As the Minnesota Vikings head towards their opening preseason game on Sat. Aug 9 against the Houston Texans at U.S Bank Stadium, there are notable headlines regarding a few of their big star players. One of them is their “redshirt” rookie QB getting the starting nod for that game while being held out of the other two for safety reasons. Another notable headline is the long-awaited news on whether one of their star offensive skill players would be suspended for the first few weeks of the regular season. There is also additional news on the status of the superstar face of the franchise and a setback that he has suffered in the beginning of training camp. Finally, the Brian Flores defense continues to earn the respect and praise that it deserves with another Vikings defender breaking into the Top 100 Players in the NFL list for the 2025 season. So, let’s get into this Vikings news dump roughly five weeks away from their opening week game.

J.J McCarthy Comes Full Circle As He Will Start The First Preseason Game, Just Like He Did In 2024 When He Suffered A Devastating Injury That Sidelined Him For The Entire Season

So, the guy that the Vikings have been searching for nearly a half-century to be their QB for a long sustained amount of time will be making his preseason debut on the second Saturday of August. That sounds vaguely familiar for Jonathan James McCarthy, who had his first unofficial showing in the pros in the Week 1 preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders last year. McCarthy threw for two TDs and a massive set of yards, as he looked so good that Justin Jefferson cheered him on while he was being interviewed on a headset by the Vikings radio crew doing the game on TV. But McCarthy’s rookie season never took off as he suffered a torn meniscus in that game and he didn’t even realize it until the next morning. With McCarthy out, the Vikings coaching staff handed over the keys to the offense to Sam Darnold, who was brought in to be a bridge QB to McCarthy. Darnold did pretty good in having a 14-win regular season and setting new career highs in TDs, passing yards and quarterback rating. But the Vikings couldn’t secure the division title and the offensive line crumbled around Darnold, who unfortunately felt the pressure from opposing defenses that were able to win massive games that led to the eventual end of a magical season.

Now with McCarthy back, the Vikings let Darnold go elsewhere and sign with the Seattle Seahawks in free agency. Behind McCarthy, they acquired Sam Howell from Seattle to be a potential backup, while also having veteran third-string candidate Brett Rypien along with undrafted free agent Max Brosmer in their QB room. McCarthy is the sure-fire starting QB, but behind him the backup and third-string spots have to be solidified. So, the majority of preseason game reps will go to Howell, Rypien and Brosmer in that competition for the backup spots behind the young 22-year old QB looking to prove himself among those who were taken ahead or near him in the first round of the 2024 draft. With a rebuilt offensive line to protect him from ferocious defenders on the opposition, J.J McCarthy promises to be one of the most dangerous QBs in the NFL this upcoming season. He’s mostly a complete unknown, unless his time at Michigan and the impressive offensive stats he put up there are considered. The skill players around McCarthy are lethal as well, but one of them will have to miss some time due to an irresponsible action that he took last year in the city of Angels.

The Drunken Speed Demon Is Suspended: Jordan Addison Will Miss The First Three Weeks Of The Regular Season Due To The League Office Handing Down Judgement For A DUI Incident In July 2024

So, the NFL finally announced that third-year wide receiver Jordan Addison would be suspended a mandatory three games due to a DUI violation that he committed in July 2024 in Los Angeles, Calif. near the LAX International Airport. Addison was found asleep at the wheel of a Rolls Royce in a far-left lane of the 105 freeway and was found to have a high blood alcohol concentration in him. With a citation handed onto him, Addison returned to face a potential jury trail in the Central District Court of California. But he was able to reach a plea deal that lessened his sentence to a $390 fine and 12 months of probation, with both of those potentially getting cut in half if Addison completes two online courses related to drunk driving and the dangers it poses to safety on the roads.

However, Addison having the plea deal was seen by the NFL league office as an admission of guilt, something that Jordan has already done publicly in admitting his wrongful behavior off the field and promising to be a better citizen. The league office just handed down a three-game suspension onto Addison. They could have done something like that in the middle of last season, but they waited for the legal process to play out before deciding on their own verdict. Now, Addison will miss the first three games for the Vikings in the 2025 season, which are the opening night road game against the Chicago Bears, the home opener on a Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons and another home game the next week at U.S Bank Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals. Addison will still be able to practice and participate in training camp activities along with reps in preseason games(something unlikely to happen) and he will only have to miss two weeks of practice during his suspension. Addison will be able to return to the practice field leading up to the Week 3 game in preparing for his eventual season debut in Week 4 when the Vikings travel across the pond to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland. The absence of Addison could hamper J.J McCarthy a little bit, but there will be other receivers to fill in for number 3 in purple. Jalen Nailor, Rondale Moore, Tai Felton and others will cover for Addison’s WR2 spot on the roster and there could be one lucky training camp participant who makes the opening week roster due to Addison’s suspension. Speaking of wideouts, the number 1 receiver for the Vikings was hampered with an injury that will see him sit out all the preseason games. Not that he was going to be playing in any of them to begin with.

Jets Grounded… For The Preseason At Least: Justin Jefferson Suffers A Sore Hamstring In An Early Practice That Will See Him On The Sidelines In August

Justin Jefferson is the undisputed best wideout in all of pro football, with a few challengers looking to try and claim that title for themselves. But they are probably going to remain second bananas to Jefferson, who will sustain his success with great chemistry patterned with his newest QB, J.J McCarthy. But Jefferson suffered a slight injury with a hamstring strain at one of the earliest practices in training camp in late July. Justin has been held out of live-action pass-catching drills with pads on and has been doing some light work on the side to be sure he stays fresh. Trying to keep the hamstring from becoming a serious injury, Jefferson will not be playing in any of the Vikings’ three preseason games. Coach Kevin O’Connell has said as much in terms of keeping the face of the franchise safe from suffering any further injury leading up to the kickoff of the regular season. Once he heals up, Jefferson will resume doing all drills, including pass-catching drills with his fellow “JJ” in McCarthy. But for now, Jefferson will be limited in his physical activities on the field and the hamstring injury that he has will be treated properly by the training staff on the team.

The only major injury that Jefferson has had so far in his professional career was a foot sprain in 2023 that required a stint on injured reserve and he missed two months of action. Other than that, Justin Jefferson has been the perfect picture of health for a star player in the NFL and in a sport as violently grinding as football, the best ability is availability. Hopefully Jefferson can stay active and avoid any major injuries in the future, because this team needs him on the field for every regular season/postseason game they will play in.

The Defense Continues To Gain Praise: Jonathan Greenard Joins Andrew Van Ginkel Among The Top 100 Players In The NFL For 2025 As New Pieces Mesh With Current Ones

So, the Vikings are a team mostly known for defensive power and plenty of great defenders in the franchise history have been honored as legends. I say this with the Hall of Fame induction of Jared Allen having occurred over the weekend, but in the present the defensive unit in Minnesota couldn’t be more powerful than it could be this season. With Harrison Smith back for his 14th season in purple and plenty of other great players like Josh Metellus, Harrison Phillips and Ivan Pace Jr, the Vikings defenders are a formidable unit. They also brought back a lot of newcomers to the defense last year, and one of those guys was among a trio of linebackers who came up north to play under one of the best defensive masterminds in the whole football world.

Among that group is Jonathan Greenard, who had himself a career year with the Vikings after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Houston Texans. Greenard had 12 sacks, four forced fumbles and 84 total QB pressures, and along with Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman and Dallas Turner were among a quad of reinforcements for the linebacker corps for the Vikings. For his efforts, Greenard was awarded with one of the top spots on the list of Top 100 Players In The NFL entering the 2025 season. Greenard is the forty-eighth best player in the league and he probably ranks in the top ten linebackers at least named onto the list. With linebacker presence in the middle forcing him more to the edge of the line of scrimmage, Greenard is a very dangerous pass rusher who can rack up sacks and QB pressures/hurries and put a lot of pressure on opposing offensive lines. Greenard joins Van Ginkel(who was ranked number 88 on the list) and Aaron Jones Sr(who was ranked number 98) as Vikings who have been announced among the top 100 players in the league. Justin Jefferson and Harrison Smith are bound to be in that list as well, making it five Vikings among the best 100 players voted onto the list for 2025.

The success for the defense is only bound to continue with new additions on the defensive line in Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, whose presence up the middle might make Greenard’s job a little easier. Either way, this defense under Brain Flores’ leadership is set to be just as good as (if not better than) last year, with a bunch of tackles for loss, sacks and takeaways on the way. There are a lot of reasons to be hopeful for this defense and team overall as they look to take back the NFC North and make a deep playoff run all the way to the Super Bowl, which Vikings fans are hungry to see their team finally win. Skol.