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From KFAN.com - notes from the Vikings-Chiefs scrimmage on Thursday night:
Brad Childress held 17 players back in Minneapolis; Ryan Longwell, Gus Frerotte, Bobby Wade, Antoine Winfield, Jim Kleinsasser, Darren Sharper, Garrett Mills, Ben Leber, Chad Greenway, E.J. Henderson, Kenderick Allen, Steve Hutchinson, Matt Birk, Bernard Berrian, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, and most notably, Jared Allen.
“I just said, ‘I’m not brining you,’” Childress said. “It was a dictatorship. And he didn’t
squawk.”
Childress thought bringing Allen to River Falls would create too much of a circus environment for an event that’s supposed to be focused around allowing young players to take extra reps. In fact, Childress told everybody over the age of 30, along with a few extra guys, to stay home.
“Great work for our young guys,” Childress said about Thursday night’s scrimmage. “Like [Chiefs’ head coach Herm Edwards] and I were talking about, we both have numbers of young guys, and it’s premium work for us. We can go back and teach so much off of it.”
Leber and Kevin Williams were both given the night off to spend time with their newborn children. Kenderick Allen, Wade, Berrian and Mills all stayed back because of various bumps and bruises. Jared Allen received what Childress called a “Kansas City exemption.”
Scrimmage Notes
- Marcus McCauley was the only casualty on Thursday night. He suffered a right knee injury during special teams drills, but he was walking around with only a slight limp after being carted to and from the locker room.
McCauley said he doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the trainers just wanted to be cautious.
- Surprisingly, Ray Edwards made the trip to River Falls, but he didn’t really participate in any team drills. Ray’s jersey and pants were pristine clean at the end of the scrimmage. And he didn’t get into any fights.
- Chiefs’ running back Larry Johnson had an extra pep in his step on Thursday night. He broke a handful of nice runs against the second and third team Vikings defenses, including a 20-yard touchdown scamper that sent Chiefs fans into a mild frenzy.
- ESPN’s John Clayton took in the scrimmage with the rest of the reporters, and he interviewed Tarvaris Jackson afterwards, although when requesting the interview Clayton pronounced the name wrong…
- Benny Sapp showed why he is possibly the ’07 Marcus McCauley of this year’s preseason. During one-on-one WR/CB drills, Sapp was fooled on a double move when he attempted to jump what he thought was a curl route -- just like in practice a couple days ago.
About 15 minutes later, however, Sapp intercepted a pass that sailed on Damon Huard. Sapp has tallied at least four or five interceptions this week, but his propensity to gamble leaves him vulnerable over the top.
- Tarvaris Jackson saw a plethora of reps on Thursday night, and although he didn’t necessarily light the world on fire, he didn’t make any glaring mistakes (that I saw), and he completed a lot of 8-12 yard passes in traffic.
“You get tired of seeing [our defense] day in day out,” Tarvaris Jackson said. “Even though they’re my teammates, you want to go against a different colored jersey. You get kind of familiar with what they’re doing, so you want to see something different. Kind of test your mind a little bit.”
On one particular play, Jackson scanned the short routes to his left before uncorking a deep pass 50 or 60 yards downfield in the direction of Sidney Rice. The ball was slightly overthrown, but the Kansas City defensive back was called for pass interference.
Jackson also completed a number of short passes to his running backs. All he really has to do this season is limit mistakes and move the chains by hitting short-medium passes, and once in a while hit a deep ball to keep the defense honest.
“I can remember the two days we had last year like they were yesterday,” Childress said. “I kind of scratched my head a little bit… And now I see a completely different demeanor [from Jackson]. This isn’t live stuff, but you can see him move around and slide in the pocket.”
- Chiefs’ tight end Tony Gonzalez limped out of the scrimmage early on with what appeared to be a hamstring strain. (INTERESTING)
- During one-on-one D-line vs. O-line drills, the Chiefs’ offensive linemen had their way with the Vikings’ backup defensive linemen. Brian Robison was stuffed on consecutive plays by Will Svitek, fourth-year tackle out of Stanford.
- Adrian Peterson sent Vikings fans into a mild frenzy when he broke a 20-yard touchdown run into the far endzone. Peterson had a few nice runs/receptions on the evening. He also took time to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and talk to the media. What a guy.
- Tyrell Johnson intercepted Tyler Thigpen near the north endzone. Thigpen, of course, was a 7th round draft pick by the Vikings in 2007, but the Chiefs claimed him off waivers because of his strong performance at this exact scrimmage one year ago.
- The defensive highlight of the night for the Vikings involved three nice defensive plays in one. Jayme Mitchell came around the end for what probably would have been a sack. The Chiefs’ quarterback (number escapes me) threw a pass over the right hashmarks, but Cedric Griffin tipped it into the diving arms of Charles Gordon. The ref said the ball hit the ground, but from my angle (and this is confirmed by Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune), Gordon had both arms under the ball.
- Maurice Hicks broke a long run during 11-on-11, and he later was involved in a small scuffle with a group of Chiefs’ defensive linemen. The brush fire was stomped out before things got ugly.
- Madieu Williams popped Larry Johnson at the end of a 10-yard run, and both guys had a friendly jawing session. It’s easy to see over the last few days that Williams absolutely loves contact. So does LJ…
- During 11-on-11 practice, John David Booty hooked up with Nate Jones on a 50-yard touchdown pass over second year cornerback Rashad Barksdale. On the very next play, Booty found Martin Nance on a slant route and pumped his fist.
Booty has played terribly this week at Vikings practice, so it’s nice to see him have a little success.
- Vikings quarterbacks like taking deep shots when they see one-on-one coverage on the outside. This is a trend that will almost certainly continue during the regular season. It’s just a matter of cashing in on situations.
- CB Marcus Walker made a beautiful play to break up a pass near the Vikings’ sideline. The KC receiver ran an out route, but Walker recovered and sprinted to the ball before it arrived, much to the delight of his teammates nearby.
Brad Childress held 17 players back in Minneapolis; Ryan Longwell, Gus Frerotte, Bobby Wade, Antoine Winfield, Jim Kleinsasser, Darren Sharper, Garrett Mills, Ben Leber, Chad Greenway, E.J. Henderson, Kenderick Allen, Steve Hutchinson, Matt Birk, Bernard Berrian, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, and most notably, Jared Allen.
“I just said, ‘I’m not brining you,’” Childress said. “It was a dictatorship. And he didn’t
squawk.”
Childress thought bringing Allen to River Falls would create too much of a circus environment for an event that’s supposed to be focused around allowing young players to take extra reps. In fact, Childress told everybody over the age of 30, along with a few extra guys, to stay home.
“Great work for our young guys,” Childress said about Thursday night’s scrimmage. “Like [Chiefs’ head coach Herm Edwards] and I were talking about, we both have numbers of young guys, and it’s premium work for us. We can go back and teach so much off of it.”
Leber and Kevin Williams were both given the night off to spend time with their newborn children. Kenderick Allen, Wade, Berrian and Mills all stayed back because of various bumps and bruises. Jared Allen received what Childress called a “Kansas City exemption.”
Scrimmage Notes
- Marcus McCauley was the only casualty on Thursday night. He suffered a right knee injury during special teams drills, but he was walking around with only a slight limp after being carted to and from the locker room.
McCauley said he doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the trainers just wanted to be cautious.
- Surprisingly, Ray Edwards made the trip to River Falls, but he didn’t really participate in any team drills. Ray’s jersey and pants were pristine clean at the end of the scrimmage. And he didn’t get into any fights.
- Chiefs’ running back Larry Johnson had an extra pep in his step on Thursday night. He broke a handful of nice runs against the second and third team Vikings defenses, including a 20-yard touchdown scamper that sent Chiefs fans into a mild frenzy.
- ESPN’s John Clayton took in the scrimmage with the rest of the reporters, and he interviewed Tarvaris Jackson afterwards, although when requesting the interview Clayton pronounced the name wrong…
- Benny Sapp showed why he is possibly the ’07 Marcus McCauley of this year’s preseason. During one-on-one WR/CB drills, Sapp was fooled on a double move when he attempted to jump what he thought was a curl route -- just like in practice a couple days ago.
About 15 minutes later, however, Sapp intercepted a pass that sailed on Damon Huard. Sapp has tallied at least four or five interceptions this week, but his propensity to gamble leaves him vulnerable over the top.
- Tarvaris Jackson saw a plethora of reps on Thursday night, and although he didn’t necessarily light the world on fire, he didn’t make any glaring mistakes (that I saw), and he completed a lot of 8-12 yard passes in traffic.
“You get tired of seeing [our defense] day in day out,” Tarvaris Jackson said. “Even though they’re my teammates, you want to go against a different colored jersey. You get kind of familiar with what they’re doing, so you want to see something different. Kind of test your mind a little bit.”
On one particular play, Jackson scanned the short routes to his left before uncorking a deep pass 50 or 60 yards downfield in the direction of Sidney Rice. The ball was slightly overthrown, but the Kansas City defensive back was called for pass interference.
Jackson also completed a number of short passes to his running backs. All he really has to do this season is limit mistakes and move the chains by hitting short-medium passes, and once in a while hit a deep ball to keep the defense honest.
“I can remember the two days we had last year like they were yesterday,” Childress said. “I kind of scratched my head a little bit… And now I see a completely different demeanor [from Jackson]. This isn’t live stuff, but you can see him move around and slide in the pocket.”
- Chiefs’ tight end Tony Gonzalez limped out of the scrimmage early on with what appeared to be a hamstring strain. (INTERESTING)
- During one-on-one D-line vs. O-line drills, the Chiefs’ offensive linemen had their way with the Vikings’ backup defensive linemen. Brian Robison was stuffed on consecutive plays by Will Svitek, fourth-year tackle out of Stanford.
- Adrian Peterson sent Vikings fans into a mild frenzy when he broke a 20-yard touchdown run into the far endzone. Peterson had a few nice runs/receptions on the evening. He also took time to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and talk to the media. What a guy.
- Tyrell Johnson intercepted Tyler Thigpen near the north endzone. Thigpen, of course, was a 7th round draft pick by the Vikings in 2007, but the Chiefs claimed him off waivers because of his strong performance at this exact scrimmage one year ago.
- The defensive highlight of the night for the Vikings involved three nice defensive plays in one. Jayme Mitchell came around the end for what probably would have been a sack. The Chiefs’ quarterback (number escapes me) threw a pass over the right hashmarks, but Cedric Griffin tipped it into the diving arms of Charles Gordon. The ref said the ball hit the ground, but from my angle (and this is confirmed by Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune), Gordon had both arms under the ball.
- Maurice Hicks broke a long run during 11-on-11, and he later was involved in a small scuffle with a group of Chiefs’ defensive linemen. The brush fire was stomped out before things got ugly.
- Madieu Williams popped Larry Johnson at the end of a 10-yard run, and both guys had a friendly jawing session. It’s easy to see over the last few days that Williams absolutely loves contact. So does LJ…
- During 11-on-11 practice, John David Booty hooked up with Nate Jones on a 50-yard touchdown pass over second year cornerback Rashad Barksdale. On the very next play, Booty found Martin Nance on a slant route and pumped his fist.
Booty has played terribly this week at Vikings practice, so it’s nice to see him have a little success.
- Vikings quarterbacks like taking deep shots when they see one-on-one coverage on the outside. This is a trend that will almost certainly continue during the regular season. It’s just a matter of cashing in on situations.
- CB Marcus Walker made a beautiful play to break up a pass near the Vikings’ sideline. The KC receiver ran an out route, but Walker recovered and sprinted to the ball before it arrived, much to the delight of his teammates nearby.