3 Observations: Intensity Ramps Up for Vikings in 1-on-1 Drills

[Viktor]

Here are three observations from Sunday’s session:


1. Head-to-head battles


Nearly the entire Vikings roster was involved in 1-on-1 drills early on in Sunday’s session, giving each player a chance to test his skills against a teammate on the other side of the ball.


The wide receivers and defensive backs went at it, with the highlight being a 40-plus yard touchdown from Kirk Cousins to Stefon Diggs, who was matched up with Xavier Rhodes for the period.


Adam Thielen pulled off a crisp route to make a sideline catch, and Chad Beebe displayed his quickness to catch a pair of passes in the drill.


Defensively, Jayron Kearse and Holton Hill and nice pass breakups.


The big boys also squared up, as offensive and defensive linemen tangled in the trenches.


LT Riley Reiff and DE Everson Griffen started the sequence with a pair of quality reps, and the units worked their way down the line. LG Pat Elflein and DT Curtis Cothran were next, followed by rookie C Garrett Bradbury vs. DT Jaleel Johnson.


Veteran RG Josh Kline then went against DT Hercules Mata’afa, and Brian O’Neill rounded out the first-team line’s work with a pair of reps against Danielle Hunter.


In addition to taking a pair of reps from the edge against RT Rashod Hill, Stephen Weatherly also had a couple of successful interior rushes from a two-point stance when working against rookie G/C John Keenoy.


There were several plays that could be determined as draws, sprinkled with a few wins on each side of the line.


2. Bailey gets his kicks


Dan Bailey kicked a trio of field goals in team sessions on two different occasions, finishing his day with five makes in six tries.


Austin Cutting snapped to Matt Wile in the first session as Bailey connected from 33, 40 and 43 yards.


Kevin McDermott was the snapper the second time around, with the first try going to Thielen as the holder. Bailey’s 33-yard try was no good, but he rebounded to hit from 37 and 44 yards as Wile was the holder for the final two attempts.


Bailey has made nine of 13 field goals so far in team periods.