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Vikings Camp Notes


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Friday from the Strib blog.

 

<LI>Running back Adrian Peterson showed why he’s one of the best in the game. Nearly every time Peterson touched the ball today he looked to be in mid-season form and not taking part in his first day of training camp. This included a run when he took a handoff, put a move on a group of defenders and sprinted toward the end zone for what would have been a lengthy touchdown run.

 

Of course he is going to look good with only shells on..

 

Saturday

 

The Vikings completed their Saturday morning practice. Here are a few notes and observations:

 

 

  • The offense had a slow start to practice in team drills. In the first team session matching the first-team offense versus the first-team defense, Bernard Berrian dropped a pass, Tarvaris Jackson nearly had a pass intercepted by Darren Sharper and then Madieu Williams intercepted a Jackson pass that was thrown behind tight end Jim Kleinsasser.
  • The offense looked considerably better in later team sessions.
  • Berrian, who had another dropped pass, made the play of the day on a 35-yard catch from Jackson. Berrian showed off his speed by getting separation from Antoine Winfield and Jackson hit him in stride.
  • Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe had a solid practice and made a handful of catches in team work.
  • The defense worked on the nickel package a lot. Charles Gordon, Marcus McCauley and Benny Sapp are getting most of the reps there.
  • The offense worked quite a bit on down-and-distance situations in 7-on-7 drills.
  • Chase Johnson is working with the second team at left tackle, but it sounds like Artis Hicks would probably slide over from guard if Bryant McKinnie faces disciplinary action from the NFL.
  • Kenderick Allen got reps with the first team at defensive tackle in team work in place of Pat Williams, who is recovering from elbow surgery. Fred Evans worked with the first team yesterday.
  • Rookie Jaymar Johnson is getting reps at kickoff return and has made some nice catches in team drills.

The team has a second practice tonight from 7-9 p.m. We’ll check back later.

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Visanthe Shiancoe has been running with the 3rd team, and now the 2nd team today. Not sure what that means if anything.

 

Garrett Mills was possibly going to compete at the TE spot, but he jsut went down with an undisclosed injury. No idea what it is or how serious... but that might put an end to Shiancoe running with anything but the 1st team from now on.

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Any word on whether MIN intends to have Tarvaris throw to his own receivers this year or not?

 

 

14 QB's threw more interceptions than Jackson. His TD / Int ratio would have been on the positive side if not for at least 4 drops.

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14 QB's threw more interceptions than Jackson. His TD / Int ratio would have been on the positive side if not for at least 4 drops.

 

 

Ummm Jackson only played 3/4 (12 total) of the games. So his td/int ratio most likely would have been higher. ***of course the drops didn't help him any.

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From the KFAN Vikings TC Notes...

 

Paraphrased: Tarvaris Jackson has been inconsistent so far. Makes some great plays but then throws up interceptions. He is pretty much constantly looking for Berrian at this point in Camp.

 

Camp Notes

 

- After an intense, full contact morning session, players practiced in shorts this afternoon.

 

- Maurice Hicks returned kicks before practice. He’s probably going to be the primary kick returner all season long.

 

- Thomas Tapeh (bell rung), Ray Edwards (back), and Garrett Mills (ankle) all sat out. Edwards is close to returning, possibly in the next two days.

 

- During individual drills, the quarterbacks worked on deep out routes and short dump off passes. No defenders, so obviously completion percentages were high for all four QBs.

 

- Marcus Johnson was back at second string RT, while Ryan Cook re-joined the first team offensive line. You can expect these two to share time with the starters, as was the case last year at first.

 

- Visanthe Shiancoe dropped a couple passes early in training camp, but he’s been solid since. He made a few catches in traffic on Monday afternoon, which is encouraging, because if you remember, Shiancoe made a few drops in traffic last year…

 

- During 11-on-11 drills, aside from the chronicled Jackson-to-Berrian stuff, Jackson also hit Sidney Rice on a deep out route for 20+ yards. One play later, Gus Frerotte dumped one off to Chester Taylor, who made a one-handed catch, juked two defenders and sprinted up the field for a big gain.

 

- Frerotte has been very up and down over the last four days. Some good passes, some ugly passes, some sacks… We’ll see how he progresses, but he’s still probably a lock to be the backup.

 

- During red zone action, with the second team offense battling the first team defense, Frerotte hit Jeff Dugan for a nice gain, then followed it up three plays later with a short touchdown pass to Jim Kleinsasser on third down.

 

- Rufus Alexander, J Leman and David Herron were the third string linebackers. No Erin Henderson, although this is probably just a math thing. Henderson will see his action.

 

- After Charles Gordon intercepted Tarvaris Jackson, Brad Childress called for the first team defense to battle the first team offense. I believe that’s the first time 1 vs. 1 has happened during 11-on-11 drills.

 

Kenderick Allen filled in for Pat Williams, who is mixing back in slowly after missing time with an elbow injury.

 

It was one play after the interception that Jackson threaded the needle to Berrian in the back of the endzone for a touchdown. At least Jackson bounces back quickly from adversity… Today, anyways.

 

“It’s just progressing,” Berrian said. “The more reps we get together the better it’s going to be. It’s just sometimes it’s getting used to that cohesiveness.”

 

- Jeff Dugan caught a ball over the middle at one point, and if it had been a live game, Charles Gordon would have decapitated the FB/TE hybrid.

 

Quote

 

“You see him get deep, you see him doing a great job with the slant game, catch and run,” Childress said about Berrian. “He’d probably be the first one to tell you he wants to catch those ones that are the routine plays, but he’s coming. And I don’t see many wheels grinding much anymore. He’s a smart guy and he’s got a good aptitude.”

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So how long before #4 is behind center taking snaps for the Vikings... :wacko:

 

No, not Favre - - John David Booty.

 

Booty has a very long way to go before he could be considered an answer at QB. If Tarvaris goes down with an injury, Frerotte will be the starter in Minnesota not Booty. And then if Frerotte were to go down as well, they would probably trade for a Vet before allowign Booty to take the helm. He is showing himself to be very raw so far. Can't see him taking a snap for the Vikings under any circumstance this season (outside of multiple injuries at QB within the same game).

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From the KFAN Vikings blog:

 

- For people clamoring for Tarvaris Jackson updates, here’s a quick rundown:

 

Jackson has improved his deep ball considerably from this time last year. He has better touch and seems to put more air under the ball.

 

That said, he’s also been relatively inconsistent and erratic overall through six days of camp. Nothing too alarming, but Jackson hasn’t been as sharp as he should be on some of the out routes and slants. Some of the blame can certainly be placed on Jackson, but some of it also has to do with young receivers not running clean routes.

 

Jackson has also thrown a handful of interceptions over the last couple days. It appears as if he’s trying to squeeze more passes into tight quarters, rather than take the check downs. He’ll be the first one to tell you that sometimes he tries to save plays that aren’t savable.

 

If Jackson’s main problem is over-aggression and trying to thread the needle too closely, this is a fixable problem. If he starts throwing interceptions like Booty did on Wednesday morning where he simply doesn’t see a lurking defensive back, then fans have reason to panic.

 

All in all, it’s clear to see that Jackson is a better quarterback now than he was at camp in 2007, and Thursday’s scrimmage will provide a nice barometer to see just how far he’s progressed.

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Tooks some interesting notes from the Vikes Vs Chiefs Scrimmage..

 

From KFAN Blog

 

 

Scrimmage Notes

 

- Marcus McCauley was the only casualty on Thursday night. He suffered a right knee injury during special teams drills, but he was walking around with only a slight limp after being carted to and from the locker room.

 

McCauley said he doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the trainers just wanted to be cautious.

 

- Chiefs’ running back Larry Johnson had an extra pep in his step on Thursday night. He broke a handful of nice runs against the second and third team Vikings defenses, including a 20-yard touchdown scamper that sent Chiefs fans into a mild frenzy.

 

- ESPN’s John Clayton took in the scrimmage with the rest of the reporters, and he interviewed Tarvaris Jackson afterwards, although when requesting the interview Clayton pronounced the name wrong…

 

- Tarvaris Jackson saw a plethora of reps on Thursday night, and although he didn’t necessarily light the world on fire, he didn’t make any glaring mistakes (that I saw), and he completed a lot of 8-12 yard passes in traffic.

 

“You get tired of seeing [our defense] day in day out,” Tarvaris Jackson said. “Even though they’re my teammates, you want to go against a different colored jersey. You get kind of familiar with what they’re doing, so you want to see something different. Kind of test your mind a little bit.”

 

On one particular play, Jackson scanned the short routes to his left before uncorking a deep pass 50 or 60 yards downfield in the direction of Sidney Rice. The ball was slightly overthrown, but the Kansas City defensive back was called for pass interference.

 

Jackson also completed a number of short passes to his running backs. All he really has to do this season is limit mistakes and move the chains by hitting short-medium passes, and once in a while hit a deep ball to keep the defense honest.

 

“I can remember the two days we had last year like they were yesterday,” Childress said. “I kind of scratched my head a little bit… And now I see a completely different demeanor [from Jackson]. This isn’t live stuff, but you can see him move around and slide in the pocket.”

 

- Chiefs’ tight end Tony Gonzalez limped out of the scrimmage early on with what appeared to be a hamstring strain.

 

- During one-on-one D-line vs. O-line drills, the Chiefs’ offensive linemen had their way with the Vikings’ backup defensive linemen. Brian Robison was stuffed on consecutive plays by Will Svitek, fourth-year tackle out of Stanford.

 

- Adrian Peterson sent Vikings fans into a mild frenzy when he broke a 20-yard touchdown run into the far endzone. Peterson had a few nice runs/receptions on the evening. He also took time to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and talk to the media. What a guy.

 

- Madieu Williams popped Larry Johnson at the end of a 10-yard run, and both guys had a friendly jawing session. It’s easy to see over the last few days that Williams absolutely loves contact. So does LJ…

 

- During 11-on-11 practice, John David Booty hooked up with Nate Jones on a 50-yard touchdown pass over second year cornerback Rashad Barksdale. On the very next play, Booty found Martin Nance on a slant route and pumped his fist.

 

Booty has played terribly this week at Vikings practice, so it’s nice to see him have a little success.

 

- Vikings quarterbacks like taking deep shots when they see one-on-one coverage on the outside. This is a trend that will almost certainly continue during the regular season. It’s just a matter of cashing in on situations.

 

http://www.kfan.com/pages/vikings/camp2008...immagenotes.htm

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