Some thoughts from this afternoon's oven-baked practice in Mankato …

Day@camp
Daily dispatch from Mankato

Setting the scene
The iPhone said 62 percent humidity made 84 and sunny feel like 91 and miserably Mankato. But Purple fans had only the number 28 on their mind as running back Adrian Peterson practiced for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury working out before the start of camp. Yes, he was in full pads. No, he didn't take any hard hits.

Goal-line good, bad & ugly

The first goal-line session of the day was a passing drill. If you like defense, there were two goods and one bad. If you like offense, flip that around. Heavy pressure on one play disrupted quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who threw incomplete behind tight end Kyle Rudolph. Then Bridgewater was intercepted when super-duper quick right end Everson Griffen dropped into coverage, tipped a pass and intercepted it. But never fear, Teddy fans. The young QB rebounded on the next snap, leading Stefon Diggs nicely on a pass he grabbed while beating Captain Munnerlyn to the front-left pylon.

Ru-dy, Ru-dy!
Best offensive play of the day? Griffen gets best play of the day. Rudolph gets the best offensive play. During a team portion of practice, the giant target because an even bigger one when he slipped down the seam and raised his big left mitt way over the head of deep safety Harrison Smith. Bridgewater put the deep ball right on the target and Rudolph brought it down one-handed. Later, Bridgewater was intercepted for the second time of the day when Anthony Barr caught a ball that bounced off the hands of Matt Asiata. Adam Thielen caught a deep ball from Bridgewater, but dropped one from Shaun Hill while wide open in the end zone.

Give us 20, rook
Rookie receiver Laquon Treadwell had plenty of advice after dropping a deep out pass that went over his head and off his hands. While he was doing his 20 self-imposed punishment pushups, offensive coordinator Norv Turner, receiver Charles Johnson and Bridgewater gave him some words of advice. Turner said he made the angle of the catch too tough by getting "too wide" on his route.

Camp chatter
"Relax. I'm talking to him." – Coach and noted DBs whisperer Mike Zimmer pulling rank on an assistant coach who had barked at rookie cornerback Mackensie Alexander to get back in the huddle.

Injury report
While Peterson returned, fellow running back Jerick McKinnon missed practice after suffering an injury on Monday. Receiver Cordarrelle Patterson (shoulder), tight end Rhett Ellison (knee), guard Mike Harris (illness) and quarterback Taylor Heinicke (foot) remain sidelined.

Schedule

Thursday:

10:30-11:30 a.m. walkthrough

2:45-5 p.m. full pads.

MARK CRAIG