The Best News for the Vikings Coming Off of Preseason Game #2
Kevin O’Connell had just finished answering a question about J.J. McCarthy. The No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft has been lost for the season due to a torn meniscus and subsequent surgery following the opening preseason game.
Finishing off his press conference on Saturday was a question about the health of the roster after the Cleveland game. Did the Vikings make it through the contest unscathed? “We did,” O’Connell said, “yeah, we did. There was really nothing to make note of.”
The Best News for the Vikings After the Browns Game
The final score was 27-12, pushing Minnesota to 2-0 in the preseason. Those basic facts are nice but aren’t nearly as consequential as the health of the roster.
For the most part, backups played in this one. And, to be sure, a lot of them played well. Lewis Cine did plenty of good things and backup DTs Taki Taimani and Levi Drake Rodriguez snagged some praise. Trishton Jackson had an excellent “toe tap tuddy” and Kene Nwangwu turned 7 carries into 45 yards, leading to an efficient 6.4 yards-per-carry average.
In terms of player health, O’Connell offered a few more thoughts.
The head coach’s reflection: “We had a couple guys that maybe would have played if it was the regular season, but just through the physicality of the joint practices, which I did like, we decided to hold those guys out and just be smart.”
More thoughts got brought around to being proud of the way the depth players have performed: “Kwesi and I, we wanted to win some preseason football games this year. And I think the depth that Kwesi has put together on this roster, the fact that we’re 2-0 and I’ve seen a lot of guys play, in some cases against maybe higher levels of the depth chart on some other teams, it’s been really cool to see those guys go out there and compete.”
Keep in mind that Minnesota, per O’Connell, sat 21 healthy players.
Lately, there has been no shortage of injury turmoil in Minnesota. One thinks of the players on the PUP list — T.J. Hockenson and NaJee Thompson — alongside Andrew Van Ginkel, who is still working on getting back to 100%.
And then training camp and the preseason have led to injuries, as well. Jordan Addison sustained an ankle injury in joint practices and Thayer Thomas got hurt, as well. Shaq Griffin has been out for a while and Mekhi Blackmon is done for the season with a torn ACL. Lewis Cine sat out a few practices and Gabriel Murphy has also missed some time recently. So, no shortage of Vikings in the infirmary.
The best news to emerge is simply that the list hasn’t grown longer. Minnesota marched into Cleveland looking for a win and health. They appear to have achieved both goals.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
