Football is finally upon us, and we get to look ahead and preview the Vikings‘ preseason matchup against the Texans. Fans have been waiting to get the gross taste out of their mouth from how the 2024 season ended with the playoff loss to the Rams.
This Saturday, they will finally get to do that.
There are a handful of things worth mentioning with this game, the biggest being, of course, that we will get to see J.J. McCarthy return after missing all of last season. It doesn’t stop there, though. We get some questions answered on position battles, and we get to see some new faces that arrived over the offseason.
Here are three things to know heading into the preseason opener for the Vikings.
J.J. McCarthy will be back
J.J. McCarthy has had all of the mental reps imaginable while waiting to return to the football field. Returning against the Houston Texans will be a tough test for him, and it will be the most formidable defense he has faced since his college days. The most important thing to know on this point heading into Saturday is that McCarthy is going to make mental mistakes despite it all. Being away from the field this long will cause that, and it is okay, remember that.
We get to see how Brian Flores has gotten Dallas Turner to evolve
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert wrote up his observations from training camp, and he includes that Turner is getting used much better in training camp. He writes, “Turner was one of three outside linebackers on the field with the first team, along with Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. They made room for Turner by using Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus as their safeties, down from the three-safety look they typically used in 2023 and 2024.”
This has us wondering, how is Flores going to use him on Saturday? We will have the answer soon enough but it seems he poised for a breakout in 2025.
Are Will Reichard’s struggles limited to just practice?
Last week’s practice has not been kind to the former Crimson Tide kicker. Over the last week, Will Reichard missed two kicks in game situations in practice from under 50 yards, and one over that distance. Over the weekend, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis reported that Reichard missed from inside 40 yards this time, but on two separate occasions. If the misses keep coming, the team may be forced to start a competition for the job; otherwise, it is going to be a repeat life event for Vikings fans and kicker curses.