Purple Headlines of the Week: Another Trade, Injury Update, First Preseason Game
The Minnesota Vikings kicked off their preseason action on Saturday.
The Vikings came away with a preseason win for the first time in Kevin O’Connell’s coaching tenure, defeating the Las Vegas Raiders by a score of 24-23 in heroic fashion as many young Vikings got their first taste of NFL action.
With the first preseason game now in the books, here is a look at all the purple headlines from the past week.
Andrew Booth Gets Traded
The Minnesota Vikings 2022 draft class is looking like one of the bigger blemishes on general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s resume.
That blemish grew a little bigger as one of the young Vikings from that draft class saw his stint in Minnesota come to a very unceremonious end as Minnesota opted to trade CB Andrew Booth Jr. on Friday to the Dallas Cowboys.
In return, Minnesota received another cornerback, Nahshon Wright, who was a third-round pick by Dallas back in 2021. The cornerback has appeared in 32 games and made three starts over his first three seasons.
Positive Injury Update for Veteran Viking
The Vikings were cursed with horrific injury luck in 2023, and so far in 2024, the injuries have remained a concern with Mekhi Blackmon out for the year with a torn ACL and T.J. Hockenson likely to miss a portion of the season recovering from the knee injury he suffered last December.
Luckily, though, the Vikings did get one positive injury update this week regarding one of their veteran defenders, Jerry Tillery. The defensive lineman left a recent practice after taking a cleat to the leg, but according to head coach Kevin O’Connell, things seem to be progressing well.
“He did get a pretty significant laceration,” the head coach said, “kind of on the back of his leg there, lower calf area. That, although very concerning, he’s going to be fully recovered. He did have to get a couple stitches.”
O’Connell continued, “As far as the major injuries that maybe our fans or you folks might have been worried about, that is not the case. He’ll be back. Just gotta let those stiches heal and he’ll be ready to roll.”
Preseason Opener
After going 0 for their last 10 preseason games, the Vikings finally won a preseason game this weekend when they took on the Las Vegas Raiders. The win came down to the final moments as rookie kicker Will Reichard came through in the clutch, nailing a 38-yard field goal as time expired.
J.J. McCarthy had a strong showing in his preseason debut as well, completing 11 of his 17 passes for 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also adding 18 yards with his legs. Fellow first-rounder Dallas Turner also made his presence felt, recording a sack early on in the game.
Minnesota’s next preseason game will kick off Saturday, August 17th at 3:25 PM CDT when they take on the Cleveland Browns on the road.
In Case You Missed It…
As usual, we have a list of additional reading material for the especially studious Vikings fans. Happy reading!
- Beleaguered Vikings Corner Snags Praise for “Disruptive Hands”
- Seahawks Sign Former Vikings LB
- A Subtle Hint about the Leader in an Overlooked Vikings Position Battle
- The Vikings Are Apparently Looking for Another Receiver
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
Kevin O’Connell and The Vikings’ QB Chaos that Can’t Repeat in 2024