Darren Hails looks back at the Minnesota Vikings news from Thursday, 13 August to Wednesday, 19 August 2026. Kyler Murray made his Vikings debut, the new run game finally appeared in public, Jamal Adams suffered a cruel season-ending injury and the Ravens provided the first proper test of where this team stands.

I’m back from Bali, which means the Scroll is back too.

The previous edition covered up to Wednesday, 29 July. Quite a lot has happened since then, but I don’t think anybody needs a three-week news dump pretending every training-camp completion was news worthy. News that old should be wrapping chips by now.

So, there’s a quick catch-up below, then the proper Scroll covers Thursday, 13 August to Wednesday, 19 August. This last week gave us something more useful than another camp chart: a preseason game, a serious injury, several roster moves and the first joint practice against Baltimore.

The quarterback competition is over (probably). We can finally stop judging the process and start judging the football plan around the winner.

The Chip-Paper Catch-Up

Here’s the missed fortnight in one paragraph.

The pads went on, Kyler Murray gradually pulled ahead of J.J. McCarthy and Kevin O’Connell named Murray the starting quarterback on Tuesday, 11 August. Christian Darrisaw kept progressing, Caleb Banks began taking proper football reps and Jamal Adams moved from an interesting late signing towards a genuine role in Brian Flores’ defense. The first unofficial depth chart appeared, the usual trade stories followed McCarthy around and every practice produced a fresh verdict on two quarterbacks who were often working on different things.

There. We are caught up. I hope the chips were good.

Nine Plays Told Us What O’Connell Wants

Murray’s Vikings debut lasted one series. He completed two of three passes for 10 yards, converted a third down with Jordan Addison and led the offense to a field goal. Nobody is putting that in a career highlights package.

The interesting bit was everything around the passing total.

Minnesota used Murray under center on six of nine plays. Aaron Jones opened the game with an 18-yard run, and he and Jordan Mason combined for 44 yards on six carries. Rookie fullback Max Bredeson started, caught Murray’s first completion and helped create the sort of heavy, flexible personnel groups O’Connell and new offensive coordinator Frank Smith have talked about all summer.

The first drive against the Giants gave us a small glimpse of the idea. The Vikings want to run from under center, make the defense respect Jones and Mason, then build play action and easier throws for Murray from the same looks. Justin Jefferson did not play, so we still haven’t seen how often Minnesota will choose that heavier approach when Jefferson, Addison and Jauan Jennings are all available. Even so, the basic shape was obvious.

Murray also looked comfortable directing it. There was one misunderstanding with Jones on the third-down pass that ended the drive, but the operation, checks and hand-offs looked clean. For a quarterback who had been sharing first-team work until four days earlier, that was enough for a debut.

I know 10 passing yards won’t calm anybody who disliked the decision. It shouldn’t convince anybody that O’Connell has fixed every problem Murray carried out of Arizona either. What it did show was a coach building the offense he wants, rather than dropping Murray into a familiar shotgun system and hoping his talent sorts everything out.

That is the plan we can judge now.

Baltimore Made The Run Game Look Less Finished

The Giants drive was encouraging. Wednesday’s first joint practice against Baltimore was the useful reminder not to get carried away.

The Ravens gave Minnesota a different defensive structure, better starting talent and far more movement around the line of scrimmage. The Vikings had some good runs, especially from Mason, but the overall picture was uneven. Brian O’Neill said the line played a tick slowly and seemed more worried about getting every detail right than attacking. Blake Brandel agreed that the run game needed to be better.

That is probably the most honest place to leave it. The new scheme looked quick and physical against the Giants, then less certain when Baltimore changed the pictures and made the linemen think. A run game built on getting off the ball rather than making endless post-snap adjustments still needs all five linemen, the fullback and the runner moving together. One player hesitating can make the whole thing look ordinary.

Murray’s afternoon followed a similar pattern. Baltimore’s pressure and corners made the passing game uncomfortable, and there were several misses and near-interceptions. He finished with the throw everybody will remember, escaping to his left and finding Jefferson for a deep touchdown on the final snap of the session.

Alec Lewis described it as an uneven day with a brilliant finish, which feels fair. The touchdown showed the off-script ability Minnesota bought into. The rest showed why naming Murray early enough to receive every first-team rep was sensible.

He has the job. He doesn’t yet have a finished offense.

McCarthy’s Next Competition Is Closer Than The Trade Talk

McCarthy played most of the first half against New York and finished four of seven for 34 yards. He made a good intermediate throw to Myles Price, dealt with a second offensive line facing several Giants starters and watched penalties drag promising situations backwards.

It wasn’t a disaster, but it also wasn’t the performance that immediately restarts the QB1 debate. That debate has had enough oxygen for one summer.

The more relevant question is whether McCarthy locks down the backup job. O’Connell confirmed before the Ravens practice that McCarthy had taken all the second-team reps since Murray was named starter. He also made it clear that Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer remain part of a competitive room and that Minnesota will do what is best for the team.

Wentz helped himself against the Giants. He completed nine of 14 passes for 81 yards, threw the game’s only touchdown and closed out the 13-10 win. McCarthy then had another mixed day against Baltimore’s second group before ending it with a deep touchdown to Price.

There is no need to turn that into another dramatic demotion story. McCarthy is taking the number-two reps and should remain the favourite for that job. He is also a young quarterback who lost the starting competition after a difficult 2025, and Wentz is an experienced backup who played well in the first exhibition. McCarthy still has to earn the position he now occupies.

For the moment, that is a much more useful story than inventing another five trade destinations before breakfast.

Myles Price Has Made Himself Difficult To Ignore

Price was the clearest offensive winner against the Giants.

He caught four passes for 51 yards, fought through contact on a 28-yard reception and made a brilliant one-handed catch for the only touchdown of the game. Jefferson was on the broadcast when it happened and reacted like the rest of us, which was one of the more enjoyable parts of a preseason afternoon that will not be replayed very often.

The catch will get the attention, but Price’s wider summer is why it counts. He made the roster as a rookie because of his return work. This year he is running better routes, earning more offensive targets and showing that his speed can be useful beyond special teams. His 17-yard reception from McCarthy came when the quarterback trusted him against single-high coverage, and the pair connected again for a deep score at the end of Wednesday’s joint practice.

Minnesota already has Jefferson, Addison and Jennings at the top of the receiver group. Tai Felton, Dillon Bell and the other depth receivers are competing for a small number of jobs behind them. Price’s return role gave him a route onto the 53 before camp began; his offensive progress is now giving O’Connell a reason to dress and use him on Sundays.

I wouldn’t pretend one preseason game has turned him into the fourth receiver. It has made the conversation a lot harder to have without his name near the top.

Jamal Adams’ Injury Is Cruel, And It Changes The Defense

The worst moment of the week came when Adams went down without contact at MetLife Stadium.

Testing confirmed a torn quadriceps tendon, and the Vikings placed him on injured reserve on Monday. He will undergo surgery and remain around the team during his rehabilitation.

It is a brutal end to a comeback that had quickly become one of the better camp stories. Adams arrived without a guaranteed job, changed numbers as his role moved back towards safety and appeared to be earning genuine work in Flores’ defense. He had spent years trying to rebuild his body and reputation after serious injuries. Ten snaps into his first preseason game for Minnesota, the season was over.

The human part comes first. Whatever anybody thought of the signing, watching teammates and coaches gather around him on the sideline told you what he had brought into the building in a short time.

There is a football consequence as well. Adams was not replacing Josh Metellus or solving the entire safety position, but he gave Flores another experienced defender who could play near the line, blitz and move between packages. That job now has to be divided among Jay Ward, Theo Jackson, Ivan Pace Jr., Jake Golday and the younger defensive backs and linebackers.

I have already seen the calls for Harrison Smith to return. His name was always going to appear the moment a safety got hurt, but Adams’ injury does not automatically make Smith’s decision for him or recreate the same role. If Smith wants another season and the Vikings believe his body can handle it, that conversation stands on its own.

Minnesota signed rookie corner Bryce Phillips to fill the roster place. He adds a body to the secondary, not a direct replacement for everything Adams might have done.

The Defense Looks Further Along Than The Offense

If the offense left the week with a mixture of encouragement and homework, the defense looked closer to ready.

Minnesota recorded four sacks and two interceptions against the Giants. Dallas Turner ended New York’s opening possession with a sack, Jay Ward flew through on a clean blitz and undrafted rookies Jacob Roberts and Jacob Thomas both took the ball away in the second half.

The better evidence came against Baltimore. Turner beat Ronnie Stanley during one-on-ones and produced a would-be sack of Lamar Jackson in team work. Flores’ pressure packages repeatedly made Jackson uncomfortable, the front held up against Derrick Henry and the first defense stopped Baltimore’s two-minute drive by forcing short completions on third and fourth down.

Caleb Banks also flashed as a pass rusher during one-on-ones, although he was not facing a starter and his conditioning remains part of the evaluation. That is a more useful update than simply celebrating his return to practice. The movement and inside pressure that made him a first-round pick are visible; now he has to produce them for longer stretches without losing his pad level or being moved in the run game.

Turner is the bigger development. Minnesota chose to trade Jonathan Greenard and give Turner the lead-rusher opportunity. Beating a tackle of Stanley’s quality in August does not guarantee a double-digit-sack season, but it is the sort of evidence we needed before buying the breakout talk.

The Vikings defense should be ahead. Flores has several years of system knowledge in the group, while Murray, Brandel and the new run game are still building their timing. Wednesday suggested that advantage is real rather than something we have simply assumed all summer.

The Offensive Line Still Has One Annoying Problem

The first-team line ran the ball well against New York and handled Baltimore’s stunts reasonably well. The center-to-quarterback exchange is still making life more difficult than it needs to be.

O’Connell acknowledged that Brandel has sent several pistol and shotgun snaps low or away from Murray. The movement required by the new run scheme is part of it: Brandel is trying to snap while immediately reaching a defender in one direction, and that has sometimes pulled the ball off target.

There is plenty Brandel is doing well. He understands the protections, identifies Flores’ unusual fronts and has helped the line play with more intent in the run game. None of that makes a bad snap less dangerous once the regular season begins.

The Vikings signed guard Joshua Gray on Wednesday and released defensive lineman Eric Johnson II. Gray is not a direct center solution, but the move adds another interior lineman after Caleb Tiernan suffered an ankle injury and was described as week-to-week. It is also a reminder that the line’s depth and basic operation are still being tested while the starting five try to settle.

This is not a glamorous camp story. A clean snap rarely becomes a highlight. Send one over Murray’s head against Green Bay, though, and everybody will suddenly find it fascinating.

What Comes Next

The Vikings finished the week with their quarterback settled and a clearer idea of the team around him.

The run game can look powerful when the timing is right, but Baltimore showed how quickly hesitation can slow it down. Murray can still create the sort of touchdown very few quarterbacks attempt, although his connection with the rest of the offense needs work. McCarthy has moved from a QB1 battle into a more immediate fight to prove he is the best backup. Price is forcing his way up the receiver conversation, while Adams’ injury has reopened defensive snaps that looked close to being claimed.

The defense gave the best sign of the week. Turner, Flores’ pressure packages and the young interior group did not look out of place against a strong Ravens offense. Now they have to do it again, and the offense has to respond after seeing a different style for the first time.

That is where this Scroll stops. Thursday’s second joint practice belongs to next week, however tempting it is to sneak ahead.

No more holiday backlog. No more daily QB1 count. Just a team with a plan and less than a month to make it work.

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