The Mankato portion of Vikings training camp ended as it began, with the defense far ahead of the brand new offense.
Rookie free safety Mistral Raymond, working with the first team on Thursday as Husain Abdullah returned from his White House dinner to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, intercepted rookie Christian Ponder in the end zone during the red zone portion of practice. It was a quick read and a quick reaction to step in front of receiver Devin Aromashodu.
That's where it should have ended. But Raymond took off down the right sideline. The offense chasing him. And then backup quarterback Joe Webb left the sideline and gave a playful -- and speedy -- pursuit.
Raymond pulled up lame at the end of the run.
"They told me he might have tweaked his [hamstring]," coach Leslie Frazier said. "I hope that's not the case."
Rookie voicesTo promote respect throughout the roster, Frazier did away with the rookie talent show and banned the hazing that typically happens in the NFL. But some of the rookies did "voluntarily" sing their college fight songs during position meetings.
"That's not always a pretty sight or sound," Frazier said.
QB updateDonovan McNabb is progressing, but it's going to take awhile before he's comfortable. Right now, it's mostly check-downs, dump passes and short throws for him in team drills. During the red-zone portion of practice, he completed four of five passes with a batted ball at the line of scrimmage.
Webb spent the majority of practice with the second team. He looked good in the red zone, completing four of six passes with two drops. He threw a nice touchdown pass to a covered Jaymar Johnson in the corner of the end zone and hit Jauquin Iglesias at the goal line for another TD.
Ponder's struggles went beyond the Raymond interception. He was 3-for-9 in the red zone.
Quote of the day"Joe's a pretty speedy guy. He showed his speed once again."
-- Leslie Frazier on backup quarterback Joe Webb coming off the sideline to run down rookie free safety Mistral Raymond during Raymond's camp-ending interception return.
Injury report• RG Anthony Herrera (knee) is on the physically-unable-to-perform list and will not play Saturday at Tennessee.
• CB Cedric Griffin (knee) is practicing but will be held out of Saturday's game as a precaution.
• TE Visanthe Shiancoe (hamstring) missed his third practice and will not play Saturday.
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