Monday, August 11, 2008

August 11th -- PM Practice Pictures

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8-11-08-2

August 11th -- PM Practice

Today was a short practice, scheduled from 2:45 to 3:45. At first it was really dull to me, the same old same old for afternoon practices. Started out with the usual running drills, featuring the back up offensive players holding up pads and just simulating plays. For a while I thought it was just going to just consist of that, luckily it picked up and I've got a lot of highlights for you guys, along with some pretty good pictures.

Observations
  • As I mentioned earlier this morning, there was a different #66 on the field, wearing a white jersey instead of the Mike Jones normally wearing the purple. Along with DE Chris Norwood (#66), there were two #73's and two #61's on the field. The new comers were offensive linemen Sean Dumford and Brock Pasteur, brough in after Farwell, Jones, and Mitchell were placed on IR. (the other 73 and 61 are Otis Grigsby and Martial Burnett)
  • Tyrell Johnson and Madieu Williams were both absent from the afternoon practice, after sitting out of the morning practice
  • Robison showed up later on walking around the field talking to a team staff member, he was limping as he walked, but thats expected for a guy who just had surgery on his calf

11 on 11s
Today I had a very good view point of these practices, so I've got a lot of play by plays for you guys.

  • First up, the first team offense took the field vs the second team defense.
  • On the first place from scrimmage, Adrian Peterson completely burned the LB's in coverage while running a short route, picking up a big gain on the play
  • Tavaris Jackson had a very errant throw to Bobby Wade, which sailed wide left over the sidelines. However, Jackson came right back, finding Bobby Wade again, this time hitting him in stride on the same route for a touchdown
  • Robert Ferguson had a nice leaping catch over Charles Gordon with the Safety closing in (didn't catch the number), easy 20+ yard gain on the play
  • Sidney Rice looked reminiscent of the #80 of old, coming to a stop along the sidelines and leaning over and hauling in a Jackson pass for a first down on a 2nd & 6 drill
  • Gus Frerotte took center and immediately found Martin Nance on a play action pass, gaining around 15 on the play. On the next play, Frerotte went back to Nance, who let the ball bounce right off of his hands on a slant route over the middle
  • Naufahu Tahi had a 35 yard touchdown reception, and went untouched to the endzone
The switched things up here, running drills as 1st & 10 from their own 20.
  • Brooks Bollinger had a beautiful pass to Branden Jones for about a 15 yard gain. However, if it was full speed/full contact, Bollinger would have already been on the turf courtesy of Jared Allen, who seemed to immediately be in the backfield
  • Darius Reynaud had a great leaping catch over Eric Frampton on the next play
  • On a Tight End Wing, Albert Young ran wide right, he made it about 5 yards up field, but once again, if it was full contact, Rufus Alexander would have blown him up for about a 3 yard loss
At this point they flipped it around, setting the offense up in different Red Zone situations
  • They started out as 1st and 10 from the 12
    • On the first play, Shiancoe let a ball sail pass him (which would have hit me if I didn't step to the side, I was about 2 feet behind the endzone) drawing criticism from Brad Childress
  • Next up was 1st and goal from
    • Tavaris Jackson dropped back, and found Bobby Wade for a quick TD strike
  • 1st and goal from the 3
    • Martin Nance had a great TD reception with Cornerback Marcus Walker draped all over him. Nance reached over Walker and tipped the ball up in the air, then was able to come down with it. Nance received praise from the crowd and Walker received praise from the coaches for sticking with him
  • 2nd and goal from the 4
    • Aundrae Allison hauled in the first TD reception
    • Shiancoe got his TD this time, running to the far back right corner of the endzone
    • Allison picked up one more TD reception, this time beating Marcus McCauley on the play
  • To finish things out, they flipped it around again, going from the 22 yard line I believe. Booty took center and started things out with a screen to Albert Young. Ray Edwards was already dancing in front of Booty, and at the risk of sounding repetitive, would have impaled him in a full contact situation
  • Leger Douzable had a nice play from Defensive End position today, rushing Booty to get rid of the ball, who almost placed the ball right in Marcus McCauley's hands
  • They seem to like running the reverse with Booty under center, this time going to Jaymar Johnson, who was nearly tackled for about a five yard loss by #73 (either Dumford or Pasteur, not sure which is which)
  • On another play, #61 had what would be a "touch sack", again its either Dumford or Pasteur, good to see these prospects each making a play on their first day here
  • For the final play of the practice, they went to the reverse one more time. This time, the entire defense bit just enough for speedy WR Darius Reynaud to beat the safeties deep, and pick up around an 80 yard TD. He even cut right across the field after having the whole D beat deep along the left sideline. He still went untouched.
Overall turned out to be a good practice this afternoon, after a boring first half hour or so. I'll have those pictures up for you guys as soon as they're done uploading. Skol!

August 11th - AM Practice Pictures

Got some good views of the DLine this morning since I was able to walk a couple feet from them.

Enjoy.

(Click the thumbnail to view the album)
8-11-08

Monday August 11th -- AM Practice

Today was the first time I was able to make it to an AM practice in a long time, took off work since a friend hooked me up with a field pass. You can definitely tell the regular season is drawing near just by looking at how many people are out with nicks and bruises. Players were in shells and shorts today, keeping it relaxed after a rough preseason opener.

Injury Report
  • Naufahu Tahi was back and practicing after sitting yesterday out
  • Robison, Mitchell, Farwell, and K. Allen were all missing from practice
  • Radovich was present, but did not participate in team drills
  • After suffering a minor concussion on Friday night, Safety Michael Boulware was back and practicing
  • Tyrell Johnson and Madieu Williams both sat out today
Observations
  • Anthony Herrera came onto the field late, jogging on at 9:08, after stretches
  • Gordon, Allison, and Jaymar Johnson all dropped the ball once during Punt Return drills
  • As some speculated, DT Leger Douzable saw time with the 2nd team D as a DE
  • A new face was at camp today, DE Chris Norwell, who was brought in because of our injuries at DE. He was seen wearing #66, which means Guard Mike Jones was released from the team
  • #32, Cornerback Dee McCann was practicing as a safety today, since they were short a couple bodies in that unit
  • As of right now, the depth chart for LDE is looking like this; Edwards, Douzable, Norwell. Can't afford another injury
  • Steven Hauschka had another rough date, kicking a few balls wide right of the goal post. To his credit, it was a little windy
CB/WR 1 on 1 Drills
  • Darren Sharper got faked out by Martin Nance on one play, slipping and falling over. Gus Frerrotte found him for a 20 yard gain.
  • Marcus Walker had a nice play, jumping in front of a Jackson thrown ball intended for Daniel Davis, almost picking it off
  • The next time Davis and Walker faced off, Davis got the better of him, as Walker hit the turf after slipping while cutting. Booty connected with him down the field
  • Robert Ferguson had a nice one handed grab, didn't catch who was on coverage
  • Aundrae Allison had another big play today, hooking up with Brooks Bollinger for a big play, which would have gone for a TD. Benny Sapp was in coverage
11 on 11 Drills
  • Bobby Wade had a rough day today, letting two balls hit the turf after bouncing off his hands
  • They continued to mix things up in the secondary, specifically with the Safeties, giving different people looks. Today Husain Abdullah saw time with the first team unit opposite Darren Sharper
  • Sidney Rice had a nice grab as he slipped and was going down, still managed to get underneath it
  • Here's one you guys will like... Shiancoe had another drop

Thats more or less it for today's morning practice, I'll be attending this afternoon's Special Teams practice as well, so check back for that later. As always, thanks for reading. Pictures to follow

Sunday, August 10, 2008

August 10th Pictures

Sorry some of the aren't the best quality, as you can tell from some of them it was very bright today.


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8-10-08

The Boys Are Back In Town

Today the Vikings were back in Mankato for their second and final Sunday practice after having their day off following their first exhibition game of the season vs. the Seahawks. Good news right off the bat, no news of any of the guys engaging in drunken shenanigans or causing a ruckus on their night off (granted there wasn't much to celebrate after that game). Speaking of which... many players were spotted spending their night off at the Target Center, where former WWE star, U of M wrestler, and wannabe Vikings defensive lineman Brock Lesnar was taking on Heath Herring in only his 3rd MMA contest. (In case you care, he won)

Anyways, on to the stuff you care about, heres today's observations from training camp.

Injury Report
  • Heath Farwell was no where to be seen after his assumed season-ending ACL tear
  • Backup Defensive Tackle Kendrick Allen was not practicing, couldn't tell you why though
  • Backup Fullback Naufahu Tahi was also not practicing
  • Marcus McCauley was back on the field and participating in all team drills
  • Garrett Mills is back after sitting out a big portion of training camp, he'll have some work to do to beat out Branden Jones - who has really taken advantage of Mills' injury
Observations
  • Practice was cut about 20 minutes short
  • Maurice Hicks, Aundrae Allison, Albert Young, and Darius Reynaud, respectively, saw time as Kick Returners.
  • #97 Ellis Wyms was seeing time in with the first team defense in place of Pat Williams on 3rd and medium situations
  • They continued to switch things up on defense today giving more people shots with the first team, my guess to see how people work together and get different looks. This time they switched up both the CBs & Safeties. During one drill Cedric Griffin and Charles Gordon were the CBs with the first team D, along with Frampton opposite Sharper
  • Rufus Alexander is the only winner in the wake of the Heath Farwell injury, seeing time with the second team defense along side Ciurciu and Pope
Highlights
  • E.J. Henderson had a great pass deflection, jumping the route and swatting down a ball intended for Adrian Peterson
  • Charles Gordon had the only interception of the day during a 3rd & five drill, picking off a Tavaris Jackson pass -- the first one I've seen TJack throw since in I believe practices
  • Ciurcui put his hands up and tipped the ball away on the line of scrimmage coming off of a blitz, followed by Rookie Defensive End Martail Burnett jumping up and picking it off
  • Speaking of Burnett, he had a very solid camp today. This is the best time of training camp with only a couple more days left, you can tell the young guys are really fighting to keep their jobs. Burnett had his way with starting Right Tackle Ryan Cook, beating him on a couple plays and causing havoc in the pocket. Not good news to hear about Cook, but to his credit Martail was just on fire today
  • E.J. Henderson came soaring across the line off scrimmage on a blitz, but the highlight goes to Jackson, who remained completely calm, and did what you never saw in that situation last year - he stepped up in the pocket and completed a ~12 yard gain to Shiancoe
  • The starting defensive definitely came to play today, completely whipping around the second team offense. On one play Jared Allen, Ben Leber, and E.J. Henderson were all chasing down Frerotte, who was forced to throw the ball away. On the very next play, E.J. came exploding through the offensive line and was immediately in Frerotte's face running full speed. Henderson yelled as he ran, causing #12 to jump. I'm not positive... but I think Frerotte had to go to the lockroom to change his pants after that one. I'll just put it this way, if it was a full contact game, I don't think old Gus would have walked away from that one...
  • Jared Allen completely destroyed Artis Hicks on one play, basically shoving him to the side out of his way
  • Aundrae Allison had a great diving catch off of a Tavaris Jackson throw, who was forced to once again step up in the pocket, as both defensive ends on the play where in the backfield
  • Bobby Wade had the biggest reception of the day, hauling in a pass on a slant which hit him 25 yards down the field. He then got a key block down field (didn't catch who it was from) and ran it the next 25 yards into the endzone
Lowlights
  • Aundrae Allison, who so far has been having a great camp, let a pass go straight through his hands and bounce of his knee. I'll give him some slack since it was a little low, but it was still a very catchable ball
  • As mentioned, Cook really had his hands full versus Martail Burnett, he's been doing very well so far in camp so normally don't expect him to get beat by a guy three slots down on the depth chart
  • Sidney Rice surprisingly had the worst play of the day, who dropped a perfectly thrown Jackson pass, which sailed right over his shoulder and in between his hands after beating Marcus McCauley on the play

Thats pretty much all I've got for you guys today, I'll be uploaded the pictures as soon as I click "Publish Post" so be sure to check those out. Once again, thanks for reading.

SKOL!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

August 6th Pictures

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8-6-08

Wednesday, August 6th - Afternoon

The afternoon practice today was more or less the same as yesterday. Started out with the same drills, all four Quarterbacks and Running backs running simple drills. From there the Offense takes the first practice field and the defense takes the second. During this drill its basically just familiarity training, they only run a couple different rushing plays, perfecting blocking placement etc. Definitely was kind of funny watching Rufus Alexander lined up as a RB taking the snap from a coach.

These practices are getting much more relaxed, I'm assuming because of our first preseason game looming right around the corner. After stretching, they did some quick 11 on 11s, the first team offense taking on the second team defense. Once again, Jackson looked sharp in these drills, not missing a throw. However, I don't think he lined up against the first team Defense once the whole afternoon, which is where the real test is. Nevertheless.. heres some plays from the first set of 11 on 11s.

  • The first snap, Tavaris Jackson drops back, looks left, passes deep to Sidney Rice running along the right sideline for a long TD.
  • Two plays later, Jackson rolls out right and finds Rice again for a 10 yard gain
  • From here on out for Jackson it was RBs & TEs all the way, with a screen pass to Peterson, a 6 yard shot to Braden Jones over the middle, a short pass to AD for 5, and finally a play action play hooking up with Shiancoe for about 12 yards.
  • Jaymar Johnson continues to be a favorite of the other QBs when on the field. Frerotte targeted him on the first play, but the pass fell short. On the next two plays, Jaymar was the recipient of Frerotte and Booty passes, for 11 and 8 yards respectively.
Next up the third team offense went up against the first team defense. The interesting part however, was that Booty was under center. Bollinger saw virtually no play time in 11 on 11s, even though he was previously lined up with the 3rd team in the earlier QB/RB drills. The defense definitely showed up here:

  • Booty finds Daniel Davis for a short gain up the left side
  • Booty finds Darius Reynaud over the middle for about a 15 yard gain, who made a great jumping catch over Antoine Winfield. Reynaud will still have to impress the coaches more in preseason if he has any shot to make the team after having a serious case of the dropsies earlier in camp
  • Booty connect with Jaymar Johnson for a (very) short gain, although if the play was full contact, Booty would have already been on the turf from Jared Allen, who seemed to almost instantly be in his face
  • On Booty's last play vs the first team D, he attempted a pass to Albert Young, but Darren Sharper jumped in and swatted the ball down
  • The second team defense took the field for a couple plays, nothing too spectacular to report here, the best play was about a 15 yard catch by Darius Reynaud, but it was a really poorly thrown ball by Booty, wobbling through the air.
  • Vinny Cuircui, Derrick Pope, and Heath Farwell played as the second team defense. J Leeman, David Herron, Erin Henderson, and Rufus Alexander will all need to make a strong showing if they expect to make the roster
  • Benny Sapp and Charles Gordon continue to take advantage of Marcus McCauley's absence, both of whom played on the second team
Taking a break from the 11 on 11s, they went back to focusing on special teams, this time running situational punting drills. The first punt was practicing punting from the endzone, backed up to the 2 yard line. From here they moved to the 10 yard line, the second punt sailing 61 yards to Jaymar Johnson, who had to call for a fair catch. Nothing too exciting, but Kluwe definitely showed his length strength on a number of punts, with only one "bad" one, which bounced over the fence into the bleachers.
Jaymar Johnson once again took on the PR role exclusively. Aundrae Allison and Robert Ferguson definitely are having a friendly competition on special teams, both kind of jarring at each other, pushing one another. Ferguson once again showed up, making a couple good plays when the ball was bouncing towards the endzone, receiving praise from Paul Ferraro.

They went back to 11 on 11s to wrap up practice, starting up the same way, first team offense vs second team defense. While the entire starting offensive line and Jackson would stay on the field, they would keep on switching up TEs, RBs, FBs, and WRs, I'm assuming to see who works well together. Here's a summary of the final drill

  • Tavaris came out and quickly found Tapeh underneath for a short gain.
  • On the next play, Jackson connected with Bernard Berrian, who leaped over the defender to make the catch (sorry, couldn't see who it was)
  • Branden Jones is really becoming a favorite target for the QBs, who received two of Jackson's next four passes, the other two going to Ferguson and Allison
  • The brought out the sticks to do some situational drills, one of which Gus Frerotte connected with Jaymar Johnson for about a 20 yard pick up on 2nd & 6.
  • Booty took center to wrap it up, nothing too notable, but I did notice they tried two reverses, both to Darius Reynaud. Reynaud showed his speed on one play, picking up about 10 yards vs the first team D
  • Otis Grigsby again saw the majority of the time with the 2nd team defensive line, lined up with Jayme Mitchell, Fred Evans, and Ellis Wyms. Martail Burnett saw a couple snaps in Grigsby's stead on a couple plays

That pretty much covers this afternoon practice, like I said, nothing too major going on. One thing I did notice, however, at one point during practice, Rice was noticeably limped and rubbing his ankle on the sideline, he appeared fine later.

Pictures up soon

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

August 5th Pictures

Sorry there's not too many of them, practice was only an hour long, most are the same old same old, and a lot of the practice was on the further fields






August 5th - Afternoon Practice

Today's practice was scheduled from 2:45 to 3:45, and lasted around 10 minutes extra this afternoon. Garrett Mills was still M.I.A. from camp, and no new word on Robison.
When the players came out one of the first drills was running drills with the QBs, Centers, RBs, and FBs. They seemed to emphasize draw plays during a portion of this drill, otherwise just all up the middle runs. All four teams were lined up on the same yard line, in order of (current) depth chart position. Only the first and second teams have FBs participate (Tapeh and Tahi, respectively), Jeff Dugan participated in Tight End drills exclusively. Heres how the rest looked:

  • QBs: Jackson, Frerotte, Bollinger, Booty. Pretty much all expected
  • RBs: Peterson, Taylor, Hicks, Young
  • Centers: Birk, Sullivan, Brian Daniels, and Dan Mozes and Tim Mattran shared time in the fourth team.
Next up, there was a small 11 on 11 drill. Jackson looked decent in this drill, hitting 3 different receivers and going 4 of 5. Before Bollinger Stepped in.

  • Jackson hit Bernard Berrian over the middle, picking up about 15.
  • Jackson to Wade down the left side, gain of about 20
  • Pass incomplete. Jackson under threw the intended receiver, didn't catch the game
  • Jackson goes back to Wade for another completion
  • Finally, he his Tapeh on a screen going to the right, picking up about 6.
    • Bollinger had one great play, hitting Jaymar Johnson about 35+ yards down the field, who had to slow down and go up between two CBs


Special Teams took the field at this portion of practice. It got difficult to see what was going on in the middle field, but I'm pretty sure the bulk of it was blocking assignments/positioning. On the near field, place kicker Ryan Longer was showing rookie Kicker Steven Hauschka the tricks of the trade on how to do Onside Kicks. Lets just say for the most part he wasn't turning any heads, with a few balls only going a couple yards.
Sidney Rice, Bobby Wade, and Martin Nance saw the bulk of the time as the "hands team", which the majority being in favor of Rice. Visanthe Shiance and Maurice Hicks saw time as well.

As I thought training camp was coming to an end, the came together one more time for some 11-on 11 drills, and Tavaris was on target, hittin 7 or 8 in a row. Here's how that looked:

  • Very large amount of passes hitting the Tightends and Running Backs
  • Jackson hit Kleinsausser with Heath Farwell closing in on him fast on a blitz
  • Next play, Jackson hit Branden Jones perfect for about 20+ yards, who had to go up over Tyrell Johnson for the catch
  • Chester Taylor hauled in the next catch along the left sideline, for 10+ yards
  • The next pass went to Robert Ferguson on a slant route
  • Jeff Dugan got in on the mix next, putting up around 12 yards
  • Jackson again went back back to Taylor on this play, for a pick up of around 6
  • Tavaris found free agent acquisition Bernard Berrian over the middle for around 10
  • And finally, Jackson hit Maurice Hicks, who made a great one handed grab
    • Next up, Booty took center
  • Jimmy K got back in the mix, hauling in the first pass from John David
  • On a play-action pass, Booty rolled out to his left and hit 6th round draft pick Jaymar Johnson for about 10 yards
  • Booty went back to Johnson for his final throw, who had to slow down and leap up, stealing the ball from the air in double coverage
Thats all for now. One last observation was that after going to the locker room, WR Bobby Wade was seen making his way back to the dorms on foot, with a large ice pack around his left leg.

Will post some pictures soon if any are worth while (most of the practice took place on the middle field). Also, I will be posting another Q&A within a day or so, this time from Vikings Alumni Running Back Oscar Reed.

Thanks for reading.

Q&A With Chris Kluwe

First off, thanks a lot for agreeing to do this with me. Like I said I have been reporting my training camp observations on a fan site, just started up my blog today. The reason you were the first I approached is I have seen you up at training camp numerous times, always signing autographs for the fans, and you thank them for coming out just as often as they thank you for your time. Because of this you are a highly liked player all over the place, truly a "fan's player".

Now to the questions.

VK: First off, you grew up playing High School and College ball in California. Was it hard getting used to our winters?

CK: Well, it wasn't too bad since I grew up with some ski vacations, but the first couple of negative temperature days took some getting used to. I think the hardest thing was having to park my car outside that first year, and I didn't have a remote starter for it. Definitely had some chilly mornings that I had to layer up just to get in the car.


VK: When did you know you wanted to play football?

CK: When I discovered I was good at it :) Actually, I initially started playing football because I needed a fall sport in high school (played baseball in the spring and soccer in the winter). Guess it's lucky for me the soccer team didn't let me practice with them my freshman year.


VK: What is your favorite memory, thus far, as a Viking?

CK: Probably getting Special Teams Player of the month my rookie year. That's a pretty noteworthy honor and to get it as a rookie was pretty cool.


VK: What is a more frightening situation as a punter, in your opinion. That someone might break through and hit you before you have a chance to get the ball off, or when you have to try and engage a return man/blocker?

CK: Kicking to Devin Hester. In all seriousness though, it's definitely taking on a blocker. My guys do a great job of protecting me up front so I've never really worried about having anything blocked, but when a 250 lb guy is running full tilt at me with the returner behind him, it's tough not to think about whether or not you've updated your will lately.


VK: We all know you like your video games, whats your highest score on Guitar Hero?

CK: To be honest, I don't know. I play Guitar Hero to have fun and I've never really felt the need to track my score. I just like hitting all the notes so the song sounds good.


VK: Besides Devin Hester, who do you think is the hardest person to punt to?

CK: Devin Hester.


VK: We all know you're an ace at placing the ball inside the 20 and directional punts, about what % of your kicks do you think are with a reverse spin on the ball?

CK: Heh, I don't think I've ever knowingly put a reverse spin on a ball in my life. The +50 punts I tend to kick with a higher trajectory so usually when they come down they bounce backwards, but you can't ever predict exactly where the ball is going to go. That's what makes the game so much fun.


VK: Family Guy vs the Simpsons, who's better?

CK: Tough question. I like that the Family Guy throws in some outrageous skits and 'wtf' moments, but for classic comedy you just can't beat the Simpsons.


VK: Who are you closest with on the team?

CK: Probably my snapper Cullen and kicker Ryan. We hang out all day and there's not much to do besides talk to each other during practice so we spend a lot of quality time together.


VK: What is your favorite thing (if any) about coming to Mankato?

CK: Ummmm, leaving? I jest, I jest (kind of). The people here do a great job making sure that we have everything we need, but let's face it, it's fall camp. It's not ever going to be fun no matter where you're at.


VK: Which game are you most looking forward to this season?

CK: The Monday Night opener against Green Bay. It's going to set the tone for the rest of the season, and it'll be nice to play in Green Bay without having to layer 8 different types of clothes.


VK: Finally, I have to ask. Horde or Alliance?

CK: Horde. Alliance are a bunch of *expletive*


VK: Thank you very much for your time

CK: Not a problem, hope this is what you needed.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Robison may need surgery.

Brian Robison, our DE playing behind Jared Allen, could potentially be out as long as week 2-3 of the regular season. It was reported this morning that Robison was up in Minneapolis talking to doctors about a varicose vein in his left leg (a varicose vein is one that has become enlarged and twisted). According to a quote from Access Vikings, Robison had this to say:

“It’s been something that has been there for a while and it’s just kind of flared up on me,” he said. ”I have a varicose vein on my left leg. It’s something they are looking at and we went and got it looked at again today. So we’ll find out tomorrow what we need to do with it.” (http://ww3.startribune.com/vikingsblog/?p=1778#more-1778)

According to the report, he's had the condition since High School, but it just recently started to bother him. Thats all we know as of now, and should hopefully know more tomorrow. I should be at camp in the afternoon, and I'll see if he's even on the field at all. Thats it for now, if he does need surgery, heres to a quick recovery with no fall off, Robison has really came off strong this camp and showed flashes of his pass rushing ability last season. He's really worked on becoming more of a complete back. Look for the update in the camp report.

August 4th Pictures





August 4th: Afternoon Practice - Special Teams

Like the title says, today's afternoon practice was focused on Special Teams, which in turn means it was a short practice (about an hour). Now these definitely aren't the most exciting practices, but hey, they give me my Vikings fix for the day. Heres what I saw:

  • Like expected, Rice was present for the afternoon drills, although at first he just sat on the sidelines and played catch with Darren Sharper (very poorly might I add, they both kept throwing the ball short), but did see action a little later.
  • Maurice Hicks and Aundrae Allison saw the bulk of the time out of the kick returners, with Jaymar Johnson and even Visanthe Shiancoe mixed in. Dugan and Tapeh were the short returnmen
  • Ferguson, Allison, Rice, Dee McCann, Gordon, and Frampton all saw time practicing in the gunner slots
  • Jaymar Johnson was pretty much exclusively the Punt Return man today
  • No one dropped any balls in any of the Kickoff or Punt drills, at least that I saw
  • The punting unit looked solid on directional/goal line punts while running drills to pin the ball inside the 10. One punt hit the 6 yard line, and bounced right out of bounds. Aundrae Allison had a great grab, yanking the ball out of the endzone, that Charles Gordon downed at the 5. Sidney Rice had a good grab at the 2 yard line, followed by rookie Nate Jones stopping it right by the goal line. The only bad play came up when Rice was making a play on the ball and Eric Frampton tried to do the same.. knocking it out of Rices hands in the process.

Minnesota Vikings Dance Team

Since I just noticed I can upload videos straight to this account, heres that video I took Saturday night, since I know some of you couldn't access it on facebook. Enjoy!


Welcome to VikesKing's Village!

Hey everybody, I'm sure many of you already know me and my posts from PurplePride.Org. Thanks to many of your guys input and responses to my threads there, I decided to go ahead and create this blog. I'll be posting all my training camp updates on here from now on and hopefully a few other things I've got in mind.

Thanks for your support!