Minnesota Vikings News Dump (8.8.2025) | 9 Endorses 9, Danielle JACKED, Madden Did Rodgers Dirty

Minnesota Vikings News Dump (8.8.2025) | 9 Endorses 9, Danielle JACKED, Madden Did Rodgers Dirty

[Music] What’s going on Jeromes? Beautiful Friday. Birds are chirping and stuff and it’s time for another Vikings news dump. So Vikings obviously got the day off preparing for preseason action tomorrow. US Bank Stadium. Sorry, historic US Bank Stadium against the Houston Texans. Denil Hunter not going to be playing. Mo most of the Texans stars aren’t playing. Uh so JJ McCarthy is going to light them up. It’s going to be good. But, uh, Denil returning. He’ll be on the sideline, you know, uh, baseball cap on, chewing sunflower seeds like mo most starters who don’t play in preseason. But still looking jacked to where Denil Hunter is the patron saint of, hey, you should probably go work out. I don’t know, man. But Denil, you’ll always be special to me. You’ll always be a Viking. All that stuff, right? But I we’re kind of good with Gernard. Also something to work out is that I I have no transition. Anyways, uh purpleftw.net, our store link is down below. 15% off using promo code preseason 25. Should it be 25% off? That’s right. But good until 82525. So all the gear, all the hats, we got fanny packs now, all the mugs. Go check it out. So 50% off uh using promo code preseason 25 at the store purpleftw.net. Uh Vikings on Thursday had their final preparation. Uh sort of a amped up walkthrough, you know, in their shells, helmet, shoulder pads, and all that good stuff. TJ Hawinson first down. He’s got got the it’s not quite the, you know, the Chris Carter first down. It’s more the Jerome Simpson because I always love Jerome Simpson in terms of talent to how much I love them. He he’s up there, right? just I he had weed mail FedEx to his house or something like that, right? But I just remember the first down. It was good, man. It was always good. Also, uh linebackers Kobe King, Austin Keys, uh coach hat, special teams coordinator, uh gave a shout out to Kobe King. Looks like he’s doing good on third unit this year. Uh but also the I always love the the linebacker aesthetic, you know what I mean? It’s good. Also, Jay Jay McCarthy, nice little shot. Uh, I think this ended up with a pass breakup by Harrison, something like that. But also, you you know that JJ McCarth here actually Kevin McConnell is a genius. All right, we said this before. Here’s what’s going to happen. So, ne next week is the end of open practices for the fans, right? uh joint practices with the Patriots on because I I think they’ll practice on Monday and then they’ll have joint practice uh Wednesday and Thursday, right? And McCarthy is probably only going to play in the first preseason game against the Texans. And the Texans, they don’t seem to be playing most of their starters on defense. So, it’s going to be JJ, probably a couple starters along the offensive line. You’ll probably get Jackson. Probably not O’Neal. Probably get Jackson. Maybe you’ll get Will Fry for a little bit. Probably not Kelly. Probably not Darasaw. It’s all right. Uh but he’s going to light up that Texans backup defense. Just light their ass up, right? He’s going to have three Tuddies in a in the first half, have a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating, complete 85% of the of his passes, and Kevin McConnell is gonna shut that down for the rest of it. So, there’ll be no more national coverage of JJ McCarthy in the preseason and all the haters and the losers are it’s like you’re going to a deli or like a nice uh nice butcher butcher shop, right? Got to take a number. Just take a number. Wait your turn to eat all of the ish. All right. Because just a little flash, a little he’ll be good. It’ll be good. Put him under wraps. So, the regular season Justin Jefferson will be back. It’ll be fine, right? Also love when number nines look up for number nine. So, Tommy Kramer, two-minute Tommy, 494 Tommy, all that good stuff. Uh, he endorses JJ McCarthy. Two things he can’t teach, instinct and the will to win. Uh, this kid has them both. He’s the real deal. Vikings fans, a good reason to be excited for the season and years to come. Now, I feel like these endorsements don’t come lightly. You know, like Tommy Kramer wasn’t coming out of the woodwork and just like hailing Christian Ponder. this guy. No. Uh, but Kramer, you instinct and the will to win. He definitely had that, right? And, uh, you know, Tom was a little bit before my time when I was like really paying attention to football. I was I was four, you know. Uh, but he he was he one of my dad’s favorite players just because So, my grandfather, he always he respected Tarington, sure. Uh, but he loved Joe Cap, right? Joe Cap, you know, out here throwing without the laces, you know, number 11 ready to fist fight in the parking lot doing shots at Tequila with his lineman uh before games. It was good stuff, right? And also my dad’s favorite quarterback was Tommy Kramer, right? Cuz he you both Tommy Kramer, Joe Cap, JJ McCarthy, we’ll see. They just had it, you know what I mean? where the teammates loved him fight and scrap and this is always our gauge like do you love the game? Would you play the game for 10 bucks at a ham sandwich? Right. And also just small things add up like McCarthy the way that he speaks to the media even though Chase Daniels doesn’t like it. You know the way that he got in that scuffle with Tyler Baddy after he knocked down Aaron Jones says that he wants to be the first guy in in every fight. He’s a hockey dude. dude’s got that mentality and he I feel like he just has it now. He may suck as a quarterback, but he’s got it, but also I don’t think he’s going to suck as a quarterback, which is going to be good. All right, so I mean Tommy Kramer’s got it. Also, Tommy Kramer, did Tommy Kramer go to Rice? I want to say yes. Otherwise, it’s some like West Texan state, something like that. But if he went to Rice, I’m predisposed to like him. So, there you go. Also, speaking of 494 Tommy, it’s fun. Uh, franchise records single game passing yards. The Wendel perspective puts it put this together. The Vikings Tommy Kramer 1986 490 yards. So not not 494 Tommy 490 Tommy. It was good. And actually the Vikings are tangentially connected with five of these. So uh, number one, Norm Van Brocklin 554. He was actually the first head coach of the Vikings. You know, people don’t realize that Bug Grant was not the first coach. who was second coach because Norman Brock Norm van Brocklin sucked but Warren Moon uh love you blue 527 with the well they say Titans but it was the Oilers you know uh but Warren Moon had a couple years here with the Vikings then also Brad Johnson BJ 199 uh 471 so remember Brad Johnson was the original starting quarterback for the 98 Vikings Randle Cunningham was a backup Brad Johnson was it foot or an ankle, one of the two. Uh, but he was up on blocks. And then after 98, you know, Randle Cunningham was extended and Brad Johnson was traded to Norv, new head coach in Washington for a first, second, and third round pick. And with the first round pick that they got from Washington, the Vikings selected Dante Co Pepper. Get your roll on. Again, stupid things that my mind retains, but ask me Ezra’s middle name. I think Ezra has the same middle name as I do. Anyways, uh also number five, Josh Macau of the Browns 2015 457. That’s also the number of teams that uh he’s played on. 457. It’s good times. Good stuff. Yeah, also good stuff. Love to see this. So, if you remember, the Bears opened up as one-point favorites initially, Monday Night Football, week one, hosting the Vikings, and you think, okay, homefield advantage, you all the Caleb Williams hype. Oh, they won March for the second year in a row. But then all of a sudden, you know, the public got a hold of that line as well as some some of the storylines from training camp, seeing how Caleb Williams and this offensive line is still dysfunctional. And now the Vikings are two and a half point favorites. So this is a big swing, right? And also I if it somehow gets to three, that’s a massive swing. So basically it goes three and a half points swinging pendulum. that that that’s rare. All right. And so basically that’s all the public money. It’s all all the sharp money coming in be like, “Hey, we like the Vikings outright, but if you’re gonna give us points, we’re taking it.” And then the line kept moving and shifting and moving and shifting and moving and shifting. Uh so it’s kind of glorious. It’s kind of good times. Hell, by kickoff, it might be Vikings minus three. Might be the full field goal. So there you go. Also guys, give some props here. So, you know, people are freaking out about the wide receiver room because, you know, Justin freaking Jefferson, all that stuff, but also Jaylen Naylor is having a tough camp, has no contact jersey on, had a couple bad drops been kind of the story of things. Uh, injuries and drops. Uh Addison’s going to be suspended, but instead of like going out adding a receiver or trading for the uh even though I’d be down for that, let’s talk about the rise of Lucky Jackson, Western Kentucky, Hill Hill Toppers, UFFL superstar, and Theer Thomas, NC State’s number two receiver all time behind Tory Holt, which is which is crazy, isn’t it? Yeah. Uh but these two have risen up. They’ve gotten some reps with the ones and frankly instead of, you know, bitching about how the Vikings lack wide receiver depth. Let’s talk about these two because uh these guys in year three, I think Jackson’s in year four. Uh the in year three, I think. Yeah. Uh but you know, they’ve been here, they’ve been on the practice squad, they’ve been part of the organization for years. And the coaches, the decision makers, Quy, they see these guys every single day and they’re comfortable with them running with the first team. All right. So, they probably know a little bit better than us, the average fan out there. And plus, I I I do want to see I I I just love stories like this, man, where we we’ve seen this with wide receivers. Yeah. And of course, Thelen is the prototype of that where undrafted, unwanted, try out, 90man, practice squad, special teamer, starter, star, pro bowler, right? And also to a degree, we’ve seen this with Tristan Jackson, remember him? Went to the Cardinals. Uh we’ve seen this with, you know, guys like BC Johnson, seventh round pick. He started over Justin Jefferson. That that’s a fun piece of trivia. Um, hell, Charles Johnson, even though he start he started over Diggs. Uh, but overall, I I I do think it’s a spot where I mean, obviously they bring something to the table. I think Theoer Thomas is a bit of a slot machine as well as a solid punt returner behind Rondale. So, you know, props to them for getting better. It’s good to see. Also good to see. Uh, actually, not good to see, but whatever. Vikings Vampage, it’s probably a long shot that Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson returns to practice next week against the Patriots. Darren Dug Wolson mentioned on score north. I do think at some point maybe it’s that last week in August or maybe it’s when things ramp up. Bears prep week that Jefferson gets some good reps in. I’m not worried. Right. So Jefferson is out here. It’d be one thing if he was out of practice sort of moping around and moving like the tin man. But uh yeah, he he’s got a light sleeve on that leg with the hamstring, but he’s out he’s out here. He’s having fun. Like Kevin McConnell was very he basically said it without saying it and talked about how Jefferson was able to prepare in the 2020 season without preseason. Right now obviously he wasn’t going to play in preseason games but I think it’s a spot where you Jefferson’s going to continue to get physical therapy, get treatment in the training room and you know just do his own thing. Obviously he can ball. Yeah. kind of stinks that he’s behind the eightball with chemistry with with McCarthy, but they got some reps in during OTAAS’s, mandatory mini camp, offseason, too, so things are every little thing is going to be all right. The opposite of all right. Oh man. So, so I empathize with Madden, right? Actually, I don’t because it’s like a billion dollar game and EA Sports I don’t know. I don’t know. All right. So Isaiah Rogers senior. So Chad Oo is making fun of Roger’s bad character. It’s not that bad, big bro. Oo Senco. No man, it’s bad. My my hairline though. You couldn’t use no enhancements or none. Laughing emoji. Crying laughing emoji. It just All right. So objectively Isaiah Rogers, that’s a good look over there on the left. you know, uh, everything is good to go. We got the goatee, the haircut, the hairline is is good, but I don’t know what what this is on the right. I I I I don’t know. I I I He’s got like the LeBron hairline. What’s going on there? And also, it’s not even close to similar facial hair. It’s like Isaiah Rogers has a dream. I I I just I don’t see it right. It’s actually it’s closer to like if Isaiah Rogers was getting too old for this is that that’s way closer. I don’t know. But I feel bad. Also, uh Rogers said that he’s going to have to have a custo custom creative player. Plus, beyond that, I mean, Isaiah Rogers ran a 428 at his pro day at at UMass. Go Minutemen. That’s right. And his speed in Madden is a 93. Like how do you have to run a 39 to get a 99 speed in Madden? Like do you have to be Bo Jackson? Do you have to be Usain Bolt? Do you have to be Justin Gay to get a 99 speed on Madden? Get out of here. Get the hell out of here. Uh quick turn of tone. So this sucks, man. Rashan Slater to miss 2025 season after sustaining a torn patellar tendon in practice. So it’s terrible, man. absolutely sucks. And you know, things like this where I mean, it was just a normal practice rep. If you saw the video, non-cont could have happened at any time in the season, in a game, in practice. It just sucks, right? And this is why in the back of your mind, you you’re always sort of on the player side when it comes to contract negotiations. uh when not so much like not so much like when when they’re getting like obtuse money, you know what I mean? But securing the bag, just making sure you have some guarantees because every player is one play away. And that’s the reality of things out here. And uh I I’m really glad that Slater secured his contract when he did last week because if he hadn’t then this happened. Do you think the Chargers or any team for that matter would just be like ah we were going to pay you so here here you go. No be lucky get 30 cents on the dollar or just have to play out his contract which kind of stinks. And yeah, from what I’ve read, like Battellers with offensive lineman specifically, it’s it’s bad news. So, uh, wishing the best were Sean Slater. Just don’t worry that the Vikings do play the Chargers week eight. Sounds like, uh, Trey Pipkins, uh, veteran pride of Sou Falls is going to be at their left tackle. So, yeah, Grard’s gonna have 19 sacks. That’s all. Also in injury news. So, I have a jelly beans wager that I’m getting three and a half to one on my jelly beans that the Lions do not make the playoffs. I feel really good about it because beyond the, you know, the obvious parts of, you know, losing eight assistants including Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson, her ragnau is a huge loss. Lots of questions on the interior offensive line, lots of questions along the defensive line as well. Hutcherson McNeel I mean their comeback from injuries on W on Wuzariki to his ACL as well as this one and they’re relying on Rikar Jordan Schultz. Lance quarterback Andis Raw Jr. underwent successful shoulder surgery today and will miss all of the 2025 season. A tough blow for the talented second round pick who is poised to take on a much bigger role in the Lion secondary this year before suffering the injury. So Rick Straw, I mean Rick Shaw is solid man. I liked it. Now, he was part of the overhaul in the secondary. Also picking up Terry Arnold because, you know, they’re scared of Justin Jefferson. They’re scared of Jordan Addison. And, you know, Rick Straw is a undersized but tough, feisty, physical corner. Loved him coming out of Missou. And that’s big. It’s a big loss for them. And it’s just noteworthy because I feel like that L Super Bowl window closed. I love my wager. We’ll see. And lastly, I love when the Vikings are in Immaculate Grib because I can go deep deep references, right? So, uh, yesterday it was the Vikings column with the rows of Cowboys, Colts, and LSU Tigers. So, what what this is that the player has to play at least one regular season snap or playoff snap with with the respective teams. So, when Andrew Boo Jr. 5% it’s good. uh for the Vikings and the Colts. So Cameron Binham would not have counted since he hasn’t taken a regular season snap yet, right? I guess that’s where a lot of people screwed up. But Chris Reed.1% we got the full West Phillips out here. It’s good. And I remember from the other day when I was complaining like all right there there was a time when Bradbury got hurt and Schlutman the backup center got hurt and then Chris Reed had come in at center. He literally could not snap the ball. Like h how are you the backup backup center and you literally cannot shotgun snap? I don’t know, man. Uh you think that they would teach you that at Mano State University Community College. All right. Uh and lastly for LSU, I mean the obvious answers are Justin Jefferson, Denil Hunter, right? But we we had we had to massage our mind grapes. Henry Thomas, who has like 95 sacks as a true nose tackle. I I I think on the list of the official list, I think that he has the most sacks for a true nose tackle in the NFL in NFL history. So any that you can use hardware Hank in Immaculate Grid, it’s a good day. Point4%. Let’s go. Let’s go, man. Anyways, speaking of Denalia. All right, so we got to go get a lift in. Thanks for coming along. Happy Friday. You guys are the best. You know what to do. Skull production value.

Minnesota Vikings News Dump for Friday, August 8th.

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