The Vikings first traded defensive lineman Harrison Phillips to the New York Jets for some draft capital, then traded QB Sam Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles for more picks, signed Carson Wentz to take Howell’s spot in the quarterback room and then shipped CB Mekhi Blackmon off to Indianapolis to play for the Colts for yet another draft pick next offseason.

The spotlight remains on the QB position and in particular the Vikings second-year signal caller J.J. McCarthy (who didn’t play in the preseason game), and he did not disappoint this week in practice. The first joint practice for JJ was up and down but the second one featured a period during which he completed 13 consecutive passes and threw four TD passes—plenty to get Purple Nation excited for the coming NFL regular season.

Brosmer completed five of eight passes for 47 yards and a touchdown, compiling a rating of 118.2 against many of the Houston Texans’ reserves

The preseason got serious this week, as the Minnesota Vikings held their annual night practice (which used to be a scrimmage) on Monday to prepare for their first exhibition against the Houston Texans on Saturday, August 9. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who was announced as the starter in the Texans game, was featured in the night practice, where are all the anxious eyes of Purple Nation were focused

The injury has been called a mild strain, and the Vikings are taking no chances. But that means it opens up opportunities for a young and eager wide receiver group to take advantage of the additional reps in practice. And when you consider that wideout Jordan Addison will be watching from the sidelines as the season begins (due to an off-field incident that will likely result in a suspension by the league), players such as Jalen Nailor and rookie Tai Felton have a chance to shine.

The Vikings returned to TCO Performance Center for the 2025 Training Camp this week, and, thus far, it is mostly good news coming out of Eagan, Minn. Where many feared the Vikings’ offensive line would be missing two players fans are counting on this season, both veteran left tackle Christan Darrisaw and recent free agent addition right Matt Fries will not start the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Fries will be ready to go at camp, while the team will bring back Darrisaw slowly from his major knee injury—but he is expected to be ready to go for week one.

There is a little news trickling out of TCO Performance Center, such as the fact that Swiss Army knife-like defender Josh Metellus is still not signed and wide receiver Jordan Addison had a court date this week. Hopefully there will be resolution on both accounts, and everyone will report to Eagan on time for camp.

Training camp is coming—and it could be one of most consequential in Minnesota Vikings history. The powers that be (general manager Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell) have spent the offseason upgrading the roster to put the best team possible around second year pro (and first year starter) quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

It’s July in Minnesota, where it has been alternately rainy and blistering hot—which always make for some sweltering Vikings football practices. But the Vikings aren’t in camp—in fact they aren’t even in that summer furnace of Mankato (as in days gone by), either. There are a couple more weeks before camp begins in Eagan, and the roster change speculation persists amidst Viking Nation.

And so we shall, first with a recap of what we learned at minicamp. Who shined, who rusted and, most importantly, how did starting quarterback JJ McCarthy do? Once again, there are some undrafted rookies to talk about (particularly this year, as the Vikings only had five draft picks), so those names are worth a look as the camp nears and ultimately, the roster begins to be trimmed.