It's definitely a grind, but the finer details of training camp show Kevin O'Connell is fond of it.

The Vikings head coach played quarterback in the NFL. He was the offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams when they won Super Bowl LVI. He's going into Year 4 in Minnesota and still designing and dialing plays for the offense. So when the unit gets flustered in training camp, it spoils his mood… right?

Wrong.

Demonstrating the extent of his leadership, O'Connell told Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune, "No matter what side wins the day, it's a good thing for me." (Under the condition "practice is put together well.")

O'Connell finds joy in the whole team's improvement. Obviously, there's an attachment to the offense, and specifically the quarterback, but O'Connell isn't worried, for instance, by Brian Flores' defense winning drills or entire practices. O'Connell is attentive to defenders in team meetings and film review.

"I'm watching them make a play against the offense that I was coaching and I'm all geeked up [saying], 'Hey, that's a great play by Gink' right there, picking off that screen!' " O'Connell said to Scoggins, referencing an interception that would've been returned for a touchdown by Andrew Van Ginkel on the first day of camp. "[The defensive coaches] all kind of look at me like, 'Can we trust you right now?' "

Scoggins wrote:

Nope, he's not a spy from the enemy side. O'Connell has discovered a truth about training camp.

The truth is, scheduling is paramount. Safety drives decisions. Uncontrollable things happen, and it's important to plan for them if possible. Even the best plans demand adjustments. And the basis of what O'Connell does – every quirk, switch and emphasis – revolves around two things: First, the football team.

"But second," said O'Connell, "our quarterback."

"It's that balance of getting our defense ready to play how they're going to play and then allowing some ability for J.J. to progress into Football 501," O'Connell recently told Scoggins. "Luckily, he's smart. He can handle it. But I've told our staff and really our organization, I'm constantly going to be making tweaks to the daily feel of practices. You don't always have to understand what I'm doing."

In his column, Scoggins provides a glimpse into how O'Connell built and has implemented his priorities for this year's training camp. Scoggins guides us through color-coded sheets on O'Connell's desk, minutiae like how much time to allow players to eat lunch as well as big-picture philosophy, and other elements, such as the logistics of moving practice indoors on occasion because of inclement weather.

There's an overarching question tied to O'Connell's every decision: What does his team need from camp?

Here's an excerpt from Scoggins' story:

O'Connell plans an intrasquad scrimmage the final week of camp because starters don't play in the final preseason game. The goal is to get starters 50-60 reps. Last year, rain forced them inside halfway through the session.

As practice restarted, a handful of veterans told O'Connell it didn't feel right. The turf was sticky because of the moisture. O'Connell canceled the rest of practice with 20 reps left on the script. He didn't overreact to something that was uncontrollable, despite cutting short a practice he finds especially valuable.

"I've learned if I don't make a big deal out of things, normally other people won't," he said.

Read Scoggins' full article here.

Greatest players by the numbers

Taking a respite from the dog days of training camp, let's dive into a fun, change-of-pace exercise.

Throughout this week, FOX Sports NFL reporter Ralph Vacchiano assessed the greatest player of all-time by jersey number. Vacchiano disclosed that about 30,000 players have suited up over the past 105 years, but for this assignment, only 100 made the cut. That's a tough cracking down, especially when certain numbers have been worn by multiple Pro Football Hall of Famers – like No. 88, repped by 12 in the Hall.

Vacchiano used criteria centered on cumulative statistics, career awards and league honors. Super Bowl championships and individual impact on respective eras tipped the scales, too. Notably, Vacchiano settled on the number each player is best known for wearing, since some switched during their careers.

Bet you're wondering, did any Vikings make the list? Let's reword that. How many made it?

Minnesota had almost double-digit representation in Vacchiano's four-part series, which sorted the greatest to don Nos. 00-24, Nos. 25-49, Nos. 50-74 and Nos. 75-99. Here's how Vikings Legends fared:

Fran "The Scrambler" Tarkenton repped No. 10 better than anyone, retiring as the NFL's leader in career passing yards (47,003). Although that record has since been shattered, it held firm for nearly 20 seasons.

Two other former Vikings quarterbacks were spotlighted in Vacchiano's initial article – No. 1 Warren Moon and No. 4 Brett Favre – although neither spent the majority of their careers in Purple and Gold.

Next, Minnesota's history of strong play in the trenches is evident with Vacchiano selecting offensive linemen Randall McDaniel, No. 64, and Gary Zimmerman, No. 65, and defensive end Jared Allen, No. 69.

All three are no-brainers.

McDaniel once played in 202 consecutive games and was elected to 12 straight Pro Bowls. Zimmerman earned multiple All-Pro accolades with the Vikings and the Broncos, and he closed his career with a Lombardi Trophy in Denver. Allen is set to be the first No. 69 enshrined in the Hall of Fame this weekend.

Two other Minnesota icons were touted as the best: No. 84 Randy Moss and No. 93 John Randle. Little needs to be said of either's larger-than-life feats on the field and captivating personalities off it, but here is what Vacchiano wrote regarding two players that had a tremendous effect on their eras and ones after.

Vacchiano gushed over Moss' statistics: He was quite simply one of the most electrifying receivers in NFL history and probably the closest thing to Jerry Rice since Jerry Rice. In 14 NFL seasons, mostly with the Vikings, Raiders and Patriots, Moss had 982 catches, 15,292 yards and 156 receiving touchdowns, the latter of which ranks second behind Rice on the all-time list. Moss topped 1,000 receiving yards 10 times and had double-digit touchdowns nine times, including a single-season record 23 with the Patriots in 2007. He was a four-time All-Pro, and honestly, he deserved that honor a few more times than that.

And remembered Randle as a most improbable intimidator: He was the scariest member of the Vikings' defense during the 1990s, and the athletic defensive tackle was one of the league's most dangerous pass rushers, too. A six-time All-Pro and two-time runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year, Randle finished his 14-year career with 137½ sacks. Not bad for a kid who was undrafted out of tiny Texas A&I in 1990.

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