Photo - Aj Mansour (KFAN)
By: Aj Mansour | KFAN.com
@AjMansourKFAN
Mankato, MN - We discussed it at length earlier in this morning's blog (Harrison Smith is Poised...), but there is no questions anymore. Leslie Frazier has named rookie safety Harrison Smith one of the Vikings' starting safeties for Friday's preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
"He's doing some good things," Frazier said after Monday's afternoon session. "I'm anxious to see Friday night how he does in a starting role. He's really coming along. I'm looking forward to see how he performs when he has to start the game."
Smith worked in with the first team defense (taking the place of Jamarca Sanford) during most of Monday's practice and took the promotion to heart having what very well may be his best practice as a professional so far.
Working in one-on-one passing drills, Harrison wowed with a leaping interception while covering tight end Mickey Shuler Moving into team drills, Smith ended a 4-minute drill for the the first team offense when he snuck in on a safety blitz and touch sacked Christian Ponder.
"This will be a good test for him," Frazier said. "Buffalo, I don't know how much they'll play their starters, but they've got a good passing offense and they run the ball well also."
The Everson Griffen at LB experiment has ended:
Heading into Training Camp, the Vikings were hoping to move defensive end Everson Griffen into a hybrid DE/LB role. Based on what they've seen in camp and how Griffen looked in preseason game number one, the Vikings have opted to abandon this mission and have moved Griffen back to defensive end for the foreseeable future.
"We saw enough of [Griffen] at linebacker where we feel that [defensive end] is going to be better for him," Frazier said. "We talked to him Sunday night when we got back and he agrees that it's better to be able to focus on that position."
Griffen will still work in as a linebacker in third down situations but most of his snaps will come from the defensive line. Griffen also left Monday's practice after dinging his knee in team drills.
Matt Kalil has MRI on right thumb, results negative:
First round draft choice Matt Kalil left practice about an hour in and was seen grasping his right hand as he headed into the locker room with head trainer Eric Sugarman. After practice Coach Frazier confirmed that Kalil had an MRI that came back negative showing no significant damage. Kalil returned to the field roughly thirty minutes later with a heavy wrap on that right thumb area.
While Kalil was off the field, Charlie Johnson shifted back over to the left tackle spot while Joe Berger moved in to work right guard with the first team offense.
Adrian Peterson gets his first outdoor session out of the way:
Adrian Peterson did limited work Monday afternoon as he was held out of contact drills for the last time this summer. Peterson is scheduled to strap on the pads for tomorrow's practice and will see his first contact on the football field since going down lame on December 24th.
Blair Walsh has seen better days:
I'm not sure if it was the wind (10mph out of the NW) or if it was just a off day, but Monday will likely be a day that Blair Walsh will be in a hurry to forget. After handling the gusting winds in San Francisco, Walsh opened practice 6-of-12 with snapper and holder only and then went 5-for-8 with the full field goal unit.
Injury Updates:
- DE Jeff Charleston (concussion) day-to-day.
- DE Everson Griffen (knee) is likely day-to-day.
- RB Jordan Todman (ankle) is doubtful for Friday's game.
- T Matt Kalil (thumb) is probable for Friday's game.
- Kamar Jorden (hand) is out of Friday's game with a broken hand.
- Geoff Schwartz (hernia) is out of Friday's game.
- Adrian Peterson (ACL) is doubtful for Friday's game.
- Josh Robinson (hamstring) returned to practice Monday and is probable for Friday's game.
- DeMarcus Love (shoulder) is doubtful for Friday's game.
- Robert Blanton (hamstring) is practicing but questionable for Friday's game.
- John Carlson (knee) is out of Friday's game and will return to practice next week.
- Letroy Guion (knee) will be held out of Friday's game.
Aj Mansour covers Minnesota Sports for KFAN.com. Feel free to leave comments and questions regarding this post in the space provided below. For Vikings' updates and breaking Vikings' news, follow Aj on Twitter. @AjMansourKFAN
