Up against the side of the performance center, also under a small bit of shade, safety Josh Metellus smiled, discussing his contract extension and his love for Minnesota and the Vikings fan base.
About an hour later, the stands were full, and current Vikings offensive linemen Donovan Jackson, Logan Brown and Walter Rouse stood alongside Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter, leading a Skol chant at one end of the field as individual practice work started.
Outside of errant calls from fans for Carter, wide receiver Justin Jefferson — who attended practice but did not participate because of a hamstring strain — and cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., among others, reactions to the happenings on the field stayed fairly subdued until McCarthy completed a pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson over the middle in an 11-on-11 period midway through practice.
Then, in a goal-line 7-on-7 period shortly after, McCarthy found running back Aaron Jones, who started a Skol chant of his own from the front right corner of the end zone in celebration.
“He’s different,” Jones said of McCarthy on Friday. “He’s straight to the point, but he knows how to relate to everybody. He means business about it. He wants to win, and he wants to get better every day.”
Even as the number of fans in the stands waned, celebrations climbed, maxing out when they saw the rainbow from McCarthy to Addison. Even backup quarterback Sam Howell got a bit of love when he connected with receiver Tim Jones in the end zone.
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