whoever is your RB3 will probably be your kick returner back there. We saw Xavier Scott back there today too. So it wasn't so much he took it from last weekend now is running away with the job of RB3. But I still think he's done enough to push himself kind of past tie chandler on the depth chart even if tie chanelanel was getting those first reps today ahead of him folks you know that purple insider has been growing and now i've got people who work for me and interns and everything it's pretty wild i know but that also means that i need to learn a thing or two about leadership and that is where i de o you comes in

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And the one other battle that we have spoken on many, many times and have no resolution is tight end three. Nick Vinette, who's a guy many of you have probably never heard of because I'm not sure how many times I've mentioned him. He just got to the team. last week, a veteran player who's 32, 33 years old. He's been around at 17 catches last year for Pittsburgh comes in, looked like a pro, but it was Ben Eurasek who started the game for them. At this moment, I think tight end three probably is either Venet who's been around or it's Eurasek who seems to have been ahead on the depth chart or it's somebody else that is not here. But that has been the underwhelming camp battle of the decade. And somebody else, somebody else,

dropped a pass. There was an easy swing pass from Max Brozmer that on a little rollout that should have been a hundred percent completion percentage and just, you know, Gavin Bartholomew is not participated in anything. I don't know an update on his status of whether we're going to see him at all this year, but that kind of was DOA with that tight end three competition and we just still have not seen any one step up. So that leads to me to the last question for you, Dane, is what is left to find out. I see Oscar Chapman. Do you want to say something about Oscar Chapman? Do you want Oscar Chapman to be the punter of this team? Yeah, I do. I've been pretty overwhelmed by Ryan Wright since he was a rookie. I think it's like he's addicted to kicking the

ball in the back of the end zone rather than for a touchback rather than trying to pin him inside the 20. I think the touchback percentage has been not good enough from Ryan Wright over the last two years. And I think the fact that Oscar Chapman was holding today is a, small inclination that I think they feel it's a competition still. Because yeah, I think they want their punter to be able to boom the ball and flip the field. But I think where you really see kind of the relationship aspect of it and the chemistry aspect is the holder, Andrew DePaula, the kicker, Will Reichert. And for the last three years, two years, the punter, Ryan Wright, have been just a trio that's always seen together. Oscar Chapman has been in that too now

since he's on the team, but the kicker holder position or relationship is very important to the entire operation of the kicking game. I don't think they would have just willy-nilly given Oscar Chapman holding reps if they didn't think he has a chance to win the job outright. So I think it's possible. I think Oscar Chapman flipped the field too from the end zone, booted at 58 yards. I think I'm going to ask him this week. Everyone's talking about the different types of kicks he has. He has a banana kick. He has a no end-over-end kick. Australian punters are crazy with how they can kick the ball. And I think that might add to his repertoire as far as unseating Ryan Wright. So that is my pitch for Oscar Chapman, mainly because I just haven't really enjoyed the way Ryan Wright has

punted the ball. So he can actually kick one like a boomerang that comes back to him, but there's no reason to use it because it's football. And you're supposed to, okay, I'm just kidding. But honestly, he did stand out to me today. The look on the body language of the punt returner for New England both times was like, what does it do? And maybe he's just bad, but there was a fumble before in the last preseason game. It does seem like these guys have been struggling, these returners to track the ball coming down. And then it took a big skip and he did flip the field.

If he can hold, then there is a chance because I agree with you. I don't think that this team has been really rock solid on. Ryan Wright. They keep bringing in other punters and they just haven't found anybody who they felt good about. But there is a part of me that feels like it's overthinking it again where it's just survived special teams. You know that there's a connection there. And also you don't have to get rid of Oscar Chapman because of the international exception. So I'm not sure. I'll be very curious to see what they do there. So before we bring a special guest into the show, Dane, what is left to find out about the Minnesota Vikings in their final preseason game?

and our final couple of training camp practices this week. Yeah, I think, I mean, it works out perfectly. It's kind of closing the loop on the whole podcast because the questions really start and stop with the quarterback to me. J.J. McCarthy is your starter, obviously. But what is it going to look like behind him? I thought we'd have more solidified knowledge of that by now, and we don't. I think we actually have more questions walking out of U.S. Bank Stadium today

than we did when we walked into U.S. Bank Stadium. which then paves the way for, well, what is this week going to look like? I still think Sam Howell is going to be given the opportunity, but it's on him to kind of push it forward now because he left a lot of room for questioning with how he performed today. So that's kind of where I'm at, and then I'm sure we'll just kind of nitpick the position battles. We've kind of talked about all of them,

but there are going to be a few, whether it's wide receiver six. Are they going to keep six wide receivers? who is that going to be. Miles Price is probably your leader right now. Cornerback, are they going to keep five? Are they going to keep six? Are they going to keep Zamea Vaughn and Dwight McLeathern or just Zamea Vaughn over Dwight McLeodern? I think when you really get into the weeds and you look at like the 50th, the 51st, 52nd, 52nd, 53rd man on the roster, that's probably also just going to inherently play itself out this week. But to be frank, I don't really care about the 50th, 52nd, or 51st, 52nd, 53rd player on the roster if I don't trust my backup

quarterback. So it has to be, let's figure that out first, and then let everything else play out in the background. Big thing I'm looking forward this week, and it ties into something I forgot to mention earlier when we were talking about the quarterbacks, is how bad Jalen Ehler's injury is? Is he back in practicing this week and looking like it's fine and on track, or did his hand injury call into question where they even stand on wide receiver two. Lucky Jackson had two drops today on two very, very catchable routine balls. He dropped a touchdown the other day in practice. So now the hands are a big question there for Lucky Jackson,

who has got this huge opportunity. And I think has risen to the challenge mostly we were talking about last week about whether you would draft them in fantasy with like the final pick of your fantasy team or something. But today, I think was a major setback for him with a couple. of drops and an opportunity to set himself apart. Saw a little Thayer Thomas, but these are guys who have never played. And if Jalen Naylor is good to go, okay, well, that's fine to have a wide receiver three who might come in for 15 snaps.

And I thought Felton had a good day as a wide receiver, actually. Probably his best day as a wide receiver caught a ball that tipped up into the air and then made a play on it. But if Jalen Naylor's out, you have to go get somebody. Like you have to trade for Athelan or you have to sign an over. be Jay or you do something. Gabe Davis, see what he's doing, whatever it might be. Tyler Boyd, somebody's got to be in here who's played football before because they have gotten now to the point of the roster where it's all guys who have never played in the NFL before.

And I don't feel great about that with Jefferson and then just whoever and the two tight ends and running back. So that is very much up for grabs as well. But thanks for your time, Dane. Now hand me this. And we will bring in our special guest. Appreciate you. And off goes. Dane, and we bring in our special guests to U.S. Bank Stadium, intern Maggie Robinson. Hello, I exist off the Internet, guys. A real person. Yeah, wow. How about that? So, your first time ever to Minnesota, your first time ever to U.S. Bank Stadium, and also you had an assignment for today to cover KOC's press conference because I was in the locker room talking with Max Bros. Murmiles Price and so forth.

So why don't we talk about what you learned inside the press conference for Kevin O'Connell? Absolutely. There were two main takeaways, and the first you guys have kind of touched on. It says the QB2 position is pretty much wide open. He needs to keep seeing more from these guys. He's going to keep giving them all opportunities. But he said this really stuck out to me that he thinks Max Rosemar has fast eyes. And he's learning these plays very quickly.

That's something he's picked up through training camp. He's throwing a lot at him. He's getting more complex plays, and he's learning it very quickly. and he's very shifty with the way he's like reading plays. And that really stood out to him. He also was a really strong work ethic. And he said he and J.J. McCarthy really push each other. And I found it interesting.

J.J. McCarthy is two years younger than him, but the starter for this. So I think that's a really good dynamic that they're both really hungry and really young and just like chopping at the bit a little bit to get after it. Well, and you want your backup quarterback to have connection with your starting quarterback. And it's just that Brosmer has checked every single box that you could have, dreamed of when you sign an undrafted free agent. I mean, most of the time this happens, the guy is a camp arm. And then we say, hey, remember that time they had that guy from the gophers? And then we never talk about it really ever again. But Rosemar has just shown something

different. And fast eyes, I think, is a really big compliment in the quarterback world. He sees the field well. Doesn't have the athletic traits of someone like J.J. McCarthy, but I think has a lot of the same personality makeup. I now at this point after today would be very surprised. if Max Brosmer was not on this team. The rest of the situation, I'm not sure, and it's not like you weren't really sold on who is QB2 at this moment by Kevin O'Connell's comments. But Brosmer is on this football team. Absolutely.

There's no doubt in my mind. And the second thing I wanted to bring up that I caught from the press conference, you guys know I love my UDFA. So UDFA of the week live from U.S. Bank Stadium is Miles Price. He is, I think, had a fantastic game today. You guys already highlighted it earlier, but KOC said, He loves the way Price plays and he's going to continue to give him opportunities. He really wants to keep him a wide receiver too.

And I think Price's versatility is going to be a huge asset for him looking forward because you can put him punt receiver, kick receiver, returner, excuse me, wide receiver. Like the way he's so athletic, you kind of use him all over the field. And that's going to really help him give him an edge over other players because he's so versatile. I have not seen Miles Price stand out really so much until today. because he just hasn't gotten a ton of opportunities. And then in the joint practice, he caught a touchdown from, I think it was actually Sam Howell, or maybe it was Brozmer, that threw it up over his head and he made a great play on it.

And you start to just this laden camp, like, oh, this guy is starting to make his surge. And he's got a unique body type. He's not very tall, but he is. Like, there was a guy that used to call the muscle hamster. Like, I'm not trying to pin that nickname on him. That was Doug Martin of the Tampa Bay Bucks. But it is kind of that way, like a smaller guy who's very. very jacked in his upper body and can run over somebody.

He kind of has a nice punt returner type of body, but will they trust him in real games is the question. I think what Price has done today and then just in his surge in practice is proven he's someone you want to keep around. Like as a practice squad player at very least to see what's there as he goes forward, but maybe there is more there to him. And I think the third preseason game is set up for a guy like, him to really show something yeah I think that's someone you got to keep your eyes out for

and I mean fingers crossed for him it's a cool opportunity you know to come in undrafted and then make the 53 we will see August 26th okay unfortunately for you you got the preseason atmosphere and not the regular season atmosphere because when it's great in here it's really something it is as loud and as special of an atmosphere as any in the national football league for a preseason game I would say that the fans are watching politely and And that's what they should do. They shouldn't be going crazy. But overall, though, your impressions of visiting U.S. Bank Stadium in the Minnesota Vikings.

Beautiful stadium, I will say that. I think it is stunning. And the way it's set up, it's very night. Like the press box, the whole setup, great. You got a good view. The food was good, you know? I also love the touch of the snow. You never see that on TV.

There is literal snow that falls down. Not literal snow, come on. But there's snow that falls down before the game. like at halftime. I thought that was a fun touch. It's a great atmosphere. You guys really do a good job here. So I had a great time and hopefully I will be back. Well, if you've ever seen the meme where there's the guy like yelling in the girl's ear and so then everyone like makes, oh me talking about this, that was me explaining to Maggie about how the dragon used to shoot fire and no longer shoots fire and it's Tennessee's fault. But at least you saw the pregame

presentation as it is, which is still very, very good, but no fire for you today. So I'm really happy that you could come out. You're going to have some other content for us here at Purple Insider as well. So thank you for dropping by. Really appreciate your reporting from inside the press conference. And thank all of you for watching slash listening. And we will have a very interesting week of discussion. One more preseason game.

And then we play football, everybody. It is almost time. So we'll catch you then. Football. Football.