Leftover notes from first practice at Vikings’ training camp

It was back to football for the Minnesota Vikings, who held their first official training camp practice on Wednesday. For first-year head coach Kevin O’Connell, however, it marked the beginning of his 2022 campaign.

This is the time of the year for the deep-dive evaluations in assembling the 53-man roster expected to get the Vikings back to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

And even that accomplishment wouldn’t be enough to satiate fans that have been forced to watch the team wallow in seemingly endless mediocrity.

The Vikings aren’t running it back with basically the same roster intact to just make the playoffs. You could see the confidence flowing as the team took to the field for the first time together at training camp. They truly believe they’re on to something special.

Here are the leftover notes from the first practice.

Jesse Davis taking first-team snaps at right guard

Heading into camp, it was believed that veteran offensive lineman Jesse Davis was the favorite to be slotted into the starting right guard position, and that belief was seemingly validated with things playing out exactly as such in the first practice.

The starting offensive line for the Vikings consisted of Christian Darrisaw, Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, Davis and Brian O’Neill. So that could very well be the new offensive line combination heading into the season.

But pump the brakes on any guarantees. The competition is still fierce at that right guard position. Rookie Ed Ingram will only get better with more reps, and Chris Reed is also a viable starting option for the team.

Jordan Hicks misses practice

One newcomer the Vikings didn’t get to see practice on the field on Wednesday is former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks, who was reportedly held out for precautionary reasons with a “non-COVID illness.”

Hicks should form a solid tandem when working side-by-side with Eric Kendricks this season. There’s also belief that rookie third-round draft pick Brian Asamoah could eat into some of his snaps as well.

So that’ll be another competition to keep an eye on once the veteran gets back onto the field.

Lewis Cine will have to compete

Surely, nobody thought it would be so easy that rookie first-round draft pick Lewis Cine could just walk into the starting safety job next to Harrison Smith, right?

Camryn Bynum has clearly improved heading into his second season, and he isn’t just going to hand the job away to the former Georgia Bulldog. When the two were on the field, Bynum was the one taking the first-team snaps, which could be read simply as Cine having more work to do.

There’s still the thinking that the rookie will ultimately end up as the starter by the end of camp, but the Vikings are also prepared to make him earn it on the practice field.

Battle heats up between Andrew Booth Jr, and Cam Dantzler

The training camp battle between cornerbacks Andrew Booth Jr. and Cam Dantzler will be the A-side of the card. For those that get lost with that fight reference, it simply means this camp battle will be the main event.

As expected, Booth, the 2022 second-round draft pick out of Clemson, took second-team snaps after missing spring practices, while still recovering from a sports hernia surgery.

He didn’t disappoint on the field and had arguably the play of the day by snagging an interception from quarterback Kirk Cousins on a pass intended for All-Pro wideout Justin Jefferson.

Talk about making a statement.

Dantzler is still the favorite to win the job early, but that could obviously change if Booth continues to make plays like that one.

Who will be Cousins' backup?

Kellen Mond isn’t being treated like a second-class citizen this season. Coach Kevin O’Connell has taken a legitimate interest in him as a player, and he’s being given a real opportunity to compete with Sean Mannion for the primary backup job behind Cousins.

The two backups were splitting second-team reps at training camp with the thinking that the last man standing will eventually land the job.

Mond is the younger player with potentially more upside, while Mannion has the experience and a personal connection with Cousins in the film room.

Story originally appeared on Vikings Wire