Vikings training camp recap, Day 7: Defense keeps cooking, Darrisaw back

It's hard to know what to make of the struggles we've seen from the Vikings' first-team offense in matchups against the first-team defense early in training camp. Should we be concerned about the offense? Or is this defense so good that most offenses would look like this?

I lean toward the latter. I don't think it's worth overreacting to the Vikings' offense — not with some new offensive linemen and a young quarterback and injuries to their two best players. I think the takeaway continues to be that Brian Flores' defense is going to be a major problem for just about everybody on the schedule in 2025.

Anyways, the defense dominated again in Tuesday's practice at TCO Performance Center. It was the second practice of camp with full pads on, and like Monday's session, you could feel the competitive intensity emanating off of the field. This was a longer practice that featured a lot of productive work. Iron sharpening iron, to borrow a cliche.

In one period later in practice that was best on best, the Vikings' offense went nowhere. Byron Murphy Jr. raced off the edge and swatted down an attempted screen pass. J.J. McCarthy was under pressure on the following play and had to tuck the ball down and try to scramble. The pocket completely collapsed on him on the ensuing play for a sack, leading to a synced-up celebration from Jonathan Greenard and Dallas Turner. Blake Cashman stuffed a run. McCarthy finally got a pass completed to T.J. Hockenson after escaping pressure, but that one may have been a sack too.

All four of the Vikings' quarterbacks threw an interception in 11-on-11 action over the course of this practice.

• McCarthy was picked by Jay Ward when he tried to see if he could heave a deep ball off of one leg while on the run. It didn't quite get there. Ward also had a pass breakup earlier in the day off of McCarthy.

• Sam Howell threw a pick to Theo Jackson on the final play of practice. It was a situational drill, with the offense trailing by a point and looking to set up a game-winning field goal. Howell tried to pick up a big chunk over the middle, but Jackson read it all the way.

• Brett Rypien, in a red zone period, had a miscommunication with his receiver and threw the ball directly to Byron Murphy Jr. at the goal line. Murphy proceeded to run the entire length of the field, with a few teammates by his side, and celebrate in the opposite end zone.

• Max Brosmer threw a pick to second-year cornerback Dwight McGlothern. Remarkably, it's the third straight day with an interception for McGlothern, who appears to be stamping his spot on the 53-man roster with his playmaking ability and ball skills.

The defense just seemed to be enjoying itself quite a bit more than the offense. Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel were as active as always. So was Dallas Turner, who got into the backfield for a loud TFL at one point. Harrison Smith punched a ball out of Jeshaun Jones' arms for a force fumble, then scooped it up himself and pitched it to a teammate. Some of the same cornerbacks who have stood out over the course of camp — including Jeff Okudah and Zemaiah Vaughn — continued to make plays.

Despite the defense's strong play, it wasn't as rough of a day for McCarthy as Tuesday was. He bounced back early in practice with some nice throws to his top three targets: Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Jalen Nailor. One particular throw to Nailor, on the backside of a progression, stood out. McCarthy and the first-team offense won their situational period at the end of practice when McCarthy hit Nailor twice and then handed it off to Jordan Mason for a big run. Overall, there were ups and downs for the Vikings' young quarterback.

But the theme of the day — and the theme of camp — is that this defense looks incredible.

Darrisaw takes big step

Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who is in the final stages of recovering from a major knee injury, took his first 11-on-11 reps of camp on Wednesday. He participated in a couple periods, then stepped aside for Justin Skule, who had gotten all of the first-team work up to this point. It's a big step for Darrisaw to be back out there in team drills. For the first time, we saw the Vikings' full starting offensive line, with both Darrisaw and Will Fries in there. Will we see it in Week 1?

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