Minnesota Vikings News and Links, 8/7

It's the day before we finally get to see the Minnesota Vikings take the field for the first time since last December. . .even if it is only for pre-season action. No Training Camp access today with the team making final preparations for the Oakland Raiders on Friday night, so there won't be a thread for it later on.

Since the last time we brought you an Open Thread. . .

-We put a lot of our stuff about the game on Friday night into one stream, including our story about what we know about some of the playing time for the Vikings.

-Eric completed his takes on the team's defensive players from what he saw during his time at camp.

-We got an opportunity to sit down with Mike Tanier from Football Outsiders and ask him a few questions about this year's team.

-The Vikings released undrafted rookie free agent tight end A.C. Leonard, who had been struggling with headache issues.

From some other sources across the internet. . .

-The new Vikings' stadium appears to be coming together nicely. Excellent. *does Mr. Smithers hand pose*

-Second-year cornerback Xavier Rhodes is making strides, thanks to the team's new coaching staff.

-The Vikings are planning on keeping it simple on Friday night.

-The team got a visit yesterday from former Vikings' great Alan Page.

The rules of the Open Thread are the same as they've ever been, ladies and gentlemen. . .no politics, no religion, no feeding of the trolls, keep the language relatively clean (with spoiler tags, if necessary), and keep the GIFs relatively work-safe.

Since we've been doing Vikings highlight videos all week, let's go with this one.

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open for this Thursday, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your day1