Heat in the afternoon

It was Wednesday afternoon practice and to say it was hot might be an understatement. The practice started at 2:45 and lasted to a little after 5.

There were fans in the stands but today a lot of fans were under the one tree to the north of the stands. It gives pretty good shade but it is only so big.

John Carlson was injured on Tuesday and is out for a little while. The tight ends that are trying for this position I believe are capable of filing Carlson's shoes while he is out. This is a huge chance for Mickey Shuler,Rhett Ellison and Alan Reisner to show the coaches that they all belong. The first few days into camp all in my eyes have done an excellent job of catching the ball.

Today the defense did a great job on shutting down the run. It is so hard as a fan because you want both sides of the ball to be great.I really believe the offensive line will be better this year with the youth on this line. The day in and day out going against the likes of Jared Allen, Kevin Williams and Brian Robison can only make these guys better. The O-Line is healthy unlike last year and that alone is a positive.

Today on offense I was standing field level when I saw Christian Ponder cock his arm and let the ball fly. It was a beautiful spiral going way down the field. I have no idea what line he was on but what I saw at the other end was Jerome Simpson running under it and taking it in for a TD. I have not seen a ball like that since the Randall Cunningham to Randy Moss back in 1988. Simpson had blown by the defenders. This is a case because it was so exciting but yet he blew by the defenders which is not good either.

Joe Webb threw a deep ball along the sideline and hit rookie Greg Childs who had taken the ball away from the defender. What a catch!!

There is a rookie in camp who wears number 2 named Jorden Kamer. He is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Bowling Green Univesity. I do not know his future with the team but being this group is so youthful who knows. All I know is I see him make incredible catches at least once or twice a practice. I really believe this 53 man roster will hacve some surprises on it.

On the flip side I saw Michael Jenkins make a nice catch only to get stripped by defensive back,Chris Cook. It was a heck of a play made by Cook.

Reggie Jones, a rookie free agent signed in 2011 by the Vikings made a great interception today. He stepped in front of his receiver and took it to the house doing a summersault as he crossed the goal line.

The team came off the field soaked in sweat the light gray shirts were dark gray. The purple jerseys almost looked black after the heat today. All I know is some of the players stopped and took the time to meet the fans. I realy thought as hot as it was players wpould want to go right to the showers.

This camp has been very impressive with the young men vying for positions on the team. The personalilties that make up thid team is something I hope you get a chance to see in person.

Thanks for reading
Purplestick