Friday at TCO Performance Center brought a little bit of everything: rain, a damp crowd, a practice that started with special teams work, and a quarterback battle that spent its early stretch looking more like a series of fire drills than a full-on showcase.
The weather pushed the Vikings into a strange setup, with the field nearest the stands left unused, possibly because of a turf issue tied to the storms earlier in the day. That made it tougher to track everything, but a few players still made sure they were noticed.
Dontae Fleming keeps showing up.
He hasn’t had the loudest camp among the receivers - Tai Felton has owned that distinction - but Fleming has been steady every day. On Friday, he came down with a tough grab on a high J.J.
McCarthy throw and later picked up a chunk play from Kyler Murray as the quarterbacks rotated through first- and second-team wideouts. That’s become a pattern: imperfect throws, big gains.
Fleming has a real shot to keep separating himself from Jeshaun Jones and Dillon Bell, and if the trend holds through the weekend, he could be the favorite for WR6 in an initial 53-man roster projection.
Jordan Mason was just as impossible to miss.
While the practice itself had a slower feel, Mason played like he was in a game that mattered. He ran with force between the tackles, then flashed speed and vision when he got to the edge.
Two runs to the left side stood out as the kind that would have turned into 20- to 30-yard gains in live action. He also got involved as a receiver, including a touchdown catch in red-zone work.
Aaron Jones has looked strong through the first week of camp, but Mason made it clear he’s not just the power option in the backfield. That depth chart is worth watching.
The most encouraging development of the day belonged to J.J. McCarthy.
The 2024 first-round pick put together one of his cleaner practices so far. His processing was sharp, his accuracy was better, and his ball placement stood out more than once.
He also pushed the ball downfield more than he had over the first week, connecting on several intermediate throws. The deep shots still haven’t shown up much in this camp, much like they didn’t early last August, but Friday at least moved in the right direction.
McCarthy still has to prove he can handle the deeper passing game that KOC’s offense asks of its quarterbacks, and the gap between him and Murray still looks significant. But if this was a step forward, it made the battle a little more interesting.
Kyler Murray, meanwhile, landed on the wrong side of the day.
He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t sharp enough to match the kind of performance he put together on Wednesday. That inconsistency has been the issue.
Murray flashed at times on Friday, but he also overthrew TE Ben Yurosek, took a sack on the first play of red-zone work, and threw an interception to Byron Murphy Jr. His two touchdowns to Tai Felton were the best parts of his afternoon - one on a deep ball with Felton wide open, the other on a patient red-zone throw to Felton alone in the back of the end zone - but the overall feel was off.
It was Murray’s 29th birthday, and the frustration showed. For the first time in camp, his body language made it obvious he wasn’t pleased with how the day went.
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For Loudermilk and Gerhardt, the problem is not just earning attention, but finding a lane on a team that has other bodies at the same positions and a premium on versatility. Younger players and undrafted challengers are part of the mix too, which is why the margin for error feels so small before the real games even begin. [Read more 🡒]
Vikings Could Get Another Shot At A 2025 Draft Favorite
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Reports around Johnsons standing in Pittsburgh have not been settled, which is part of what makes this worth tracking for the Vikings. Some around the league believe his path with the Steelers is anything but secure, while others think he has done enough to carve out a place in camp, and Minnesota is staying close to the situation in case another opening develops. [Read more 🡒]