My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary on Friday and they’re at Training Camp today. Thanks to an assist from @LindseyMNSports and Sydney in Guest Services, they got a picture on the 50 at TCO along with a couple cute gifts. Such a cool experience for them! 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/dRKmOrtUDW

— Eric Thompson (@eric_j_thompson) August 19, 2026

Ravens DBs had a great practice. Keyon Martin and Bilhal Kone both had several pass breakups. T.J. Tampa did, too. Marlon Humphrey probably had his best practice of summer. Until the 2-minute where Jefferson got behind Starks, Vikings struggled to get anything going downfield.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) August 19, 2026

Offensively, Rashod Bateman had a solid day. Some quick passes resulted in decent gains. LaJohntay Wester caught a short one while not covered and raced upfield for big gain. Otherwise, Ravens struggled mightily on offense. Vikings blitzed a ton and had lot of success.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) August 19, 2026

Keondre Jackson's special teams reps were must see-TV. They usually resulted in a Vikings player on the ground. Jackson was stoned on the last one and the Vikings sideline went nuts given how disruptive he was on previous reps.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) August 19, 2026

Early in training camp it seemed that all the talk was about Demmings. Haven't heard a peep about him since Night practice.

Turner, Mason and Price are the new darlings. Showing up big time.

Typical early in training camp both defenses look pretty good. That’s the way it goes in the NFL. I remember last year JJ McCarthy lit up New England in these joint practices and then we saw what happened the rest of the year lol so take these practices with a grain of salt. JJ McCarthy is now a career second or third string quarterback & New England went to the Super Bowl last year.

badgervike wrote:

Early in training camp it seemed that all the talk was about Demmings. Haven't heard a peep about him since Night practice.

Sometimes no news is a good thing for a CB, hopefully it is because he has his man locked up and they are not throwing his way, have not heard anything on him getting beat by anyone.

Cricket wrote:

https://x.com/WillRagatz/status/2090137062053695978?s=20

Demond Claiborne showing that vision and burst but….seems to have got stripped at the end. 😒 #skol pic.twitter.com/eH7qOwagIV

— RAP (@VocalVike) August 19, 2026

Vikings-Ravens Joint Practice: Day One Report https://t.co/NljSfHPNHF pic.twitter.com/gvUpWUd7FM

— Warren Ludford (@wludford) August 19, 2026

The Baltimore Ravens descended upon TCO Performance Center for the first of two joint practices with the host Minnesota Vikings on a beautiful summer August day with a big crowd with double the media coverage and attendance by some former Vikings including Adam Thielen and Randy Moss.

The day started with a Kevin O’Connell press conference.

O’Connell was asked if J.J. McCarthy was indeed QB2 which he answered in the affirmative but left some wiggle room for competition to play out the remainder of training camp. McCarthy took all of the second-team reps in today’s joint practice.

Team Drills

Practice began with stretching and individual drills as usual, before proceeding to team drills. Which are the focus of joint practices.

In 11-on-11 team drills, it was a tough outing for both the Vikings and Ravens offensive units. The defensive units for both teams won the team drills until the final two-minute situational drills, which the Vikings won across the board with both offensive units scoring touchdowns on deep bombs, while the Vikings defensive units stopped both Ravens’ first-team and second-team offenses.

For the Vikings’ first-team offense in 11-on-11 drills, led by Kyler Murray, there wasn’t a lot of success against the Ravens’ first-team defense. Murray had a few of his deeper passes broken up, including a couple by Marlon Humphrey that probably should have been interceptions. Most of Murray’s completions were shorter throws to T.J. Hockenson or a back out of the backfield. The Ravens defensive backs were pretty physical at times, causing Jefferson and others to look to the referees for a flag, which weren’t forthcoming.

But there was something of a theme for Murray throughout the full team drills today: targeting Justin Jefferson. It seemed like just about every one of Murray’s deeper passes targeted Jefferson, with mixed success. T.J. Hockenson seemed like Murray’s preferred target on short passes not specifically designed for another receiver like a screen pass to a running back. It seemed like Murray was intentional in targeting Jefferson and trying to build that rapport. I believe he had one target to Jordan Addison deep, but for the most part it seemed like Murray was focused on building chemistry with Justin Jefferson.

The pay-off came late, during two-minute situational drills at the end of practice, when Murray hit Jefferson on a perfectly thrown deep ball in the end zone in which Jefferson had split the double coverage, giving the Vikings first-team offense the win in that drill. Kyler Murray ran down to the endzone to celebrate what I believe was the first completed bomb to Jefferson in full team drills in training camp this year by any quarterback. It was a successful end to what had been a tough outing earlier on for the Vikings first team offense.

The Vikings’ second-team offense, led by J.J. McCarthy, struggled as well against the Ravens’ second-team defense in full team drills, largely limited to short passes and short runs. Demond Claiborne had a nice run going but got a little too fancy with a jump cut in traffic and had the ball knocked out for a fumble recovered by the Ravens. That will be an important lesson for the young and dynamic running back who had some trouble with ball security his final season in college.

For McCarthy, he seemed focused on targeting Myles Price for much of the team drills, although he hit other receivers on shorter passes and targeted Tai Felton a couple times as well. But McCarthy had the most success targeting Price, who continued to make impressive catches like he did in the preseason game against the Giants and has emerged recently as the best receiver outside of Jefferson and Addison- the latter of which has had a relatively quiet training camp so far.

Like Murray with Jefferson, McCarthy ended practice in two-minute full team drills with a couple short completions and then a deep shot to Myles Price which he came down with in the end zone to win the drill.

I had a somewhat obstructed view of the Vikings’ defensive units facing off against the Ravens offensive units as the media perch view is partially blocked by a scoreboard, but there weren’t any deep completions by either Ravens offensive unit. It was mostly or almost entirely shorter passes and short runs for most of the afternoon in full team drills against Brian Flores’ units.

It appeared that Dallas Turner was having a day as well, and I counted at least one sack that I could see, but it appeared that he was involved in a few other disruptions as well. The Ravens did appear to have some success on shorter throws and a couple intermediate ones to Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman. But there was also a lot of pressure in the Ravens’ backfield including sacks and TFLs.

And in the final two-minute full team drills, both the Vikings first- and second-team defensive units stopped the opposing Ravens offensive units to win the drill.

Overall, I think it’s fair to say that both team’s defensive units won early, and the Vikings won late.

Other Notes

The Ravens’ starting center, Danny Pinter, was carted off about midway through the practice after getting rolled up on. He remained on the ground until the cart came out and other Ravens player reactions seemed to indicate it could be a season-ending injury.

The special teams gunner drills, which resemble vaguely a running wrestling match, tend to be a bit of a cauldron that can heat up as players and both sides hoot and holler as the one-on-one competition concludes down the field with the defender either knocking down the dummy, which is the object of the drill, or his being prevented from doing so by the blocker. The players involved are mostly the bottom end of each roster and demonstrating value on special teams may be the easiest path to a roster spot and roughly a million bucks if they can hold that spot for the season. So competition can be fierce. There were several instances of the wrestling match going off the rails to some degree, and at one point a Ravens defensive back through a punch hitting the facemask of a Viking (not sure who) and that led to players running onto the field and a brief scrum that was quickly broken up without further incident.

The Vikings won their fair share of the gunner drills, which contrasts with the first day of joint practices last year against the Patriots, when they didn’t. That speaks to a broader take-away I had from this joint practice compared to last year. This year the Vikings appeared to hold their own in the physical battles taking place in joint practices, whether team drills or elsewhere. To me that is a positive take-away. The Vikings’ offensive units may have struggled through the first periods of full team drills but still managed to work through the difficulties and ultimately win the two-minute drills. At the same time, the Vikings defensive units seemed to grow stronger as practice went on and were able to stop the Ravens offensive units, which had little success all day.

All that led me to drive away from practice today with a positive vibe and the feeling that while not everything is clicking at the moment, there is progress at a rate that could lead to a team that is ready and formidable by the time early September rolls around.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Credit to both Kyler and J.J. today. Nothing was working all afternoon and they both toss dagger deep shots in the 2-minute drill. Showed up when it mattered most.

— Jason Harmon (@JasonHarmonNFL) August 19, 2026

Star of the show for the Vikings defense on day one of joint practices against the Ravens: pic.twitter.com/HAyFDilNBN

— SleeperVikings (@SleeperVikings) August 19, 2026

Vikings-Ravens joint practice recap, Day 1

Both starting defenses had the upper hand today, especially Baltimore's — until the final period.

Everything I saw at TCO on Wednesday: https://t.co/ue3SO65J9K

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 19, 2026

Vikings-Ravens joint practice recap: Defenses have the upper hand on Day 1

Both Minnesota and Baltimore got strong afternoons from their first-team defense. What else did we see on Wednesday?

The Vikings welcomed Jesse Minter, Lamar Jackson, and the Baltimore Ravens to town on Wednesday for the first of two days of joint practices at TCO Performance Center. As you might expect, it was a busy, competitive couple hours of work for two teams with plenty of stars and lofty goals for the 2026 season.

After some 1-on-1 drills and 7-on-7 action, much of the practice featured competitive 11-on-11 football, with a lot of reps pitting both teams’ starters. The overall takeaway from those periods is that both defenses had the upper hand. Brian Flores’ group generated a good bit of pressure against Jackson and the Ravens, while Baltimore’s defense made life difficult for Kyler Murray and the Vikings — at least until one period at the end.

Let’s dive in and break down everything that went down.

Ravens’ O vs. Vikings’ D

The Vikings’ defense set the tone on Jackson’s first dropback of the day in 11-on-11, as Levi Drake Rodriguez broke through the middle of the offensive line for a would-be sack. A few plays later, Dallas Turner came off of the edge and got to Jackson for another sack, kicking off a very active practice for the Vikings’ third-year edge rusher and major breakout candidate.

It wasn’t all dominance for Minnesota’s defense. Jackson is a two-time MVP for a reason, and he adjusted to some of the pressure by getting the ball out of his hands quickly to players like Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and Mark Andrews. He made a great throw to find Flowers in a void of space near the right sideline for a chunk gain. He found LaJohntay Wester for a huge catch-and-run gain as a result of a Vikings coverage bust. He escaped and made a very impressive throw on the run to Andrews. Derrick Henry, unsurprisingly, found a seam in the running game a couple times.

But on several more occasions, Minnesota’s pressure arrived and forced Jackson to scramble, throw the ball away, or make a rushed throw. A Blake Cashman blitz up the middle resulted in Jackson throwing behind Bateman for an incompletion. Another pressure from Turner caused Jackson to rush a checkdown that wasn’t completed. Isaiah Rodgers broke up a pass intended for buzzy Ravens rookie Ja’Kobi Lane.

Although Baltimore’s offense had its moments, I’d imagine Flores will be fairly pleased with what he saw from his defense. They were blitzing as eagerly as always and creating havoc, limiting what the Ravens could do downfield in the passing game. They also stuffed a good percentage of Baltimore’s runs, even with Henry involved. To wrap up the practice, there was a dominant stretch from the Vikings’ second-team defense against Tyler Huntley, including an Ivan Pace Jr. “sack” and Jay Ward interception on the same rep, and another blitz sack two plays later.

Vikings’ O vs. Ravens’ D

One field over, the Ravens’ first-team defense was experiencing even more success against Kyler Murray and the Vikings’ starting offense. Murray’s first pass in 11-on-11 was intended for Jordan Addison but was broken up. His next dropback saw him pressured by Kyle Hamilton, who forced Murray to just spike the ball in the dirt. Nate Wiggins then had strong coverage on Justin Jefferson, causing an 0-for-3 start for Murray. The Vikings’ QB1 ended that with a short completion to T.J. Hockenson.

Jefferson had a great catch over Wiggins and another defender in 7-on-7 action, but the Ravens were clearly focused on limiting his production in 11s. Marlon Humphrey was being very physical in press coverage, with help behind him, and he broke up a Murray pass for Jefferson towards the left sideline. Then came another Murray throwaway. Later, Murray threw out in front of Jefferson on a slant, took a sack, and then tried to find Jefferson but threw it right to Humphrey, who dropped what should’ve been a pick. Jefferson thought a flag should’ve been thrown for illegal contact on the play.

Murray and Jefferson did eventually connect against single coverage from Humphrey towards the right side, but their next target fell incomplete. It was an impressive showing from the Ravens’ defense. The Vikings did generate a few nice runs with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, which was good to see.

Murray salvages his day

To end the practice, the Vikings’ first-team offense got an opportunity to finish strong in a one-minute situational drill, trailing 26-21. They did just that by stepping up and securing some positive momentum heading into the second day of practice.

To start the drill, Murray found an open Addison on a quick pass that had a good amount of yards after the catch. Murray then hit Jauan Jennings on another quick completion. And then came the highlight of the day for the Vikings’ offense. Under a bit of pressure, Murray slid to a pocket of space and lofted a ball into the end zone for Jefferson, who ran it down past multiple defenders for a brilliant touchdown of around 30 yards or so. Jefferson broke out the Griddy and Murray ran into the end zone as the entire offense celebrated.

Price keeps thriving

After a successful situation drill for the Vikings’ first-team offense, J.J. McCarthy and the second unit came into the “game” and scored a touchdown of their own. McCarthy tried to hit Tai Felton on first down, but the ball was dropped. One play later, Felton got some redemption with a nice adjustment and catch on a ball that was slightly behind him. McCarthy capped the drill with a great throw up the seam to Myles Price for another roughly 30-yard touchdown.

Price was the star of the Vikings’ preseason opener against the Giants on Saturday, and he continued his very impressive camp with a big day on Wednesday. He made a great catch over a Ravens corner for a big gain from McCarthy in a 1-on-1 drill. He was a very frequent target of McCarthy’s passes in both 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 against the Ravens’ second-team defense, with several completions and a few that were either broken up or inaccurate. And his touchdown grab in the 1-minute drill was awfully impressive.

Felton has done some good things throughout camp, but drops have been an issue at times. It feels fair to wonder if Price might end up as the Vikings’ No. 4 receiver when the regular season begins, which could mean seeing a handful of offensive snaps on a weekly basis. He’s been that good.

Other notes

• The only obvious injury to note was to a Ravens player, center Danny Pinter, who was unfortunately carted off the field after an 11-on-11 rep.

• Kevin O’Connell talked before practice about wanting to see competition and physicality but not crossing the line. As always, there was a bit of rowdiness after a few plays, but nothing that quite rose to the level of a full-on brawl. There was one moment after a Henry run where a couple linemen got into it. Mostly, it came during 1-on-1 gunner drills involving guys lower down the depth chart on their respective teams. The competition in those was fierce and it boiled over a few times. New Vikings corner Bryce Phillips got into it with Keondre Jackson a couple times. Baltimore’s Keyon Martin threw a punch at Da’Veawn Armstead.

• Chuck Demmings was beaten deep by Lane in 1-on-1 drills. It was a fairly quiet day for one of the Vikings’ stars of training camp.

• Ravens corner Bilhal Kone picked off a deep ball from Murray to Dontae Fleming in 1-on-1s, but then was roasted by Jefferson in that setting.

• McCarthy had an up-and-down day for the Vikings. He made some good throws, including the one to Price late, but also had some misses, a couple near-INTs, and a lost fumble. With that said, he got every rep with the second-team offense. Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer didn’t get any in team drills. McCarthy is still QB2 right now, but I continue to think Wentz may have a shot to end up in that role by Week 1.

• Theo Jackson had a nice pass breakup on a Lamar Jackson pass to Andrews in 7-on-7.

• Demond Claiborne had a couple impressive runs with the second-team offense, but he lost a fumble at the end of one of them. Claiborne fumbled five times last season at Wake Forest, so that remains an area of focus for him.

In today's @espn Vikings camp notebook... Kevin O'Connell addresses the backup QB question. Errant snaps from Blake Brandel (although the operation looked good today) and other notes from the first day of Vikings-Ravens joint practices.https://t.co/tPWU8ZqRBW

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) August 19, 2026

Wednesday, Aug. 19

J.J. McCarthy took every second-team rep Wednesday in the Vikings' joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens, shortly after coach Kevin O'Connell reiterated with reporters that he considers McCarthy the No. 2 quarterback behind starter Kyler Murray.

O'Connell, however, said he wants the quarterback position to remain competitive and did not rule out the possibility of Carson Wentz challenging McCarthy for the spot.

"We want Carson feeling like he can do the things consistently that he can do," O'Connell said, "and that we know exactly who and what he is. And we want J.J. feeling like, 'I'm one snap away, so I've got to prepare like I'm the starter anyway.' It's easy to say those things, but we wanted to have a room that forced it.

"So we'll see how these next couple of weeks play out, and we're going to do what's best for our team, and proud of the way J.J.'s handled the last few days."

McCarthy and Murray finished out the team portion of Wednesday's practices with big throws. Murray arced a pass roughly 40 yards into the corner of the end zone, allowing receiver Justin Jefferson to run past a double team and grab the ball for a touchdown. McCarthy then threw about a 30-yard pass over the middle to receiver Myles Price for a score.

Other observations:

• O'Connell acknowledged there have been some inconsistent snaps from center Blake Brandel to Murray during camp. He indicated it is largely an issue of Brandel anticipating where he is going to step first, triggering an inaccurate snap -- an unsurprising development for a player who hadn't played center before last season. "We have time," O'Connell said, "but not that much time, as I like to say."

• Quarterback Max Brosmer (right wrist) did some light throwing Tuesday but did not participate in team drills. O'Connell said the Vikings are hoping Brosmer will be ready to play in Saturday's preseason game.

• Rookie Caleb Tiernan, a third-round draft pick this spring who has been the second-team right tackle during training camp, is week-to-week because of an ankle injury, O'Connell said.

Who is the Vikings' top performer so far at camp?

Receiver Tai Felton has demonstrated remarkable improvement from his rookie year, when he struggled to catch the ball consistently in training camp and wound up with a near-exclusive special teams role during the season. He has made one-handed catches in the end zone, demonstrated soft hands at the end of deep routes and displayed his top-end speed while running quick hitters. Coach Kevin O'Connell said he has noted exceptional route running at times as well.

Is Felton the Vikings' best player? Of course not. But no one has opened more eyes since camp began. He'll push veteran No. 3 receiver Jauan Jennings for playing time.

What still needs to be answered over the course of preseason games?

The entire NFL world wants to know how quarterback Kyler Murray, who was named the starter after a two-week competition with J.J. McCarthy, will perform in the Vikings' offense. But Murray isn't likely to play nearly enough during the preseason to answer that question.

The most important question the Vikings can realistically answer is how much of their talented draft class will truly be ready to contribute in Week 1.

That list most notably includes defensive linemen Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange, linebacker Jake Golday, safety Jakobe Thomas, cornerback Charles Demmings and running back Demond Claiborne.

Adam Thielen and Randy Moss at #Vikings practice today 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KaGHToaVkQ

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) August 19, 2026

Always the other side of the story....Raven's HC thought Baltimore controlled the line of scrimmage on defense.

• The Vikings had talked before last November’s game against the Ravens about how difficult the Baltimore secondary would be to handle, and their receivers saw more of the same on Wednesday. Ravens corners Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins afforded little space for the Vikings’ receivers, to the point where Jefferson seemed frustrated with officials for not flagging the Ravens corners. Baltimore’s big defensive linemen choked off throwing lanes for Murray and McCarthy, batting down several passes. Murray was forced to throw one pass away after a delayed blitz from Keyon Martin, while offensive coordinator Wes Phillips threw his hands up after one play where McCarthy was late on a throw.

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