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During training camp, Vikings DE Danielle Hunter has been out of practice and Jalyn Holmes has been getting first-team reps at defensive end, per Zone Coverage’s Sam Ekstrom.
That may come as a surprise to some Vikings fans, who may not have been aware that Holmes has moved back to defensive end.
“That was something we had talked about right after the season was over,” Vikings co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson said, via Vikings.com. “I had a long discussion with ‘J,’ and I told him I was going to look to put him back out there, and also still get him some reps at three-technique.”
How did Holmes make that transition to being primarily a defensive end? Holmes told Vikings.com that he ate healthier and “got my smoothie game up over the offseason,” while going from about 300 pounds to 277.
Holmes also talked about how he improvised with his workouts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a big issue at first, just trying to get into a gym,” he said, via Vikings.com. “Because I was in Ohio, a lot of things were closed so you couldn’t really get access,” Holmes said. “So, I had to kind of sneak around. I did a lot of cardio in my neighborhood by just running full speed up and down the street early in the morning.“