Preseason game #3 vs. Cardinals is dress rehearsal for September 8 opener
Jeff Diamond, former Vikings GM who is co-hosting Monday Night Purple with Joe Anderson this season on News Talk 830 WCCO at B-52 Burgers and Brew in Inver Grove Heights in regular season (next preseason show is Monday August 26 from 6-7 pm from the WCCO Radio booth at the State Fair, show presented by the Select Minnesota Buick GMC Dealers). Jeff also is covering Vikings training camp with reports three times per week on News Talk 830 WCCO, sponsored by B-52 Burgers and Brew.
Only two weeks until the regular season opener and in Saturday’s third preseason game against Arizona, it’s dress rehearsal time for the Vikings starters on offense and defense while the backups vie for jobs with cuts looming on August 31.
The third preseason game is the most meaningful for coaches and players as they have game planned as in regular season for the Cardinals.
“The nice thing with the third preseason game is you have a little bit larger sample size in case you don’t start fast,” Kirk Cousins said. “We expect to start fast and we want to put together a good showing against their starters with a longer amount of time on the field. It’s a dress rehearsal and we’re going to treat it as a game and do all we can to be ready so come Week 1, we’ve worked through as many scenarios as possible.”
Pro Bowl receiver Adam Thielen is happy with the progress of the new Vikings offense and agrees that the Cardinals game is important due to the game planning that goes into it. “It’s going good and it’s a process after putting in a new offense,” Thielen said. “We’re working hard and want to figure it out. This offense is a great fit for our guys. We want to make it our own and continue to grow every day. We’re in a good spot but we’ve got a long ways to go.
“Week 3 is always your game planning week, you prepare like a game week so we’re focused on Arizona and getting down how we’re going to prepare once we get to the regular season.”
Typically the starters will not play in the final preseason game at Buffalo next Thursday so that game will be the final opportunity for players on the bubble to impress the coaches and improve their chance to make the team.
More on Thielen: Admittedly, I’m biased because the agent firm I work with—IFA--represents Adam Thielen. But as a former team exec, I can tell you he’s the kind of player who teams love to have representing them on and off the field.
Thielen is obviously a great story as an undrafted player who survived a Vikings tryout and through his hard work and talent, he developed into a two-time Pro Bowl receiver. What also impresses me is his
dedication to his craft as shown by staying out after practice every day and catching balls thrown to him, often with a high degree of difficulty. This helps him make the tough catches on game day such as the diving 34 yard reception at the goal line in the opening drive of preseason against the Saints.
Also exemplary is his work with the Thielen Foundation along with his wife Caitlin which included a football camp for 250 kids in June and the upcoming Topgolf Classic fundraiser on September 23 (go to ThielenFoundation.org for more information). The Thielen Foundation’s mission is “to serve, educate and inspire at-risk youth so they can reach their full potential in life.”
Thielen is passionate when talking about his foundation. He said “I’m really looking forward to our Topgolf event to raise some money to help the youth in this community and help the underprivileged youth that doesn’t have the opportunities that some of us had growing up.”
Along with his dedication to family, Thielen presents an infinitely better look for an NFL player compared to divas and distractions for their teams such as Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham.
Around the NFL Observations:
1.Speaking of AB, what a disaster it’s been for new Raiders GM Mike Mayock and Coach Jon Gruden with the start of the Brown era in Oakland and soon to be Las Vegas if Brown makes it to 2020 with the team.
Except for the $21 million dead money hit they took, it’s not surprising the Steelers were so anxious to jettison a superstar talent for the pittance of third and fifth round picks. Yet Oakland added $11.2 million in new money to Brown’s contract and put themselves on the hook for $30 million in guarantees.
I strongly believe the Raiders will not get their $32.6 million worth that they’re paying over the 2019-2020 seasons. I see them winding up with buyer’s remorse on the Brown deal. I said that long before the cryotherapy issues with his blistered feet and his ridiculous quest to wear a banned helmet not considered safe or the reports out of Oakland that Brown pays more attention to his social media in meetings than to learning a new offensive system.
Mayock and Gruden should be happy if they get two reasonably productive years from Brown so he can play the first season in Vegas. But I don’t see him playing at his Pittsburgh all-pro level without the supporting talent he had with the Steelers at receiver, in the offensive line and at quarterback (Derek Carr is not a top five caliber NFL QB that Brown had to work with in Ben Roethlisberger).
Despite Brown’s statement on HBO’s Hard Knocks that it’s now time for “more work, less noise,” the fact is it took Mayock publicly venting his frustration by saying Brown needs to be “all-in or all-out” for him to finally show up on the practice field. Like Beckham, Brown is more interested in being a celebrity than a great football player at this stage of his career.
2. Baker Mayfield needs to talk less until he proves that he can lead the Browns from oblivion where they’ve been for the last decade. He was quoted as saying the drafting by the Giants of Daniel Jones “blows my mind” and then blamed the media for misquoting him and using what he called an out of context quote for a “clickbait story.” Hey Baker—time for less talk and more wins.
Jeff Diamond was the NFL Executive of the Year in 1998 after the Vikings' 15-1 season. He also is former president of the Tennessee Titans. He does sports/business consulting, media and speaking work including corporate and college speaking on Negotiation, Management, Leadership and Sports Business--contact him at diamondj4@comcast.net