The Minnesota Vikings opened Wednesday’s organized team activity to the media, giving reporters their first glimpse of the full team this offseason.
Despite being an optional practice, 88 Vikings were present, continuing the team’s strong attendance record in recent seasons. That left two absentees.
One was UDFA WR Jeff Badet, who missed practice with an ankle injury, according to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson. The other was starting linebacker Anthony Barr. The fifth-year linebacker is not known to have an injury, but he is facing the final year of his rookie contract, which raises questions about a possible holdout.
Barr told Zimmer on Tuesday that he wouldn’t be present at practice, but Zimmer’s didn’t share the details of the conversation.
“I just know that the conversation that we had, I’m gonna keep it between myself and him,” Zimmer said.
The Vikings recently extended linebacker Eric Kendricks, Barr’s former college teammate and current partner in the Vikings’ nickel defense.
Full rehab field
There were several Vikings who weren’t expected to participate in Wednesday’s session. RB Dalvin Cook (knee), TE Kyle Rudolph (ankle) and C Pat Elflein (ankle) were all seen rehabbing their various injuries and are expected to be ready for the season.
But there were several other surprises injuries that remain undisclosed.
WR Laquon Treadwell was seen running sprints on the rehab field while the offense ran plays two fields away. He’s entering a pivotal third season and can’t afford to miss much time.
DE Everson Griffen came onto the field after individual drills and watched the rest of practice. Griffen is coming off a torn plantar fascia that affected him the second half of last year, but Zimmer said he suffered a “tweak” of something different than last year.
S Andrew Sendejo, S Tray Matthews, TE Tyler Conklin, RB Roc Thomas and RB Mack Brown were also either rehabbing or inactive.
Line rotations
The offensive line and defensive line are often the most compelling to watch throughout the offseason because of the numerous personnel groups with which the team can experiment.
On the offensive line, the Vikings went with a first team of RT Mike Remmers, RG Tom Compton, C Nick Easton, LG Danny Isidora and LT Riley Reiff.
There’s been some discussion about moving Remmers permanently to guard, but the Vikings elected to start him at tackle. “Maybe next week we’ll put him at guard,” said Zimmer.
Easton is also a likely starting guard, but with Elflein injured, he was called into action at center.
Rashod Hill played right tackle with the second team and was joined by RG Colby Gossett, C Cornelius Edison, LG Josh Andrews and LT Aviante Collins. According to Zimmer, Hill was playing “banged up.”
On the defensive line, sans Griffen, the Vikings went with veteran Brian Robison as the defensive end opposite Danielle Hunter. Linval Joseph and Sheldon Richardson played inside. No surprises there.
Tashawn Bower and Stephen Weatherly played the second-team defensive end spots with Jaleel Johnson and Ifeadi Odenigbo getting time inside.
Bullet points
- Antwione Williams and Eric Wilson got time with the first team linebackers thanks to Barr’s absence.
- First-round pick Mike Hughes played outside and in the slot at corner.
- New kicker Daniel Carlson got “iced” by Zimmer during a two-minute situational drill, but he proceeded to make a field goal that appeared to be around 45 yards.
- Stefon Diggs made a remarkable diving catch over his shoulder on a deep ball from Kirk Cousins. Horace Richardson was the victim in coverage.
- WR Stacy Coley limped off the field after stumbling out of bounds during 11-on-11 drills. It appeared to be a right leg injury.
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