Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
In our Wednesday recap, the Falcons sign a new defensive end and Foye Oluokun wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week.
It’s been a busy day for the Atlanta Falcons and the team hasn’t even wrapped up practice yet.
In our Wednesday recap, the Falcons sign a new defensive end, Foye Oluokun wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week and we get to watch a new Cordarrelle Patterson mic’d up segment.
The Vikings waived a defensive end and a long snapper after they lost to the Broncos.
Minnesota made some decisions after the loss to Denver in the preseason opener. One of those decisions solidifies an open special teams spots.
The Vikings waived long snapper Turner Bernard and defensive end Jordan Brailford on Sunday.
That leaves the starting long snapper position to Andrew DePaola, with him being the only long snapper currently on the roster. The Vikings’ decision to say goodbye to Jordan Brailford probably has to do with the depth they have at defensive end.
While there are not a lot of starting-caliber edge rushers on the team, Minnesota has the likes of Patrick Jones II, D.J. Wonnum and Janarius Robinson as options. Stephen Weatherly did not rest on Saturday, but it’s looking more and more like the starting edge rusher spot opposite Danielle Hunter is Weatherly’s to lose.
The Vikings were routed by the Broncos in their first preseason, although Minnesota was resting most of notable players. Still, it’s probably not the best sign that this happened.
Here is the stock up, stock down report from the Minnesota Vikings win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Minnesota had some key players step up on Sunday against Jacksonville.
But it wasn’t all perfect. The Jaguars, with just one victory in 2020 heading into the matchup, gave the Vikings an extremely close game.
To be fair, I think Jacksonville is better than its record. Still, the Vikings have to be more consistent in pretty much all phases of the game if they want to beat some of the tougher teams left on the schedule.
The Vikings will need the best version of themselves to beat teams like the Buccaneers and the Saints.
Minnesota still won and still moved to 6-6 of course. Here is the stock up, stock down from the game:
See the Minnesota Vikings injury report for the Panthers game.
Minnesota got off to a winning streak by doing what works on offense: running the ball with Dalvin Cook.
Of course, Dalvin Cook can make any offensive line look good, but the blockers up front were also doing a good job of leaving holes for Cook, especially against the Packers and Lions. Guard Ezra Cleveland was inconsistent in his debut against the Falcons, but since then, has improved.
Some of the success on offense can be contributed to more than just the offensive line. Tight end Irv Smith Jr. and fullback C.J. Ham have both done a good job of creating movement and blocking in space.
Now, it seems like what Minnesota wants to do on offense could be inhibited a bit. Here’s why:
Former Washington 7th round pick Jordan Brailford is heading to the Minnesota Vikings after being signed off of Washington’s practice squad.
The #Vikings are poaching DE Jordan Brailford off the Washington Football Team practice squad, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 12, 2020
Following their last-second loss to the Seattle Seahawks, it was reported that the Minnesota Vikings are signing former Washington DE Jordan Brailford off of Washington’s practice squad going forward.
Brailford was drafted by Washington in the 7th round of the 2019 draft out of Oklahoma State, but an injury held him out for his rookie season. He was unable to make the 53-man roster cut in 2020, and placed on the practice squad in Washington.
Going forward, he will be a part of the Vikings organization, where they will hope to utilize his unique size on the edge of the defense in Minnesota.
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