Vikings Training Camp Recap:

What did we see on the fourth day of training camp practice? Let’s break it down.

Kyler Murray starts with the first team

The first team reps went to Kyler Murray, as he led the first team offense against the second team defense. His first throw was a beautiful deep over route to Justin Jefferson. A few plays later when the second team came in, he hit Myles Price perfectly, but he couldn’t quite bring it in.

The raw arm talent was on display early, as he showed a plus ability to layer the football and the chemistry overall looked more comfortable than reports had highlighted the first three days of camp.

In 7-on-7, Murray was on point, finding T.J. Hockenson for two touchdowns and tried to fit one to Jefferson on the back line and throw him open, but it wasn’t there. One thing they stood out was his processing. Murray was doing a great job processing quickly and finding the open guy.

J.J. McCarthy struggles

After Murray got the first set of reps with the first and second team, McCarthy worked with both in the second half of the first team period. Unfortunately, he looked off his game. He got sacked by Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins but still threw a deep over that was off the mark. He looked comfortable in the pocket, but was off the mark. On the final play of the period, McCarthry threw a pick rolling out to his right where he tried to fit it into tight coverage.

Things didn’t get better in 7-on-7, as he and Tai Felton had a miscommunication on a fade, where Felton went to the corner and McCarthy expected a fade stop. To McCarthy’s credit, he had a couple of really nice throws toward the end of practice. He hit a deep over off to the rigutOverall, this was a major day to forget from McCarthy.

Run game looks fresh

One of the biggest question marks with the Vikings has been the running game. They hired Frank Smith to be the assistant head coach to help to freshen up the running game. Head coach Kevin O’Connell has done a great job with being creative in the passing game, but the run game has been a struggle.

So far, the little we’ve seen in the run game has been really nice. More wide zone runs that look like Kyle Shanahan’s play calling, including a wide zone toss with a beautiful cutback from Aaron Jones. The holes look bigger as well, but they were just in shells today, and a limited sample size, but it’s noteworthy and the focus appears to be real.

Other notes

• Jake Golday’s movement skills were on full display. He had a nice backside play on a wide zone where he chased down Jordan Mason. He also got a few edge snaps, which could be something they do because Eric Wilson lined up there.
• Charles Demmings got a shot in red zone 7-on-7 with the first team, and held up well against Jordan Addison.
• Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins with a really nice sack on McCarthy with an awesome long armed bull rush.
• Dillon Bell had the catch of the day from McCarthy on the back line, adjusting well to a football thrown behind him.
• Jay Ward was working with the first team as the nickel defender/STAR.