Vikings’ Summer Date Confirmed
The Minnesota Vikings have completed rookie minicamp after their draft and held voluntary workouts prior to the three-day event. The next step will be to unite the veterans and the newcomers at the start of OTAs on May 27th. Head coach Kevin O’Connell has scheduled nine OTA days in May and June in addition to a three-day mandatory minicamp in June.
Vikings’ Summer Date Confirmed
At some point in the summer, the date has yet to be announced, the Vikings will hold their training camp at wonderful TCO Performance Center in Eagan, MN.
In August, the club will play three exhibition games against other organizations. One of those will be against the New England Patriots (Aug. 16), who will also join O’Connell’s crew at TCO Performance Center for another edition of joint practices.
Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling wrote on social media, “The #Vikings are all set for joint practices with the Patriots before their Week 2 preseason game at U.S. Bank Stadium. They’ll welcome New England to the TCO Performance Center for the practices.”
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis noted, “As has been widely reported, it’s now official that the New England Patriots will visit the Vikings for joint practices ahead of the second preseason game. Vrabel/KOC did the same a couple of years ago.”
Why Joint Practices?
Joint practices started to make waves a few years ago, and head coach O’Connell has been a huge proponent of the idea of sharing a practice field with other teams. The obvious advantage is that it’s new faces across from the players who have already faced the same guys for weeks. Justin Jefferson might get bored running routes against Byron Murphy Jr. all the time, and Christian Gonzalez is a nice change.
In addition to that, it’s a more competitive setting than normal practices, but without the contact of a real football game, which is why coaches start to lean toward giving their starters only a handful of reps in the preseason while getting most of the work done in those joint practices.
The 2025 New England Patriots
The 2025 New England Patriots will look a lot different from past versions because Bill Belichick won’t be there. The all-time great coach has moved on to the college game. Last year’s head coach, his successor, Jerod Mayo, has already been replaced by Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots defender and excellent head coach with the Titans.
Part of why the Vikings might see the Patriots in August is the fact that O’Connell and Vrabel did the same when the latter was still with the Titans. Minnesota and Tennessee had joint practices in 2023.
One thing that hasn’t changed from last year is quarterback Drake Maye. The third overall pick was reportedly high on Minnesota’s wishlist in last year’s draft. Instead of trading out, New England kept the third overall pick and selected Maye. The Vikings, meanwhile, drafted J.J. McCarthy, whom they also like. Because of the emphasis O’Connell is putting on the joint practice sessions, McCarthy will have a big test against the Patriots.
New England has some old friends under contract. Those include wide receiver Stefon Diggs, center Garrett Bradbury, and quarterback Josh Dobbs.
Diggs signed in free agency. He’s still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last season, and it remains to be seen if he’s ready for camp. Once he is back at 100%, Diggs will be Maye’s WR1, something he desperately lacked last year.
Bradbury was released after the first wave of free agency when the Vikings had secured the rights of veteran center Ryan Kelly. Better blocking was another issue in Foxboro. Bradbury hasn’t always been the best friend of his quarterbacks.
Speaking of QBs, Dobbs is still a folk hero in the Twin Cities. His few weeks of glory in 2023 remain unforgettable. He spent last year with the San Francisco 49ers and is now Maye’s backup.