O'Connell a steady influence for Vikings through trying times

EAGAN, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings had high hopes for their closing practice of training camp. In lieu of using starters and other front-line players in their final preseason game, they scheduled a full-pads scrimmage that mirrored game conditions -- right down to a 12-minute break in the middle to replicate halftime.

"If you see our guys walking off the field," coach Kevin O'Connell said before it began, "they will be hopefully pretty exhausted."

Minutes later, however, a cloudy day gave way to an unexpected rain shower. Staffers dashed inside to grab wet weather gear for the sidelines. The rain continued for most of the two-hour practice and developed into a downpour. At that point, O'Connell herded players into the team's indoor facility so they could begin drying off while he gave a post-practice message.

The episode provided a fitting metaphor for a physically and emotionally exhausting summer, one O'Connell navigated with the sense of empathy that has come to embody his time with the franchise.

Twenty-seven days earlier, O'Connell had left camp along with several coaches and players to attend the funeral of cornerback Khyree Jackson , who had been killed July 6 in a car accident. O'Connell's voice cracked as he gave a eulogy, recalling that Jackson had decided to delay a necessary surgery so he could participate in practice. "Some of us are still working through the process of losing such a special young player," he said upon his return.

By that point, the Vikings had dealt not only with Jackson's death but also receiver Jordan Addison 's second encounter with police in a 12-month period. Addison's latest incident had occurred 11 days before camp, when he was cited for drunken driving after being found asleep behind the wheel of a car on an active freeway in Los Angeles. Addison, who has an Oct. 7 court date, likely faces NFL discipline.

Then, on the first day of camp, cornerback Mekhi Blackmon tore his ACL. The next day, fellow cornerback Shaquill Griffin left practice with a significant hamstring injury, prompting a summer-long overhaul of the position that culminated in the Aug. 18 signing of free agent Stephon Gilmore . In total, the Vikings acquired five veteran cornerbacks and a sixth, veteran Bobby McCain , who can play cornerback or safety.

In between, the Vikings became the first NFL team in the modern draft era to lose a quarterback they had drafted in the first round to injury before the start of the season. No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy , who had energized the team's fan base with a rousing two-touchdown performance in the Aug. 10 preseason opener, will not be back on the field until 2025 because of a torn right meniscus.

Most recently, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa referred to Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores as a "terrible person" in a podcast interview, an event so unusual that safety Josh Metellus and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips felt compelled to flank Flores at the start of his next news conference in a show of support. Flores' voice cracked several times as he wished Tagovailoa well and said he has "evolved" since serving as Dolphins head coach from 2019 to '21.

Every NFL team faces adversity as it preps for the regular season, and there have certainly been summers far worse than what the Vikings experienced. Viewed as a whole, however, the Vikings' difficult summer left them pushing back on the external notion that their season -- one that ESPN's Football Power Index had already projected will top out at 6.8 wins, seventh fewest in the NFL -- will be equally tough.

"I feel like this team is very, very good," receiver Justin Jefferson said after last week's scrimmage, his shoulder pads arranged off to the side to dry next to an industrial fan. "We're coming along. We have some players on the squad. It's all about putting the schemes together, working as one. We have to have all 11 working on the same page."

If the Vikings surprise the league and make a playoff run, they'll look back at training camp as a time when they developed an effective callous against the typical challenges of an NFL season. Speaking last week, O'Connell acknowledged this summer has been "eventful and in many cases some tough circumstances." His guiding principle, he said, was to be a "constant rock of steadiness" and "the same guy" each day.

"Anybody can do that when things are good and things are easy or you're not experiencing adversity," he said, "I believe leadership is showing those things that you say you're about, authentically and real.

"I learned a long time ago that there's no sense feeling sorry for yourself, for your circumstances. There's a place to be there for your team on a 24-7, 365-day basis, but never without projecting hope and genuine excitement."

Asked if he was truly able to maintain hope every minute of the summer, O'Connell said "absolutely" and added: "I wouldn't feel comfortable standing before [reporters], but more importantly our team, if that wasn't the case."

Players took his message to heart, but it was most evident the day Gilmore arrived with a contract that fully guaranteed him $7 million and could bring him as much as $10 million this season. It was not the type of move a team makes when it is looking ahead to future seasons.

"We've got big expectations," Jefferson said. "We've got big expectations of going far, if not the Super Bowl. That's always the plan and that's always going be the plan here."