JJ McCarthy was OUTSTANDING on Day 2 of Minnesota Vikings – New England Patriots joint practice

JJ McCarthy was OUTSTANDING on Day 2 of Minnesota Vikings – New England Patriots joint practice

Purple Daily is daily Vikings entertainment. I just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die. I will ride with this group. Seriously, man. Please. And away we go. Okay. Juds, camp notes. Let’s get it on. Day two. Vikings Patriots joint practice. You and I both just braved. I don’t know. How many levels of construction nightmare to work our way back to our home studios here to give you guys what will be a lengthy Jud’s camp notes and Phil’s defensive notes that as assigned by Jud. That’s awesome. Uh from what happened today. I think the headline here is and and I was watching the defense. I barely saw any of the offense. Uh but from your reporting and others, the best day of training camp for JJ McCarthy. Yeah, without a doubt. easily the best day. He was fantastic. So, we’ll comb through the details of it here in just a moment, but uh you see us Jud had his little Roku coffee mug. I got the Roku swag on here, too, because we love the fact that Roku uh has um supported our show here the last couple years. In fact, this glorious little diddy back here, you can use these Roku TVs as TVs where it’s easy to find and search for any type of sports content you want. It’s harder now to figure out what platform is my favorite team on or my sport. Roku makes it really easy. You can also use it as artwork. I’ve got the Scorn North logo up here. You can literally use your Roku TVs as like wall art if you want to. There’s different like there’s a a Roku uh like a media thing in there. And that’s what I’m using here. So, pretty cool. And if you’re, let’s say, you’re one of the younger Purple Daily audience members and you’re heading back to school here in a few weeks or maybe right now as we speak this week, don’t forget to deck out your apartment, your dorm room, whatever it is, with a Roku TV. They aren’t just smart TVs. They’re smart TVs that make sense, easy to use, uncomplicated with sizes for every room. Better TV for everyone with Roku, America’s number one streaming platform. Go to roku.com to learn more or shop at a retailer near you. Juds Camp. Come on. All right. Football. Let’s get to Let’s get right to a day that uh that when JJ McCarthy is going into Canton will be mentioned as the turning point as his presenter as his presenter presents him. That person will look back on what’s today? August the four August 14th 2025 and we’ll say this is the day when it all clicked. Is it when it all came together together? I mean, choked up, dude. I’m the same. I don’t know if allergies or what out there. No, I Dude, I spent the whole practice. You were up on the media perch. Yeah. And I spent the whole practice basically like hiding in the the tall grassy null and weeds right behind the goalpost. And I literally feel like my head is going to explode from allergies after standing out there. So, I stopped and got some sun chips. I stopped and got some sun chips. And I’m going to tell you right now, just a little teeny broke off and went down the wrong thing. But anyway, okay. So, I’m back. Um JJ McCarthy 2 today. Absolutely great team drills in in 11 on 11. We had some red zone work, which was great. Today we we had um a two minute drill, which I think started with one minute remaining. Vikings down by six. Both teams of course. Um JJ McCarthy in team work today, ladies and gentlemen. 17 of 20, six touchdowns. That includes from a red zone period of teamwork in period 10 um through, let’s see here, through period 12. Uh no, no, through period 12, but the end of it, 12 straight completions, five touchdowns. So, he threw six touchdowns. Now, they did some 707 work early and McCarthy was not particularly good, but this was easily his best day. It was impressive. The connection that he has with Jordan Addison continues to be fantastic. It’s too bad that he’s going to miss the first three games, but this was as accurate. This was as confident. This was It did. It felt like today it it started to click now postpractice. And this is and folks, this is why we’re late because we had to wait for Okonnell and McCarthy to talk post practice. That’s why we’re late, not because of our stop at Quick Trip. They were They’re hanging out with their families and stuff. What a bunch of what a bunch of lameos. It’s football season. Uh anyway, anyway, um JJ McCarthy, this is where it feels like the installation is done. Things are things came easier, if that makes sense. Also, they did do a bit of game planning. It sounds like last night to be more prepared as possible. Uh, and McCarthy was asked, I think it was by uh, Dane Misatani, our friend from the Pioneer Press. He was asked if there was one throw in particular since he completed 17 passes. If there was one throw in particular that stood out, and McCarthy, a very thoughtful young man, seriously thought about this for, let’s say, 15 to 20 seconds and and then he said it it was the red zone. Uh, it was a I’m sorry, it was a pass not in the red zone to Aaron Jones down the right sideline where he dropped it in the bucket. Now, he said it was a great catch. I could have made a better throw, but it was a fantastic pass, a fantastic play, and like this is how you can use your wide receivers. So, 17 to 20, six touchdowns, looked comfortable, um, got a ton of work the past two days. He’s not going to play on Saturday, which I am fine with. I absolutely agree. Uh but what we saw today in all seriousness, not joking around, I think was a very important step in his maturation in becoming QB1. Yeah. Yeah. It was um I saw some stuff from afar and it just it looked like he was he was hunting down the field. He was uh he took a couple sacks from just what you guys reported, but it kind of felt like he was making quick decisions and it was just a confident on tempo. Now you hope that maybe this now carries over and some things have clicked. I do want to throw some questions at you. So, you were at that post-practice press conference when he was asked by Kevin Seaffort, our friend from ESPN.com, specifically about his accuracy. And Kevin kind of framed it as, you know, there’s days like yesterday where maybe the accuracy isn’t quite dialed in, but then today totally different. How would you characterize just your accuracy? And the clip I saw, he said, I consider myself one of the most accurate guys out there. Basically comparing him to the other quarterbacks in the NFL. Uh, can you speak to his accuracy today? Okay. Cuz even some of the completions we’ve seen preseason game practice, there’s some little accuracy things here and there where it’s it’s behind a receiver so he can’t necessarily, you know, get those yards after the catch or maybe it’s back shoulder when it wasn’t supposed to and it puts that ball in play to maybe be tipped or batted away or intercepted. Uh what what were Jud’s camp notes observations about his accuracy and his his uh podium session talking about accuracy? Yeah, I mean he was uh how can I say this? He was feeling himself at the podium because he had performed so well. Has he been accurate all throughout camp? No. There have been times where would in fact probably the best example of a pass to talk about is the I think it was the first completion on Saturday in the preseason game to Addison where the ball was clearly behind Jordan. He sort of stopped, adjusted, made the catch. We saw a very similar pass to that yesterday to Hawinson. Today it was improved. Now here’s what we have to sort of try to deduce from this entire thing though is and I think I talked about this briefly yesterday. JJ McCarthy did not play for a year. Like I’m sure he threw the football around, but he did not play football for a year. And so are there accuracy concerns about him? Keeping in mind too that much of what we were told about him and it’s not like I watched I I didn’t grind Michigan football film and quite frankly he didn’t pass a ton but keeping in mind that a lot of what we’ve been told from the scouting reports has been erroneous or is he just beginning to find the accuracy now because things like accuracy and I I think it’s part of the same thing part probably part of the same vernacular layering the ball right yeah like those things. His arm strength wasn’t going to desert him. The ability to be as accurate and pinpoint as possible if you take a lot of time off from the game probably does. So, I guess my thought process is, and I’m willing to keep an open mind about this because I think you have to, is was today another step towards him finding the accuracy? Not because he had a problem, but just because and this is where the last two days I think are valuable as hell. You get a ton of reps and and it’s not a game, but it’s pretty close as far as and I I think that you would probably agree with this. It’s pretty close as far as the tempo and intensity goes. Like it’s turned up a notch or two. And and I did ask JJ today. I said, “How much more valuable are the past two days than for instance Saturday?” cuz on Saturday he got 12 reps and it was fine but he got 12 reps. I think I counted 55 reps yesterday. Today I I mean what alone 37 37 passes in team drills 11 more in seven on seven. And that doesn’t include the handoffs where he just ran the first team. So, and the individuals, by the way, some of the individual stuff that you weren’t counting, like not like you shouldn’t cuz it’s like him dropping back, but it’s it’s him throwing to maybe there’s two receivers running a route against two defensive backs and it’s like that’s that you get to stack those as well like you wouldn’t in a preseason. And by the way, I did count those six of them. Oh, you did? Okay. Six more of those. But anyway, the fact is he got a ton of work. He got a ton of work against an opponent that’s not his team. And that’s not to say that going against the Brian Flores defense is not a valuable tool. It definitely is. But the point is like if you’re questioning, well, why wouldn’t why would Okonnell play him on Saturday? One, he played him for a series against the Texans, which I did agree with. And two, if you were out there, you saw it. Like, we all saw it. There was a ton of things to put on film. And I do think that it’s encouraging. I wouldn’t say he had a bad day by any means on Wednesday, but today definitely ratcheted up a notch or two, and that’s an important step. Yeah. Yeah. Can we uh I did not see I I was watching the the defense in taking notes in the final two-minute drill where the I believe the scenario was 27 to 21, trailing by six, minute and 20 on the clock. Can we get to that part? Cuz I don’t even know. I heard a cheer. Hold on. I got to but I’m learning with the audience what happened. Flip through my notes. Oh, yeah. Most definitely we can. Most definitely we can. Um. All right. So, what was the situation here? Here it is. 1 v1 period 15 entered into evidence right now. Football evidence. 2721 defense leads. A minute left. A timeout for each team. And the ball is at the defens’s 45. So, it’s on the Patriots 45. So, they’ve crossed theoretically here. They’ve crossed midfield, but they’re still 45 yards away from a touchdown. And you have to score a touchdown here because you’re down by six. All right. So, here’s what we had. Shotgun from shotgun McCarthy to Addison for an immediate first down. A gain of approximately 11 yards. the next one. And see this is a positive. It doesn’t It seems like a non-play, but it’s actually a positive play. McCarthy sees nothing and he throws the ball away, but he stops the clock. So now in the old you live to fight another down and now it’s second down. The ball is at the Patriots 34. Shotgun play again from the shotgun. Uh McCarthy goes deep on the right side and Hawinson. So there was controversy here and I’m not joking. So deep ball down the right side for TJ Hawinson. The linebacker very very what’s the word? Adroitly just sort of either hooks Hawinson’s jersey or pants. There is a real refereeing crew there. The crew of Carl Cheffers is there. They will work the game on Saturday. They do not call it Okonnell mad. Hawinson mad. They missed it. But anyway, I guess where that’s good is it’s adversity, right? Mhm. So like now you’re up against it. Now it’s third down. Ball at the Patriots 34 31 seconds left. And we saw this play yesterday. We saw it again today. Pressure. Pressure comes from the Patriots. McCarthy looks at it and says, “Okay.” Takes off again. 10 yards, first down. Same play we saw, but it is part of the like to your point, I think you brought this up on Wednesday. This was not a Well, that was a sack. This was uh the the pressure sort of comes. McCarthy surveys it, bobs and weaves like a boxer, takes off, gets a first down. Yeah, it’s positive. All right, so now that eats up 8 seconds. 23 seconds left. Ball at the Patriots now 24. Um, McCarthy goes to run, but the Patriots, who by the way, Patriots might want to clean up their penalties. They took a ton in the past two days. The Patriots are called for a penalty. I don’t know what, but anyway. So, that’s no play. So, now 16 seconds left. Ball move to the Well, they they do get a couple yards for the McCarthy run and then the rest comes in the penalty yardage. 16 seconds left. First down. Um at the 11 shotgun McCarthy, Jordan Madison, nice catch, sliding catch front of the front corner of the end zone. Uh Jordan beat the defender, but he also went and got the ball. Sliding catch and so that’s a touchdown. McCarthy ends the drive 204, but it was well wellrun. Yeah. Yeah. It’s um it’s a it’s a great sign. I think a lot of this obviously we we’ve just been craving football for months going through the off season, the wilderness, June and July, and then when you finally get these training camp practices and they then they put the full pads on here and there, it is easy to uh to like overdose on these kind of dayby-day updates and maybe put too much meaning into a bad week or whatever it may be. Um, so I don’t I don’t want to then do the other thing where, oh, he has this incredible day of practice and now it’s like, oh, he’s going to be Patrick Mahomes 2018, but I I kind of feel like he needed to show something like this for everyone, not just fans, but even for like Kevin O’Connell and his teammates. And his teammates have spoken glowingly about him throughout training camp. Hawinson uh after the first day was talking about even though it didn’t look great necessarily all the time that he’s he’s on schedule, he’s making the right reads and stuff, but it did kind of feel like he had to have a day like this for everyone to be like, “Oh, okay. Yep. We see the vision here. We see the talent and um we we see how this could play out.” I think we may have lost We either lost the sports dad or we lost me. We lost both of us for a second. I’m back now. Are you back? Uh, I’m I’m back. You’re back. I’m back. Or maybe you’re not back. I don’t know. Uh, for the chat, can you hear or see either one of us right now? Okay. All right. Let’s see. Let’s see if we got a Oh, if it’s like a if it’s Streamyard dashboard issue. It might It might be a Gremlin. Jim says we’re all back here. We’re all back. Okay. So, I’m back. Okay. Uh, I mean I There we go. I was just saying that it feels like he needed to have JJ a day like this just for everyone to be like, “Yes, we see we see the vision. We It’s all manifesting. He’s he’s taking on he’s the fire hose of Brian Flores’s defense and installing this offense and not playing for a year and okay, three weeks, deep breath, and it looks like that today.” I feel like it was important for this to happen. Well, and I think that’s why Okonnell intentionally intentionally I think yesterday after practice sat down with McCarthy and game planned a bit. So, so that there was a I think I think Okonnell thought the same thing. We need to get some confidence here. Really probably more from McCarthy than anyone. Like I think everybody believes this is this should work and there’s a lot of things but it feel it felt to me like JJ’s demeanor at the podium today was he he’s always confident but it was like excited about this and he did look good and that’s a positive sign. You know what’s weird about this whole thing is the one thing is I feel like the reports on on him from us and from a lot of sources that have been watching training camp have been positive in the sense of he’s he’s basically looked the same until today every day which is not terrible. He grinds through it. And I thought the preseason game on Saturday against the Texans, same way, right? Some good plays, some really nice plays. Took off on fourth down. That’s awesome. Some nice passes, a pass that missed, a pass that was a little bit behind the receiver, but these guys are damn good. So, that ball was caught. So, I think today was probably most importantly a very important step in McCarthy’s confidence, too. Uh because it looked good. Like, it looked good. I I don’t there’s not another day I can think of uh and this was what this was was this the 14th or 15th practice. There’s not another day I can think of where I came away from the practice saying that’s really impressive and that’s how I felt today. Yeah. Can we can we zoom out for a second? Uh just in honor of Diana Rini was in the house for a couple days today. She was talking to Oonnell doing her podcast of of course which is uh televised or shown on YouTube as we left. Okay. Uh where the players ordinarily sign autographs just outside the practice field. And let me say this Kevin Oonnell smiling like a chessire cat. I am really curious to go and so I guess free plug for that podcast. I will be watching that podcast at some point uh when it gets posted. But in honor of in honor of her and all the controversy stirred up with the Aaron Rogers discussions and I I just want to address this idea that’s been floated out there by certain national media members dating back to really like February that the Vikings are unsure about JJ McCarthy in some form because they’ve had so many different opportunities with their actions. to say differently if they wanted to if at any point and and by the way there is a precedent in the NFL the Packers are number one for this of drafting a quarterback in the first round and just stashing him for a while there’s there’s especially coming off a missed season with a knee injury there was really no pressure to play him as the number one QB starter in 2025 if you weren’t 100% sold on him as a player, a leader, an athlete, his health. Like, if you were only 25 or 30% sold or 50% sold, don’t you think at some point in February or March or April, you all get in a room and say, “Yeah, you know, let’s let’s be honest about this, guys. We have a roster that we won 14 games. We added to it. What are we doing here?” And every single chance they had to say, “What are we really doing here with JJ McCarthy?” Sam Darnold back in early March, you could have paid him $30, $35 million a year, guarantee like two years, effectively a two-year contract. That would have been the easiest thing ever. Bring him back. Maybe you don’t get to sign all of the free agents that you signed, but you bring him back and uh sorry JJ, we’re going to keep rehabbing your knee, right? And they decided, “No, we’re good.” You could have overpaid for Daniel Jones as an insurance policy and paid him $18 million a year or something or tacked a second year out of that contract. You decided, “No, I think we’re good. We’ll just we’ll just kind of figure out the veteran quarterback spot.” And then with Aaron Rogers, he’s making like5 or$10 million a year, right? With I I think is it $10 million a year? Yeah, I think it’s like 10. It’s very low for a quarterback. Yeah. Like money was not a factor at all whatsoever. And obviously if you’re Aaron, there’s a reason why he waited so long to sign with the Steelers because he was surveying his options and trying to figure some stuff out. But if given the choice between the Steelers or the Vikings, he 10 times out of 10 would have chosen the Vikings. And it was the Vikings who said, “Now we’re good. Now we’re good. Sam Darnold, we’re good. Aaron Rogers, we’re good. Daniel Jones, we’re so good that we’re willing to just take a flyer on Sam Howell further down our list as QB2.” And for the first three weeks of training camp, it was easy to say, I don’t are you guys are you guys really sure? But the way that JJ McCarthy played today, I think validates everything that Kevin Oonnell and the Vikings front office has thought about him since they drafted him and since they started saying no to these other options back February, March, all the way through the early part of the summer. Yeah. And training camp’s so tough to beat because I I mean I’ll go back to this time last year. It’s not like Sam Darnold showed up in Egan and answered the questions. Like there were some good things, but there were some concerns and the stories I obviously was not in Cleveland, but the stories from the joint practices against the Browns were that Darnold look terrible. So like that’s the thing about this entire how it plays out. And yeah, if the Vikings Quazi confirmed like they talked about Rogers, they definitely had conversations. But I’ll go back to what I keep saying, which is Kevin Oonnell until he screws up a quarterback. Kevin Oonnell’s done a other than when he got guys thrust at him because Kirk got hurt. And that actually started off fine and got got dicey after that. But when Kevin Oonnell has known who his starting quarterback is going to a season as coach of the Vikings since getting this job in 2022, he’s done an excellent job. And that doesn’t mean that the progress just goes. I think the sports dad’s internet gremlins are chewing them up here. What is going on, chat? Is it me? Is it Jud? Or is it both of us? You cut out two on me. This is very odd. I feel like this is a Streamyard problem. Like here’s what we’re going to do real quick. Let’s let’s call timeout. We’ll we’ll stay live here. Um as we maybe this thing just needs to hiccup. But let’s shout out a couple things here and then we’ll get to there’s a couple big things on the defensive side we have to get to. Josh Batellis walked off with an injury. Um there was a new player now mixing into the first team defense. That’s really interesting. But a shout out to Minnesota Rusco. Minnesota’s hometown remodeler since 1955. Uh they offer a lot of different home improvement products with over 70 years of experience in windows, doors, siding, bathrooms, kitchens, decks, and roofing. And uh it’s state fair season and they’re doing their state fair sale right now. It’s the biggest savings of the year. So, all those things I just mentioned, whatever the project is, if you got that bathroom that you’ve been thinking about demoing the kitchen, whatever it is, you schedule that remodel in the month of August with our friends at Minnesota Rusco. There’s no down payment, no monthly payments, no interest for two full years and totally free labor as well. So, check them out. Cody and Casey and the rest of the crew at Minnesota Rusco do an awesome job. If you’re looking to turn that remodel into a reality, go to minnesotarusco.com to find out more. That’s minnesota rusco.com. Also, North American Banking Company is here not they’re not powering our internet, but they’re powering your finances potentially. Six locations in the Twin Cities. It’s a Minnesota based banking company. Maple Grove, Roseville, Shore View, Hastings, Woodbury, and 50th in France. So, you know, if it’s checking and savings experience that you just want a better experience or just a better personal face-to-face relationship with the banking company that handles your money, or if you’re planning on something bigger like buying a home, financing something bigger, setting up a new business, check them out, nabcode.com/mackie to learn more. That’s nabcco.commackie. Okay. Am I back? I think you’re good, huh? Am I back? This is very odd. The last time, so the first time according to the comments while you were doing that read, it was both of us. The last time just me. So hopefully I’m back now. I’m not quite sure. I have not changed a thing. I did not touch anything. That’s the key. At least you you did give us 20 minutes of JJ McCarthy camp notes, though. So you’re we got the the good stuff. We locked it in. If I can say this quickly, my last thought about the McCarthy thing was this. this is the time to do this. Like, it just is. I have I I don’t have a problem with a quarterback sitting for a year. I have a problem if it’s two and then possibly three. And if you’re not gonna and you drafted him and your coach, who knows what he’s doing, drafted him. So, if you’re not going to use him now, I guess to me, you’re questioning like, was that a good pick? And it was the 10th pick. So, anyway, great progress. It was it was awesome. Should we get to the injury updates from today? It feels like that is probably yes top of mind. Okay. So on a Hail Mary pass that was completed by the Patriots uh in the in the twominut drill. It was double coverage on the receiver including Josh Matellis who went up came down and sort of I fell and I think the receiver fell near him or on top of him and he hurt his shoulder and Okonnell said postpractice. Now, at first I thought it it looked bad and then after practice he like was going around signing and then he did go into what looked like the trainer’s room. So, I thought it might be a stinger. At least for now, Okonnell said it’s a shoulder. And then the one to be a little bit more concerned about probably Jaylen Naylor left early in practice and got his uh left hand/ wrist wrist taped. Came back and watched practice but did not participate. And if you are keeping count now, Justin Jefferson has missed 13 of the 15 practices. So the Naylor one concerns me a little bit more unless we’re going to find out that Mattelis did damage to his shoulder, but he sure didn’t act like it after practice. Yeah. Yeah. And the Jeff the Jefferson thing like they they I don’t think they were going to play him in these like he wasn’t going to come back for like a joint practice if he hasn’t practiced with his own team. But yeah, so I uh I had a pretty good view cuz I was in that corner of the end zone. You were up at in the perch kind of across the field. I was actually field level, I don’t know, 20 feet from the back pylon. And what’s crazy about that play is it was a Hail Mary quote unquote game-winning touchdown. Game-winning in air quotes like the scenario was the one you laid out for all the different two-minute drills that you saw four different ones with each team’s first team offense and then each team’s second team offense. And so the Patriots had one play left and the ball was thrown by Drake May like 30 or 40 yards down the field, left side of the end zone. It was Ivan Pace and Josh Matelis both jumped up with the Patriots receiver and uh they both they all three kind of came down in a heap and and trainers came out and spent a couple minutes with Matelis and he did walk back across the field on his own power but um his left he was really favoring his left shoulder or collarbone or you know I’m not a doctor but like he was literally I mean you can see me on YouTube he was kind like walking like this back to the to the sidelines. So, I don’t know. It It looked like a dislocated shoulder or something. I have no idea if that’s what actually happened, but it was clearly something with his left shoulder or collarbone area. So, you hope that it was like Jud said, you hope that it was just a stinger or something or maybe it popped out and they popped it back in. That’s what I’m wondering. Yeah, just something. And you know, he’s not he wouldn’t be playing on Saturday anyways almost certainly. So, just let him chill for a few days and and then and then come back. Some other injury things that are uh noteworthy on the defensive side. So, and maybe you mentioned one or two of these and I just didn’t hear you, but Harrison Smith out again with some kind of illness or something. Is that where you’re sick? He’s sick at home according to Okonnell. That’s what he said Wednesday. Okay. Um Andrew Van Ginkle did not practice again. So, that’s two days in a row with this joint practice. Dallas Turner winds up with the first team edge rusher unit opposite Jonathan Grard and uh Jay Ward got a bunch of first team defense work in the absence of Harrison Smith. They’re they’re really test driving Jay Ward in first and second team defensive looks. Kind of a subpackage guy just if they have like a third safety on the field and there’s no Harrison Smith. So, uh those I think those are the big injury things. I don’t I didn’t see anyone else limp off or get hurt or anything and I don’t think there was any other key players that were scheduled not to practice that we didn’t really mention there. So I think that’s the list of injuries. Yeah, the Van Ginko one. So he was standing watching practice. There’s nothing noticeably wrong there and the team doesn’t have to tell us until well in the Vikings case the Thursday before the Monday night game on September 8th. But um yeah, I don’t know on that one. Harrison Smith being out is not the worst thing. I I hope he’s fine, but the reality is this. He was getting a ton of vet days off already because there’s no reason to like wear this dude down. The Jay Ward thing, I think, is really intriguing, too, because Jay Ward is very clearly also being trained at the Jack of All Trades Matelis role. It feels like he is the guy behind So, so Theo Jackson’s a safety. Harrison Smith’s a safety. They’re versatile, but they’re safeties. It feels like Jay Ward is sort of the next man up as far as hey go play slot corner now go play linebacker and I don’t know if he made great progress his first year. I think he definitely made a little bit more last year but they definitely have something in my in their opinion there. So I would not be surprised if at some point in time Jay Ward actually gets a fairly decent amount of defensive snaps this season. Yeah. Yep. I agree. He is a guy that he’s kind of the next in line. They they kind of create these Mattelises, you know, Theo Jackson was love to move guys around, which is smart. They love that. In fact, in training camp a year ago, they moved Jay Ward for a while back to I think he had played corner in college. They moved him there. He was terrible, like he was getting burned left and right. So, they stuck him back at safety. But then I think they said, “Hey, with your physical makeup, you can play that that Mattelis Rover role.” And so, and I mean, you know, the thing too is Harrison Smith’s no kid. It won’t be as shocking if he has to sit some game. So, it’ll be very interesting to see if that happens, if he does get hurt, how they will deploy Matelis and would he become more of the traditional safety and would Jay Ward move into that role of playing different spots at different times? Yes. Would you like the defensive update? Anything else on the offensive side that is noteworthy? Somebody did ask in the comments here, they mentioned that you may have gotten a good question point from JJ McCarthy post press conference. Oh, yeah. When I asked the question about the the advantage of um of these joint practices compared to the preseason game. I got a That’s a great question, Jud. Nice job. Yeah, good kid. Give the Give it the point for that. Good kid. He’s a good kid. So, okay. Hey, I’m just going to I’m just going to mow through some of the key defensive highlights and notes cuz that was my assignment today was go linger on. So, what I did love though is for the the last two-minute portion, the final period of the two-day joint practice, they brought everyone onto the same field so they could create kind of a vibe, right? You got the fans, you got the VIP tents, the media, you got uh you got everyone from both teams. There was like 180 players just lined up and down the sidelines and it did it did create a cool vibe. Somebody asked about Mai Blackman in here. Okay, big Papa H. Mai Blackman. Still healthy, I hope. Really intrigued to see him back in. I am a Mai Blackman guy and he has shown some flashes. He is healthy. He’s definitely at practice and doing his thing. I’m going to throw him under the bus a little bit here. There was a very teachable moment at the end of the two-minute session to basically to basically end the uh the two-day joint practice. So, he was working with the second team defense. The Patriots chunking the ball down the field here uh with Josh Dobs, the pastronaut as their backup quarterback running with the Patriots twos. And uh so they’re down again 21 to 27. Vikings need to prevent them from scoring a touchdown or the Patriots win the drill, win the game. And it was a third and goal from like the four yardd line with 12 or 14 seconds left on the clock. So, you’ve got for sure time for two more plays. And Josh Dobs drops back to pass. He looks to his left. A little bit of pressure if I remember correctly. and he throws an inaccurate pass right to Mai Blackman and I’m I’m I’m literally standing like right on the back of the sideline here watching this happen 10 feet from me and maybe 10 yards from me. So the ball comes in and the wheels start turning for Mai Blackman. You’re probably expecting me to say he dropped a wideopen interception in which case like oh you know unfortunate but it happens. No, no, no. He somehow thought to himself, I’m going to bat this ball down. Let’s bat it down. So, he bats it down. And there was kind of a hush on the Viking sideline and guys are looking trying to look over at the scoreboard like what what’s what down is it? And uh Jonathan Grard comes running out from the sideline and he goes he five. Mai Blackman’s number is five. Five. Catch the bleep. Catch the ball. What are you doing? They’re like, “Why didn’t you just If you catch it, the game’s over. The drill’s over.” So, the Patriots have new life. It’s fourth and goal now from the four-yd line and they hit a touchdown to their backup tight end to win the drill. And Blackman comes walking over to the sidelines and a bunch of teammates are like, “Dude, like just just catch it. even even if it is a fourth down and you I think he was thinking if I bat it down maybe he thought it was fourth down but there was a football awareness thing there that that really and I don’t know we’re trying to figure out why is he not more firmly in the mix to maybe snag one of those starting nickel spots and uh I’m not going to speculate too much but like that was one of those what are you like what are you thinking type plays again I think he’s super talented he showed some major flashes before the injury a couple years ago right Um, but in his plate to become one of the starting nickel, three nickel quarterbacks, a play like that probably doesn’t help his cause. And throughout training camp, the reality is he is not like it’s one of my biggest surprises. He is not even in the running. He is a second team guy. I honestly thought that Jeff Okuda and Mai Blackman, right? Like there would be a competition. There hasn’t been a day of it. Jeff Okuda is the guy. And if he fails, I have no idea what the backup plan is. But, um, it’s interesting because it feels like Mai Blackman, who as a rookie, did play and then he went into training camp with, I think, a pretty good chance to play last year before he tore his ACL on the first day of training camp. It feels like they there’s something they don’t necessarily like. I don’t know what exactly because the two the two things that’s one thing quarterback wise I’ve seen. And then the other is, and I think I told you this, starting on Monday, it feels like Dwight McGloth, and I don’t know what what you saw, so I’d be curious, has fallen down the quarterback depth chart a lot. Yeah, he’s um it’s it’s sometimes it’s a little bit hard to tell uh exactly like who’s at fault or what’s happening on defense in some of these drills because they don’t on offense, you’re evaluating, watching a full play take place and you’re eliminating some of the sacks. So it actually it’s actually there’s actually more offense to evaluate because plays that would have been sacks actually continue on. Yep. On defense sometimes it is a little harder to figure out okay was that an actual pressure? Was it a sack? Was it not? And then on the back end um I don’t have a I Mcloth from what I saw did not flash really today good or bad. I will say this before I get to I think my favorite defensive headline of the day. Drake May absolutely got his a few different times against the Vikings defense. I mean, that dude is super talented. There was a throw and a lot of this action was happening kind of in the red zone. They did a lot of red zone stuff and it gives the offense an inherent advantage, especially when the defense is not tackling. The defense is not Sometimes in the red zone, your best way to prevent a touchdown catch is to smoke the receiver from close range as he’s like coming down with the ball. And like none of that stuff can really happen. But there was a pass. Drake May flushed out to his right. I think they snapped the ball at like the 10 yard line. He snap he he rolls out to his right and and he turns across his body from beyond the right hash mark and throws a laser across both hash marks kind of through traffic and hits a tight end in the back of the end zone for it looked like a no look. I’m guessing he peaked, but he’s got some crazy arm talent. He’s athletic and and he definitely fit a couple passes into tight windows in the red zone. So, that was noticeable. But the Vikings defense on the flip side. Uh about once every eight or 10 plays, Jonathan Grard would break through untouched for a big sack of some kind. Uh Jaylen Redmond blew up a couple plays against the second team offense and also was in the middle of a skirmish. We I think we had four skirmishes today. One with Vikings defense, Patriots offense. Five, right? Is it five skirmishes? There was a special team skirmish, right? And you said that you saw two on your field. I saw one. Oh, okay. I saw two and then I saw a third one. Ivan Pace. It was Was that a punting drill? I think it was a Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was a punting drill and it was like the stooges. Like four guys started to trip. Whoop. And Ivan Pace ends up at the bottom and starts pushing. Uh but yeah, we uh it’s funny. Okonnell hates that stuff. I don’t think Mike Vrabel hates that stuff. So, I think there is a they’re friends, but I think there’s a very opposite feeling about the the extracurriculars that we saw, too. Well, Vel was like at the bottom of one of the skirmishes and and he’s also he’s trying to build some toughness back into the culture, whatever, right? He’s a defensive guy. He loves that stuff. Yeah. But I think my favorite low-key thing that I observed today was Tyree Ingram Dawkins, the fifth round pick, defensive tackle. He’s more of like a he’s like he’s a defensive tackle who can also rush from the outside. And he’s one of the the great defensive tackle athletes that has ever been measured in the 3540 years of of combine measurements. and he was mixing in a ton with the first team defense today. Not because of injury. Like Jay Ward’s out there because Harrison Smith is hurt. Sure. You know, um some of these Vikings receivers are with the first team offense because Justin Jefferson’s out. Harrison Phillips was healthy and running with the twos at times during practice today. So, I think it was kind of situational from my tracking. Ingram Dawkins was out there uh in early down situations andor red zone situations where you’re trying to get a little extra pass rush alongside Jonathan Allen and Javvon Hargrave. So it was it was uh Dawkins Allen Hargrave as the three down linemen instead of Harrison Phillips Allen Hargrave when they go sub package like third down must pass they pull one of those down linemen off the field. So they would they would pull Ty Tyen Ingram Dawkins off the field and it would like in the two-minute drill it’s just Hargrave and Jonathan Allen. But I thought that was fascinating and he did jump in there for for sure I thought it was a sack. it was at least a pressure and he and it was a quarterback hurry and maybe another one in there too. So my again my theory is on first and second down where the whole playbook is kind of open for your opponent if you can put three dudes on the field that also have pass rushing chops from that position because Harrison Phillips really good player not much of a pass rusher from the interior. not terrible, but like that’s, you know, he’s uh he’s he’s a run stopper, he’s a leader, and uh he’s a he’s a very good defensive tackle, but it seems like the Vikings really love what Tyne Ingram Dawkins could be. So, not only is he for sure making the team as a fifthrounder, he’s getting run with the first team defense without injuries playing a factor. And I think that’s really interesting. And it’s really it’s intriguing too because of of the fact that he did fall to the fifth round and his college career statistically looks okay but it doesn’t look great. But they clearly and this is probably a Flores thing again. I mean Flores identifies guys that he on film thinks will fit. And this started on Monday I feel like. So so uh just for some context here Levi Drake Rodriguez who I also think is a leading candidate to make the team. He did not practice. He got banged up on Saturday, so he’s missed practice since then. So on Monday, the same thing like Ingram Dawkins all of a sudden is getting a lot of reps. The thing on Phillips is interesting because we talked about this at the uh at the practice fields, but Harrison Phillips is a is a good player. He’s an effective player, but I think that we have overestimated him too because he’s been like their best down lineman for two years. It’s like, hey, Jerry Tiller, okay, Jerry Tiller is not that good. Um, and I think what we’re finding now is the Vikings finally have found through free agency and then the draft possibly, they have found some more guys that can go into the mix. That does not mean that Harrison Phillips does not have a role, but in my opinion, and his snaps actually went down from 23 to 24, and I think they’re going to go down again. Harrison Phillips is a nice complimentary player who definitely has a role but probably has been asked to do entirely too much. So, but I love this. I love the thought that they have found another guy possibly and this comes through guys like Flores know exactly what they want. They don’t care about what you do in college like statistically. Um but if you can get a guy who’s long like Ingram Dawkins is, right? goes in there, blocks passes, which has become a huge thing now. Like part of the interesting thing in my opinion about this entire discussion is how much defensive line play and the down linemen, their play has changed. Like it has changed so much. It used to be stuff the run. If you get a sack or two, that’s awesome. And now it’s athletes. Yeah, it’s athletes. And and there’s just more. I think it’s I think it’s statistically accurate to say that there’s just a higher percentage of passes than 20 years ago, 30 years ago. So, all right. Well, if if that’s the direction that offensive strategy is going to go, then we need the down linemen and the interior defensive linemen to be able to do more than just stop the run and be big bodies and and whatnot. Another factor here, just a long-term factor, is the Vikings, I think, are the most over the cap of any team in going into 2026. Like, everyone’s under the cap right now because you got to be cap compliant. But based on how many big contracts they have signed with Jefferson and Darasaw, some of these free agents like Grenard that they brought in a couple years ago, Van Ginkle got the extension. There’s a lot of big big cap numbers 2026 2027 and I think I think the number is uh like 50 or 60 million over the salary cap for next year. So they have to find a way to get under this under uh break even line and maybe even further if they want to add a piece or two and tweak based on what happens this year. and Harrison Phillips. While while not one of the biggest cap numbers on the team, it’s a $9.1 million cap number, which is like I don’t know 15th or something on the team. If they were to get rid of him, uh there’s no guarantee money left on his contract after this year. And I believe he would save like $7 million to that. So, you got to find chunks like that to say goodbye to. And I think this is them kind of laying the groundwork for he’s been a really good player for the Vikings in the Kevin Oonnell era. He’s getting a little older. He has no more guaranteed money left and they need to make some cuts somewhere. So if you can play a fifth round pick for almost nothing as one of your starting down linemen either this year or for sure going into next year, that’s the type of move that you would make as a front office. So it’s got short-term and long-term ramifications. Yep. And I I just don’t know that at his age and with what he brings, I don’t know that Phillips is is a necessity. And if you’re going to replace him with a cheaper, younger kid who can provide more pressure possibly, that’s a great change. But yeah, you it’s going to be the next couple years are going to be really intriguing, too, because you’re looking at decisions on, for instance, Addison’s contract, and he’s going to get paid. It might be by you, it might be elsewhere, but he’s getting paid. So, there’s going to be a lot of interesting decisions to be made, but you you right now have put yourself, I feel like, in a win now window with this roster, but the roster is subject to be very different in like two years. Yeah. But your quarterback shouldn’t be. Another thing worth noting is it was I think maybe two plays before the Patriots hit that game-winning Hail Mary and Matelis had the shoulder injury that they were they were under a minute left. They’re I can’t remember what down it was, but you know it’s a two-minute drill. They’re trying to score a touchdown and Javvon Hargrave did exactly what you paid him to do in a situation like that as a veteran interior pass rusher. He knifed through the interior of the defense and sacked Drake May. Clock running, ball moves backwards. They either have to burn a timeout or burn a bunch of time. Receivers have to run back. Uh it’s it’s the type of thing that doesn’t usually happen from one of your interior down linemen with this defense the last couple years because the Vikings haven’t had that guy. And Javvon Hargrave did it to blow up temporarily blow up the two-minute drill and then of course the Patriots hit a 40-yard Hail Mary and kind of, you know, ended on a high note. But I just wanted to point out that Hargrave flashed at the very end of that drill. And Sports Dad can tell you exactly what that that was. It’s highlighted. In fact, that was a first down play. And then on third down, on third down, Drake May was sacked again by Dallas Turner. Yeah, Dallas Turner. I feel like there have been conflicting reports there. Again, I I don’t think he’s had a bad camp. I think we’ve talked about the fact now. Did he did he flash against the Texans? No. Do I think, oh my god, if you didn’t flash against the Texans, you are no good, buddy? No, I don’t. Um, I while I might not be the most positive guy all the time, I believe that the Vikings right now when it comes to the edge room. That’s right, the edge room. I believe the Vikings football have not just veterans there, but are the depth potentially could be some of the best in the league. I’m not saying the players are all the best in the league. I’m saying the depth. your guy Gabe Murphy. Dallas Turner has not shown me enough to say there’s something wrong. In fact, I actually think he’s improved. Um Grardo, you talked about Van Ginkle, assuming he’s fine. Like, you’re giving me four guys right there, two veterans, two two young guys that all I think can get to a quarterback. That’s pretty impressive. Like, that’s a lot of Vikings uh teams back in the 43 days. So, I guess that would be edge rushers from the from the defensive front. A lot of Vikings teams and a lot of Vikings fans for a long time would have taken four options. Yeah. Yep. It uh my guy Gabe Murphy, I was hoping for a couple flashes there. I didn’t see him tally a sack today, but maybe he saves it for when the lights are the brightest in the preseason games. We’ll see what happen. He’ll probably play on Saturday quite a bit is my guess. Well, and it’s arbitrary, too, in his defense. It’s arbitrary when they call sacks. Like sometimes it’s it’s like you’re yelling call the sack and they won’t and then at times it’s like the quarterback barely gets touched and it’s like that’s a sack. Yeah, it is funny. And then yeah, they’ll fight for it. You’ll see like Grard happened a couple times where Grenard came around and very clearly and he he just put his hand up in the air got that one and then you know like Drake May would continue on with the rep and maybe hit a completion or something but it’s um yeah just a different different way that that they track him. I will uh say this on Drake May. I don’t know what he’s listed at, but I love the length. That kid, that kid’s got length. He doesn’t, you know, he’s not real stocky or something like that. He’s not, it’s not that he is a big guy as far as his his build, but he’s got the basketball length. Yeah, love the basketball. He is an athlete. He is an athlete for sure. Um, do you want the luminaries? Judge camp. Joe Mau back day two. I did not see Joe Mau. The luminaries list is a little little less star uh stricken than yesterday where Brad Childris was in the house yesterday. Joey Joey Mau was in the house. Alex Boone signing autographs for the kids yesterday. Rhino. So Diana Rousini was back for day two. Our guy Tom Pelisero former friend former colleague Tom Pelisero from NFL Network with his qua hair was in the house today. Got to catch up with him for a while. Uh Paul Krauss, legendary Vikings safety. I think the career interception leader for the Vikings. I believe he’s the all-time National Football League leader in picks. He was in the house today. Uh NH champion driver Antron Brown was in the house today. How do you know? According to my sources, I think there’s a drag racing event up in uh Brainer. Is it Brainer International Raceway? Oh yeah, sure. This weekend. Yeah. And then uh Tim Connley, president of basketball operations for the Timberwolves, was there with some other Timberwolves front office people just I don’t know, soaking in the football. His kids there? I didn’t see his kids. I just uh I thought he might take him out to a day at the yard. Oh, no. It was just business. Just the Wolves front office out there today. Okay. Um Oh, and we should we should also say so McCarthy is not, as we talked about, not going to play on Saturday against the Patriots. noon kickoff, too. So, it’s a Saturday noon kickoff. Uh Sam Howell will start and the plan is to play Ripen and Brosmer. Now, how they’re going to do that, don’t know exactly. Okonnell promised me because his point is I was told at times when I was a backup that I was going to play in preseason games for x amount of time and I didn’t get played and I didn’t like that much. So, um, but Sam Howell, who I thought had an up and down practice, made a gorgeous throw in seven on seven, got sacked. Again, to your point, sometimes he just holds on to the ball too long. But I do think these preseason games are pretty important for him. Yeah, I agree. You just want to see him move the ball and not look flustered and take sacks. Yep. We I guess one last thing and maybe I’m putting you on the spot, but I would assume there’s some like a highlighted note in there somewhere. I need some Max Brosmer propaganda before Oh, you know, you know, he got very little work. So, what they did, this was all about the ones one v one and some 2v2, but um Bromer actually and Brett Ripen split the 3v3 snaps. So like they didn’t give Brosmer a set of the snaps uh third team versus third team and then ripen they actually would would have So for instance for instance in period 12 starting at the Vikings 45 yard line shotgun. All right we got Brosmer to is it Tim Jones 14 who’s actually had a really good week of practice? Yes. Um Tim Jones leaping catch. Nice catch. Nice throw. Nice throw. Okay, ball now at the 50. Now it goes to third down and Brosmer completes another pass. This time to Jon Jones. Ripen replaces him then. So like this is all in the same sequence. Dirts the ball. There’s a flag on the Patriots and then he finishes out the drive with a third down completion to um Miles Price. Okay, so Bros did make a very nice throw. very very small sampling of of work. Um, one disturbing thing, Miles Price, who has been, now I don’t think he makes the roster, but he has been a definite um, punt return option, like when they put guys back there, the last one he tried to return muffed badly. Muffed badly, tripped on his own feet, fell on the ball, and that was the end. That was all she wrote. Interesting also to note because I don’t think he’s gotten a lot of punt return time. Interesting also to note returning punts today. Ty Felton who’s gonna return kicks and he’s making the team. Dude, I mean I I’m not going to go with this because it’s just a little hearsay on our little text thread, but Duke’s hearing that the like Naylor might have a legit hand injury and we’ll see if that gets confirmed. But if you said he had a wrap on his hand, so if Jaylen Naylor’s out for the start of the season, if that thing if if that thing is serious somebody and Addison’s out, you’re like you’re literally Ty Felton’s gonna have to play. Well, you got like Lucky Jackson becomes your number two wide receiver then, right? No, no. I you got to go sign a guy, right? Like like Lucky Jackson is your three, I think, is a possibility. I don’t see how you if Jaylen Naylor is not available September 8th can you in good conscience have Lucky Jackson and and I know you’re going to run more you got tight ends so it’s not hopeless but I think I got to think you got to go sign somebody just a veteran man Amari Cooper we I mean Gabe Davis we talked about some names I think Gabe Davis might make the most sense because Laquan Treadwell knows what Okonnell does but he’s older I feel like I feel like he’d probably want a decent contract. Perhaps I’m wrong on that. Amari Cooper a lot of people seem to think is washed. Gabe Davis is still like 26. Gabe Davis has a better chance of not being washed because of his age. Yes. Than like Odell Beckham Jr. who could barely get on the field for Miami last year. Yeah. So anyway, all right. Wow. Big big day two of joint practice. And like we said off the top of the show, the best day of practice for JJ McCarthy at training camps camp. All right. Yeah, it was good. It was real good. It was very impressive. And now they’re off tomorrow and they play Saturday. Yep. But we’re not off tomorrow because we’ll be live on the Purple Daily YouTube channel at 10 a.m. Central time as always. Um we thank you guys. We did get to $20,000 raised and there’s still plenty. There’s still items up for bid for our powerof sports auction benefiting Couragekenny Rehabilitation Institute. So, please check out scornorth.com/bid as your time allows here tonight and tomorrow morning. Uh the bidding ends and the buy it nows end at noon central time tomorrow on Friday. So, we will see you in the morning for uh a feedback Friday session and we’re almost to 60,000 subscribers on the Purple Daily YouTube channel. So, if you enjoy these camp updates, Jud’s camp notes, maybe you just discovered Purple Daily. Welcome in. It’s the best biggest Vikings fan community uh in the podcast world. Click that like button and the subscribe button. And over on the audio side, if you’re an Apple or Spotify listener, you can help us out by giving us a fivestar rating and a positive review. So, all right, for the sports dad, Jud Zulgad, I am Phil Mackey, and this is Purple Daily, where we just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die. See you.

Mackey and Judd recap an awesome day for JJ McCarthy on Day 2 of the Minnesota Vikings – New England Patriots’ joint practice! This was easily McCarthy’s best day of training camp so far, and Judd has all the details. Plus, Mackey tracked the defense! Updates include a new rotational member of the first team defense, Josh Metellus’ injury and more!

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