Analysis: Vikings castoff Garrett Bradbury all smiles after Patriots shine vs. Brian Flores’ vaunted defense

It was one joint practice in mid-August, but go ahead and tip your cap to Patriots center and Vikings castoff Garrett Bradbury for literally being in the middle of a New England offense that won Wednesday’s tussle against Brian Flores and a vaunted Vikings defense that’s been making life pretty much miserable for J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota offense this summer.

“When we blocked it up, there were some big home runs,” Bradbury said on a day when Patriots second-year quarterback Drake Maye looked especially sharp behind good protection that Bradbury helped set.

Former Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs looked good after being inadvertently tackled to the ground by cornerback Jeff Okudah on the first snap of 11-on-11 drills. Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson also shined, particularly on a 70-yard touchdown reception down the left sideline to close the two-minute drill portion of the practice with Bradbury and his offensive mates celebrating.

“That was pretty sweet,” Bradbury smiled. “It’s two-minute. It’s touchdown or you lose. That’s kind of the dream as an O-lineman. You block it up and you see your running back going down the sideline for 70 yards. Theoretically, the game is over, right? So we’re going to go down and celebrate with him. A good way to end it.”

The end of Bradbury’s six-year, 88-start run in Minnesota was anything but good for the former first-round draft pick.

Within minutes of January’s 27-9 wild-card beatdown loss to the Rams — a playoff record-tying nine-sack fiasco — Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t mince words when asked where fixing the offensive line ranked among his offseason priorities.

“There’s no question that we got to be able to find a way to give a quarterback [time],” O’Connell said. “We got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket, starting first and foremost.”

“I had another year” on my contract, he said. “So I thought I was going to be back.”

Nope. The Vikings cleaned house on the interior line. They traded right guard Ed Ingram to Houston. They kept left guard Blake Brandel but demoted him to backup. And they released Bradbury.

“When I got released, it was ‘all right, they made their decision. Let’s move on,’” Bradbury said. “It’s a business. That’s what’s going to happen. I’ve moved on.”

Bradbury lingered on the field after Wednesday’s practice talking with and hugging several former teammates and coaches.

“I miss him,” Brandel said. “Saturday, I saw Ed [who started for Houston in a 20-10 preseason loss]. I won’t lie. It’s tough. The three of us are on different paths now. But the way my parents raised me, you got to be a great teammate no matter what’s going on.

Bradbury admitted it was “weird” to be wearing an enemy uniform at TCO Performance Center. He said some of the best friends he’ll ever have are Vikings, but …

“At the same time, it’s great to be in New England,” he said. “A former player said to me after it all happened that it should be mandatory that everyone play for at least two organizations because you get to reprove yourself, reinvent yourself.

“You get to meet a lot of new people, awesome friends, see different ways of doing things. I had [Mike] Zimmer and Kevin O’Connell, but that was all I had seen. So now with [Mike] Vrabel, I got a decent perspective on what I think works. I think what he’s doing is going to work.”

Bradbury said going against Flores’ defense Wednesday and again Thursday will be “as confusing as it gets all year” for the Patriots offense.

“We want to see this” confusing scheme, Bradbury said. “We had some different plays, some different alerts and you got to [adjust] it and I got to get the call out to the guys. It’s good practice.

There were definite holes at times.

And, yes, the NFL is a business. But being told you’re not good enough after a 14-win season has to come with extra motivation. Right?

“Absolutely. Absolutely,” he said. “Is it a little bit of a wake-up call to get released? Yeah, sure. But at the same time, you don’t make it in this league if you don’t show up every day like, ‘Hey, I need to be better today than I was yesterday.’”

Yes, it was only one joint practice in mid-August, but Bradbury and his Patriots offense were a little better than the Vikings’ vaunted defense on Wednesday.