MANKATO -- The Vikings' morning practice Thursday included a segment spent on the 2-minute drill.

Tarvaris Jackson, the starting quarterback at this point, looked sharp completing seven of 10 passes. Going against a mixture of players from the second- and third-team defense, Jackson capped the series by throwing a bullet of a pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe at the 10-yard line and then finding Greg Lewis in the end zone. Lewis made an outstanding catch with cornerback Marcus Sherels on him in coverage.

Sage Rosenfels then took over with the second-team offense. Wide receiver Taye Biddle made a nice catch in the drive going against cornerback Antoine Winfield. Kicker Rhys Lloyd got his first chance of camp to attempt a field goal and hit on a 48-yarder to cap things.

Coach Brad Childress said afterward he was happy with what he saw.

"You can't get enough of that work and just as we kind of reviewed last night there are teams that are coming one way to beat us or we were trying to go one way to beat somebody else, games in this league come down to that quite frequently," Childress said. "First exposure to the clock management. I thought the guys did a good job with the administrative stuff that's going on."

Some other notes from the first practice of the day:

  • On an ideal day in Mankato, sunny but no humidity, the Vikings worked in shorts and shoulder pads.
  • Childress said there is no timetable on when wide receiver Percy Harvin would rejoin the team. Harvin's grandmother passed away over the weekend and he left to be with his family.
  • Adrian Peterson missed a third consecutive practice as he continues to deal with tightness in his left leg. That gave Albert Young another chance to get first-team reps on Thursday. Rookie Toby Gerhart worked with the second team.
  • Running back Darius Reynaud wasn't on the field after being taken off on a cart Wednesday afternoon. Reynaud appeared to have injured his left foot. The Vikings are not required to provide an official injury report at this point.
  • Also sitting out the morning practice: WR Sidney Rice (hip, PUP); CB Benny Sapp (heat related from the weekend); Cedric Griffin (knee, PUP); and LB J Leman (unknown).
  • An NFL officiating crew is visiting the Vikings at training camp today. Officials go to all the camps around the league to speak to players and coaches about rule changes and what to expect. They also watch practice and officiate during team and 7-on-7 drills.
  • Players had some fun during a 1-on-1 drill that featured linebacker Chad Greenway and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. Greenway had broken up a pass for Shiancoe, causing the defense to break into celebration. Shiancoe, though, wanted another shot and Greenway gave it to him. This time Shiancoe dropped the pass with Greenway a step behind him -- setting off another celebration.
  • Not including the night practice Saturday that drew a crowd of about 7,000 and was largely conducted in the stadium, today's session on the regular practice fields attracted the biggest crowd for a weekday this year. The reason: The running backs were signing afterward and that meant a chance to get an Adrian Peterson autograph. Not only the were the stands packed but there also were plenty of people standing along the fences watching the practice.