Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell reportedly got into it with the Cleveland Browns during their joint practice on Wednesday.
Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings are practicing with the Browns ahead of their preseason showdown in Cleveland on Saturday (4:25 p.m. EST). However, tempers reportedly flared between the two teams following an injury to Minnesota wide receiver Thayer Thomas in the joint practice.
According to Mark Craig of the Star Tribune, O’Connell spoke to Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz after Thomas’ injury to express his displeasure with the Cleveland defense’s physicality during practice.
Additionally, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports that an unnamed Cleveland player told the Minnesota offense, “Y’all can’t catch a cold, man.”t’s been an awful day on the injury front for the Vikings. Earlier today, multiple reports confirmed that promising rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy will miss the entire 2024 season after undergoing surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee.
We lost all these 4 due to injury in a span of one year
No one has it worse than Vikings fans pic.twitter.com/5GcZTx2lKm
— E̷d̷w̷i̷n̷ (@IMissWinning) August 14, 2024
While we await further word on Thomas, the Vikings can at least breathe a sigh of relief with O’Connell reporting that Addison seemingly avoided a serious injury.Minnesota will open their 2024 season with a road tilt against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 8. A week later, they’ll head back to Minny to welcome the San Francisco 49ers in their home opener.
Kevin O’Connnell & Vikings Can’t Catch A Break
The Vikings finished 7-10 last year despite using four different quarterbacks, and despite missing superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson for seven games. If Kirk Cousins avoided a season-ending Achilles tear, the Vikings would have likely qualified for the postseason.
So there was good reason to believe that the Vikings could compete for a playoff berth after adding Sam Darnold and JJ McCarthy to their quarterback room. But with McCarthy out for the year, it’s going to take a career year from Darnold for Minnesota to hang around in the race.
