There were some intense moment between the Vikings and the New England Patriots on Wednesday afternoon at TCO Performance Center.

Nothing came close to crossing the line, though, which was a welcome sight for head coach Kevin O’Connell considering how much he stressed his strict no fighting policy ahead of the joint practices between the Vikings and Patriots.

“There are going to be a bunch of times when things push to that line,” O’Connell said. “It’s on the leadership of our team and the discipline of our team to show up in those moments and not let it get to a place where it could impact guys.”

That doesn’t mean O’Connell is looking for less than 100 percent. He wants the Vikings and Patriots to push to that line as much as possible. Then he wants everybody to move on and get ready to do it again.

“As critical as these reps are for us, we better not be willing to throw it away out of an emotion from a single play,” O’Connell said. “Let’s just line up and snap the ball and go get some work done.”

The fact that no punches were thrown didn’t take away from the physicality between the whistles, nor did it stop any sort of trash talk after it.

Here are more takeaways from Day 14 of training camp:

How’s McCarthy?

There was more good than bad from quarterback J.J. McCarthy going up against a different defense on the other end. He strung together a few completions to receiver Jordan Addison during 7-on-7 drills, then continued the process of building a rapport with tight end T.J. Hockenson during 11-on-11 drills.

The operation looked smooth with McCarthy running the show. He got in and out of the huddle with ease and made all the necessary checks at the line of scrimmage.

The most impressive series of reps for McCarthy came during a situational drill at the end of the joint practice.

After getting the ball back trailing by a field goal with 1 minute, 15 seconds left on the clock, McCarthy led a drive that included him setting up a screen pass to running back Aaron Jones, escaping pressure and scrambling for a big gain, and delivering a dart to Addison to move the chains. All of it set up a 48-yard field goal from Will Reichard to win the situation drill.

The only glaring mistake for McCarthy when he was picked off late in 7-on-7 drills. He was trying to hit receiver Jalen Nailor on an crossing route in the intermediate part of the field and instead sailed the ball over his head. It landed in the waiting arms of Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones for an interception.

Who stood out?

The biggest cheer came when rookie left guard Donovan Jackson got out in front on a screen pass and bulldozed everything in his path. As the lead blocker in open space, Jackson pancaked a pair of defenders, which sparked a massive roar from fans in attendance.

Asked later about the sequence, Jackson joked that he couldn’t celebrate for too long with his teammates. Not when he had to race back to the huddle more than 40 yards away and get ready to line up again.

Some other highlights for the Vikings included rookie quarterback Max Brosmer connecting on a deep pass to receiver Tim Jones for a touchdown, edge rusher Jonathan Greenard wreaking havoc in the backfield, and Reichard nailing every field-goal attempt.

On the flip side, Patriots receiver Mack Hollins hauled in a long touchdown and proceeded to punt the ball into the stands in celebration. He told reporters afterwards that he was trying to help his team flip the script amid a tough stretch.

Quote of the day

“He wasn’t as good as Tom Brady.”

— Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, on what he remembers about being teammates with O’Connell once upon a time

Injury report

Though it sounds like he could slowly start to ramp up his workload next week, receiver Justin Jefferson will not participate in joint practices this week. The same goes for fullback C.J. Ham, defensive tackle Levi Drake Rodriguez and, most notably, edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel.

What’s next?

There will be another joint practice on Thursday afternoon at TCO Performance Center. Then both teams will rest in advance of their exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium.

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) catches a pass against Minnesota Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. (7) takes part in drills during a joint NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Eagan, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Related Articles

Storylines to follow during Vikings-Patriots joint practices

Takeaways from Day 13 of Vikings training camp

An anatomy of J.J. McCarthy’s brief appearance for the Vikings

Takeaways from the Vikings-Texans preseason game

Five players with something to prove when Vikings host Texans