Vikings to host 2 teams for joint practices

The team announced on Tuesday that The Minnesota Vikings will be hosting two other NFL teams for joint practices with the Arizona Cardinals and the Tennessee Titans in back-to-back weeks before the preseason officially starts. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said there will be two practices with each team held at the TCO Performance Center in Eagan.

The Vikings play the Titans on August 19th meaning the Vikings will probably hold their joint practice on August 16th-17th. The Vikings also play the Cardinals on August 26th meaning that the Vikings will probably host the practice somewhere between August 23rd-24th.

Coach O’Connell raved about the quality of the facilities here in Minnesota and that the team is just hoping to get the most out of the two joint practices at the end of summer. “To be able to have that is a critical part to our training camp formula, to try and be our best before the season rolls around,” said Kevin O’Connell.

The Vikings also had practiced with the San Francisco 49ers before the two played each other in a preseason game last year, and that turned out pretty well for the most part. The Vikings will be looking to repeat the same formula to last year’s success.

The Vikings will be able to get a closer look at a quarterback that the team passed on at pick 23 in this year's draft in Will Levis. Sources out of Tennessee suggest that Ryan Tannehill is “miles” ahead of Levis. No surprise there that a project QB isn’t performing at an elite level during OTA’s but both teams will see a bit more when they strap up against each other this fall.

Minnesota will also have a shot at facing one of the more young, dynamic quarterbacks in the league in Kyler Murray. Even though Murray underwent ACL surgery on January 3rd, his recovery time is usually eight to nine months, but every athlete is different. If Kyler is ready for any part of practice, he should be able to give the Vikings a little bit of a test right out of the gate.