Camp Reports: Minnesota Vikings
by Roger Thompson
Roger Thompson offers up some insight from the first day of Vikings practice.
Day 1 of Vikings Training CampAdrian Peterson was looking good not only running the ball but also coming out of the backfield and catching passes. He didn’t bobble any of the throws and looked good running patterns. His pass blocking looked a lot better than last year but still doesn’t look as good as Chester Taylor.
Visanthe Shiancoe dropped at least three passes in the afternoon session. Garrett Mills looked a lot better catching the ball. It should be interesting to see if Shiancoe loses reps to Mills during the season. Jim Kleinsasser will catch the balls thrown to him but he’s not going to break any plays either. He is there to block and he does that better than almost anyone at the tight end position. His role is safe.
If Bryant McKinnie is suspended for his night club incident, it looks like Chase Johnson will get the first crack at starting there. He is as big as McKinnie but is just a second year player. Artis Hicks can play there if Johnson isn’t ready. Johnson did get a lot of reps on the first day. Hicks only played left guard.
Tarvaris Jackson looked good today. Almost all his throws were on target and he definitely has the strongest arm in camp. He under-threw Bernard Berrian once on a long pass but other than that he was very accurate.
Sidney Rice looked very good today. He caught everything in the drills and looked good on his route running. Other than Shiancoe, all the receivers seemed to catch everything thrown their way.