Vikings, Patriots bring energy on Day 1 of joint practices with some moments of celebration

Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins punted a ball into stands full of training camp spectators Wednesday at TCO Performance Center in Eagan following a touchdown, eliciting excitement even from a still Vikings-dominant crowd.

Hollins’ answer for why: “I didn’t like the energy. ... Maybe it’ll give the team an energy boost.”

Hollins was successful to a degree in shifting the energy of practice, which started on a simmer before bubbling up for a few moments without boiling over. Nothing came close to the scuffle that broke out when New England played host to the Commanders last week and resulted in Patriots coach Mike Vrabel getting a cut on his cheek when he tried to break it up.

“Although it’s two teams practicing against one another, it still is practice,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said before the day’s activities began. “Inevitably, when any competitors are on the field, there’s going to be a bunch of ... times today where things push to that line, and then it’s on the leadership of your team and the discipline of your team to show up in those moments and not let it get to a place where it could impact guys.”

During a move-the-ball drill, one of the few 11-on-11 segments where the chains move with the result of each snap, Vikings running back Aaron Jones broke through the first level of Patriots defenders, breaking away for one of the Vikings offense’s first big plays of the day.

Jones was aided in his breakaway by rookie left guard Donovan Jackson, who laid two blocks for him downfield, including a deck on one of the Patriots’ secondary players that elicited cheers from the crowd.

Jackson swung a fist in the air in celebration when the play was over, and a “Let’s go, Donovan!” sounded from one of the spectator tents.

A punt-gunning drill ended with a moment where receiver Stefon Diggs, the former Viking, had his helmet off and was surrounded by teammates, all energized, as Vikings safety Kahlef Hailassie stood by.

And then the two-minute drill on the Patriots offense’s field ended with Vikings safety Jay Ward intercepting quarterback Josh Dobbs and taking it to the house. He looked to have punted the ball back from the end zone as his celebration.

O’Connell said the Vikings plan to reassess wide receiver Justin Jefferson early next week and “see if [they] can maybe start building on [his] workload.”

Jefferson, who has a mild left hamstring strain, has participated in at least the past couple of walk-throughs the team has held and was seen Aug. 1 working with trainers on the rehab field. He’s remained a constant presence around practice since being sidelined July 24.

Three other starters did not participate in Wednesday’s joint practice: fullback C.J. Ham, outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and safety Harrison Smith.

Backup defensive lineman Levi Drake Rodriguez was also held out because of a minor ankle injury he sustained in the Vikings’ game against the Texans on Saturday. O’Connell said the team will evaluate him through this week and decide if he’ll play against the Patriots on Saturday.

O’Connell declined to specify the left knee injury that ended wide receiver Rondale Moore’s season. The team moved Moore to injured reserve Tuesday afternoon.

“Crushed for Rondale. All he had done since he got here was do everything right and was progressing,” O’Connell said. “As I told him, we don’t always have answers and things don’t always need to make sense to us, but I have no doubt Rondale will be back better than ever and be ready to continue his football journey.”

With Moore done for the season, the Vikings added cornerback Isaiah Rodgers back into their punt return rotation at practice alongside Silas Bolden and Myles Price.

Meanwhile, left tackle Christian Darrisaw checked another box in his return from ACL and MCL tears last October with his first action against a defense other than the Vikings’ own.

“I’m trusting this process throughout and every day,” said Darrisaw, who was limited to only some team drills Wednesday. “I know the trainers wouldn’t put me in a bad position. I know how my body’s feeling, and I was ready for today.”

Fourth-year linebacker Brian Asamoah II, who was waived by the Vikings on Tuesday, has landed with a new team.

The Titans were awarded Asamoah off the waiver wire. He will now face the team that drafted him in 2022 when the Vikings visit Nashville for their third and final preseason game Aug. 22.

Prior to Vikings practice Wednesday, and Asamoah’s move to the Titans, O’Connell called the fourth-year player “a guy that’s really had a unique journey here through his time” and said part of the Vikings’ timing in waiving Asamoah was so he could have “the best possible opportunity to continue his career.”

With Asamoah’s departure, only two members of O’Connell’s and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s inaugural Vikings draft class remain with the team: fifth-round running back Ty Chandler, whose roster spot is being challenged by Zavier Scott, and Nailor.

The Vikings signed fifth-year outside linebacker Cam Gill and re-signed linebacker Max Tooley, who was on the practice squad last season, on Wednesday.