There was quite a bit going on on Saturday when the Minnesota Vikings hosted their family night in Eagan during training camp
Training camp has already been very eventful for the Minnesota Vikings. Some of the competitions have become a bit clearer while the role some individuals will take on during the 2021 NFL season seems to be changing a bit.
Working out the kinks and preparing for the tough competition ahead will be key for success to a potential return to the playoffs after missing the postseason last year. It won’t be easy for the team to accomplish this goal since they have a tough schedule and challenging division, but they will need to be up to the task.
Day 4 of training camp brought the family night and the fun night practices that fans have grown to enjoy over the years. Although some of the circumstances surrounding the day weren’t as great as they could have been, it seems like people still had a great time.
However, there were still a few notable things that need to be discussed from the day’s events. Here are some of the top takeaways from Saturday’s training camp activities for the Minnesota Vikings.
On Golden Mond
The biggest thing to hit the news outlets on Friday was the announcement that rookie quarterback Kellen Mond tested positive for COVID-19 and was absent from the night practices. on family day.
Because of this positive test, several other quarterbacks who were in close contact with him missed the day’s events as well. That included quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Nate Stanley were also not at the facility until they can isolate for five days and be confirmed negative for the virus.
The only quarterback in attendance was Jake Browning. He threw a lot of passes last night but was helped out by coaches when it came to throwing the ball around. Even Mike Zimmer got in on tossing the rock around for a while.
Although the topic of vaccines and COVID-19 is still a divisive one, the Minnesota Vikings are doing what is best in order to protect their assets heading into the season. While it must have been disappointing for the fans in attendance not to see Cousins and the other quarterbacks, it is better to play it safe at this point in time.
Body moving
In a previous takeaway from training camp, it was revealed that Wyatt Davis was working with Kellen Mond on exchanges. At first, this wasn’t too big of a deal as some work at center could increase his positional versatility while he primarily worked at guard.
Sadly, it sounds like this might not be as good as it sounds. Head coach Mike Zimmer named three people who were competing for the starting right guard position and none of them were for former All-American guard from Ohio State.
While it’s possible the team is only looking to get him some experience before getting him in any meaningful playing time, eliminating Davis as an option from the competition before the battle got going seems like a bad sign.
The fact it is already narrowed down Dozier, Udoh, or Samia to be the starting right guard is kind of scary and should lead fans to hope that Oli Udoh can step up and beat out the competition after seeing the struggles of the other competitors last season.
It should also be noted that Wyatt was missing from practice. It is unknown if this is due to him working on snaps with Kellen Mond or if his absence was due to something else.
Back that thing up
Competition to be the Minnesota Vikings’ backup quarterback this season was one of the more talked about battles heading into training camp. When Minnesota drafted Kellen Mond, some assumed he would automatically be on the depth chart behind Kirk Cousins.
Jake Browning is making a great case to be the one for the job instead of Mond. Courtney Cronin shared on Twitter that Browning had a really good night and should be the favorite to back up Cousins this year.
She went on to add that Mond needs some more time to grow and develop before he will be ready for a backup role with the team and having Browning available to hold down the job could be good for the development of both young players.
Browning had a great connection with Adam Thielen near the sideline where the veteran receiver made a highlight-reel catch against Cameron Dantzler near the sideline among other plays that likely improved his stock.
Vikings Training Camp 2021: Top 5 takeaways from Day 3
The Minnesota Vikings have three days of training camp in the books and there were some more notable things going on during Friday's workouts.
The Minnesota Vikings didn’t do a lot of new things during family night at training camp, but the few things that stood out the most were big developments that will likely have a major impact on the team heading into the 2021 NFL season.