Heavy rain earlier in the day moved the Vikings into their indoor practice facility for the first day of their 2025 training camp on Wednesday. Even if it wasn’t outdoors, it was still quite nice to be back on the sidelines watching some football for the first time since minicamp ended six weeks ago.
Here’s everything that stood out on Day 1.
The biggest story, by far, of this Vikings training camp is how J.J. McCarthy looks as he builds up towards his regular season debut as Minnesota’s starting quarterback. As far as first days go, it was a solid showing despite a somewhat shaky start.
McCarthy’s first pass of the afternoon, in 11-on-11 action, sailed deep to nobody because he and Justin Jefferson weren’t on the same page. And after rolling out and finding Jalen Nailor on a short completion, McCarthy couldn’t quite connect over the middle of the field with Jordan Addison and then Jefferson on consecutive plays against the second-team defense. The latter featured an impressive pass breakup from Theo Jackson, who closed downhill against Jefferson.
But when the Vikings went to a 7-on-7 period, McCarthy found his rhythm and started rolling. He hit T.J. Hockenson and Jefferson on short completions. Then he dropped back and threw an absolutely perfect strike deep up the right sideline to Addison for a 60-yard touchdown. Addison wasn’t tightly covered, but it was still a ‘wow’ moment of arm strength and pinpoint accuracy. McCarthy kept cruising after that, with his only incompletion of the period coming when Byron Murphy Jr. made a great play to break up a pass for Jefferson over the middle of the field.
The momentum carried over into the third and final period of the practice, which was back to 11-on-11. McCarthy connected with Hockenson multiple times, including a great throw into tight coverage on the final play of the day (albeit one where he was probably sacked before getting the throw off). He also made a nice throw into traffic that Jefferson couldn’t quite come down with, which prompted the superstar receiver to do some push-ups in the huddle.
Overall, “solid” feels like the best way to describe McCarthy’s day. He commanded the huddle well, he looked decisive with the ball, and he didn’t put it in harm’s way much. And the deep ball to Addison was a moment where the upside was on full display.
Vikings safety Josh Metellus, one of the team’s leaders and captains, is still in the middle of a contract situation of sorts. He’s headed into the final year of his deal, and unlike teammates Andrew Van Ginkel and Josh Oliver, he doesn’t have an extension yet. Metellus showed up to the team’s offseason program this spring but didn’t participate in team periods despite being healthy.
On Wednesday, however, Metellus was a full participant. He was out there for every rep with the first-team defense, which he talked about after practice.
“Just getting closer to the season,” he said. “Still gotta build that chemistry with the guys. Lotta new guys in the DB room, like Jefe (Jeff Okudah) and Zay (Isaiah Rodgers) that I need to get reps with. Obviously, with Cam (Bynum) leaving, the defense looks a little bit different, so it’s just about getting comfortable and doing this thing that I love. I love playing football, so, can’t keep me off the field too long.”
Metellus said the dialogue has been good between his agent and the Vikings, echoing what GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said one day earlier. He reiterated what he said back during OTAs, which is that his tape over the last two years speaks for itself. He’s optimistic something will get done but is leaving that up to the parties who are directly involved in those talks. In the meantime, he’s playing football.
“I’m not too worried about what’s going on on that side,” Metellus said. “I’m just doing my part, being here for the team, trying to be a leader, a captain, and I can’t do that on the sideline. A big part of it is the guy I am in this building is a guy who’s out in front leading the way, so it makes no sense for me not to do it.”
In the Vikings’ first 11-on-11 period, they had the first-team offense going against the second-team defense, and vice versa. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first-team defense going up against second and third-stringers on offense was a complete mismatch. Sam Howell’s first pass attempt of the day was a short one to his left that was jumped by third-year linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. for a pick-six. Pace, who received a very poor PFF coverage grade last season (after strong marks as a rookie), read it all the way and took it to the house, setting off a celebration among his defensive teammates.
And that wasn’t the only pick-six of that period. Later on, QB3 Brett Rypien got an opportunity for a couple reps. On his second rep, he took the ball and went to throw a screen pass to the right side to Jeshaun Jones. That was a mistake; Van Ginkel was all over it. He jumped the pass, bobbled the ball a bit, and secured it for his patented “Gink 6.” It’s a play he pulled off against the Giants in last year’s season opener and came close to doing a couple other times, including one that he bobbled and couldn’t secure in the regular season finale in Detroit. Van Ginkel’s teammates loved it.
“They didn’t watch the tape?” Metellus joked after practice. “It felt just like the Giants play, same side, same kind of tip catch. That’s just the kind of player he is. His awareness is out the roof. Even in a practice setting, for him to just see s*** like that, excuse my language. That’s why you pay a guy like that.”
If you aren’t already excited about the possibilities when it comes to this Brian Flores-led Vikings defense in 2025, you should be. This looks like a unit with a chance to be dominant.
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