EAGAN, Minn. — The vibes were high under the lights at TCO Stadium.

With their first preseason game less than a week away, the Vikings hit a training camp milestone Sunday night, conducting practice on the pristine turf field beside Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.

Fans were treated with two hours of drills and team periods, the latter backdropping a dominant effort by the defense, and a post-practice autographed football giveaway and player introductions courtesy the Voice of the Vikings, Paul Allen. Afterward, attendees enjoyed a quick lightshow and a fireworks display.

Now, about that dominant defensive performance. The highest vibes were provided by Eden Prairie's own, linebacker Blake Cashman, who tested the offense's patience with ceaseless blitzes and backfield cameos. Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers was a menace to the offensive society, too, picking off a pass and recovering a fumble. Overall, the defensive side stymied quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray.

There was an uptick in intensity throughout the session that began with sticky, humid weather eventually toned down by a cool breeze.

Head Coach Kevin O'Connell noted every year he meets with the team to discuss the switch in practice location — to a more intimate setting in front of fans that in some ways can replicate the feel that players maybe experienced before in large high school stadiums or super competitive atmospheres.

"I feel a little bit of an eyeroll," O'Connell said about players' initial reactions. "Then we'll get out there tonight, and the energy will ramp up, and there'll be some juice in there — and sure enough, it'll happen.

"Ultimately, how we practice, it's important because we're not too far off from joint practices where we want to be physical, but we want to make sure we handle our business the right way, and we know that our opponent's going to do the same," O'Connell elaborated. "This is great practice for that — when you start feeling it getting ramped up a little bit — and we can do it the right way. I want it [to be] physical. That line of scrimmage is an absolute battle right now every play in our training camp [in the run and pass]. I want our guys feeling that, but we got to know where that line is, and we haven't had too many line-touchers I would say this camp; we haven't really crossed it. But depending on how hot or muggy it is in a day or how grumpy somebody is about how they slept the night before, I don't care about any of that. Show up and be a Viking and do it the right way is how we operate, and we've gotten a lot of that."

No doubt, there was a lot of that. Here are three observations from the 10^th practice of camp:

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1. Cash' was money

We lost track of all the defenders with "sacks" Sunday (they came from players at all three levels, including one by Chuck Demmings on a corner blitz), but we are certain Cashman outscored the field, and he came close to notching four on four consecutive plays in a 2-minute period near the finish.

Going against Murray and the first-team offense, Cashman commenced his chaos-creating sequence and diffused the initial snap via tandem pressure with Andrew Van Ginkel. On the next play, a low snap was bobbled by Murray and Cashman breezed through the line for a sack. After that, Cashman blew up running back Aaron Jones, Sr., in pass protection and wound up in Murray's lap (he got a pass off to Jordan Addison, but Rodgers broke it up without a problem). Then, to close out the series, Cashman hustled free up the gut as Dallas Turner threatened off the edge.

Thanks largely to Cashman, the drive never got off the ground.

2. Pads were talking

In addition to Cashman's knockback in the pocket on Jones, there were a few notable pops.

Undrafted safety Jacob Thomas (not to be confused with rookie third-round pick Jakobe) laid an instant, wincing hit on Ben Yurosek as soon as the second-year tight end secured a pass over the middle of the field. To his credit, Yurosek stomached the ball — and stomached the blow, rising to his feet confidently.

Cornerback James Pierre, who intercepted a deflected pass earlier in the night, showed his willingness to defend the run when he zoomed into the picture and dropped his pads to wham a ball carrier in the box.

Another loud pop was distributed by rookie fullback Max Bredeson when he snagged a pass in the flat and then turned up the field along the sideline and tossed his weight around. It drew hoots and hollers.

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3. Another 2-minute outcome

McCarthy saved his sharpest moments for his final reps of practice, getting his turn at the same 2-minute drill as Murray — trailing 27-21 at the plus-45-yard line with one minute left and one timeout.

Operating with the second offense against the second defense, McCarthy got things cooking with a brilliant 25-yard pass up the right sideline to second-year WR Tai Felton. Following a false start penalty, they synced up again, this time when McCarthy beamed a deep out route to his left to the 7-yard line.

McCarthy and the group lost its mojo, however, on the ensuing snaps.

First, he would have been sacked by LB Ivan Pace, Jr. Then, McCarthy was flushed from the pocket and chased down by rookie LB Jake Golday before throwing the ball out of the end zone. And at the end, the defense stayed true to form, forcing a pair of incompletions.

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