The Vikings practiced in pads for the fourth time during training camp on Saturday in one of their longest sessions of the week. After a Sunday walkthrough, they will be back in pads Monday night for their annual practice in TCO Stadium.
The stretch certainly would not match the intensity of camps from the Vikings’ early years in Mankato, or even the ones coach Kevin O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores can remember from their first season together in 2008, when two-a-days were still allowed under NFL rules and commonplace in New England under Bill Belichick.
But it represents a departure from the Vikings’ typical practice structure during O’Connell‘s first two seasons. The team categorizes practices as either high, medium or low intensity; their camp schedule often followed a rotation to give players recovery time after a strenuous practice. This season, O’Connell said, the Vikings‘ workload at the start of padded practices needed to look different.
”We buckled up and had three significant days,” O’Connell said Friday. “I know only two of them were in pads, but that Tuesday practice was significant; there was some situational work. I’ve got a plan of how I want to push these guys. It will always involve over-communicating expectations on the front end, challenging the guys to lock in on sequences of training camp. We’re about to start another one right now.”
O’Connell hopes the work will mold a Vikings team he wants to be more physical this season; the team signed former Packers running back Aaron Jones to spearhead a running game that could employ more power runs to spring the veteran free. Defensively, the Vikings ranked eighth in the league against the run last year but allowed a combined 320 rushing yards in a pair of pivotal December home losses to the Lions and Packers. They will field a remade linebacking group this season; several roles on the defensive line remain in play.
The team has typically taken a careful approach to training camp, adjusting player workloads with GPS data checks and executive health director of player health and performance Tyler Williams’ input. That’s still happening; it led to Justin Jefferson getting a rest day on Wednesday after data showed how much he’d run and how much water he’d lost in several days of hot afternoon practices.
But in his third camp, O’Connell is trying to maintain a fresh roster while instilling work he hopes will refine players.
”In a lot of ways, it’s gauging the dialogue with that player, what the medical folks are saying, what the doctors are saying, and then crafting a plan for that player while knowing I’ve got to get the football team ready to go,” O’Connell said. “It’s part of my job this time of year to gauge how to prepare the team while also making sure we’ve got a team to prepare.”