At this point, it's cliché to say Max Brosmer can hang.

On a second down early in the second half of Friday's preseason finale at Tennessee, the undrafted rookie quarterback took a rhythm-and-timing drop and plopped a hole shot up the left sideline, in between over-the-top and underneath coverage, into the hands of UDFA wide receiver Dontae Fleming.

The pass had just enough arc, more than enough zip, and found Fleming in stride for 36 yards.

Awesomely, it synced right with General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah conversing with Paul Allen and Pete Bercich on the KFAN audiocast as part of a special appearance for the duration of the third quarter.

In quick order, Adofo-Mensah said he thinks Brosmer has been "really exceptional."

"His college tape is a clinic," he added, underlining how Brosmer's eyes are in concert with his feet.

Three plays later, Brosmer placed one on Bryson Nesbit's frame and the UDFA tight end did the rest, turning a quick slant into a 21-yard trip to pay dirt to bring the Vikings within a touchdown of the Titans.

Ultimately, Minnesota lost its exhibition 23-13 in the Music City. But it learned more about what it has in Brosmer. Rather, in a nationally televised game, the country witnessed Brosmer can do more than sing.

The University of Minnesota product, and former New Hampshire star, ended his third NFL game 15-for-23 passing (65.2 percent) with 161 yards and a touchdown. Overall, Brosmer clipped 60.3 percent of his throws and produced both of the team's two total passing touchdowns across its three tune-ups.

"I had high expectations for him," Head Coach Kevin O'Connell said, denying any surprise. "One of those things where we went into the draft with him being a guy that we really, really liked throughout the process.

"He was local, we had a chance to see him throw twice at the Pro Day there, at the U, and then just hosted him on a visit. And just getting to know him felt like a great fit," O'Connell continued. "He's one of those guys that can go out and apply the thinking really fast as he progresses through our system and through games, so his ownership of really not getting a lot of reps early – didn't get a lot of work in the spring – to be able to hit the ground in the way he did with his opportunities, and training camp gave him more opportunities, culminating with tonight, getting the chance to start the last preseason game."

The platform enabled every single cliché to come to life Friday night.

Brosmer was cool, calm and collected. Consider a fourth-and-4 later in the same quarter. Brosmer tried going for Fleming, again, this time on a deep ball, against a zero blitz, that was so on the money it seemed like cheating. Adofo-Mensah called it a perfect play call, the perfect read and a perfect throw, despite a stretched-out Fleming unable to complete the catch.

O'Connell likened the moment to the types of looks Brosmer is dealt in practice against Brian Flores' defense, and admired Brosmer's "poise to know where to go with that thing and throw a ball like that."

"It's a continuation of the mindset of just taking it one play at a time. You can't get it all back in two or three plays. Sometimes, you may get lucky, but I thought the guys had amazing composure today," Brosmer said. "The huddle was a great atmosphere and it's good to feel when you get in the huddle everyone's super calm, and I felt again like this week was a similar feeling where people were confident."

Starting the game and rotating for the most part on a quarterly basis with veteran Brett Rypien (J.J. McCarthy did not suit up and Sam Howell served as the emergency third quarterback but did not play), Brosmer was busy from the onset, attempting passes on his first three snaps, and enjoyed some success.

Highlights of his initial two drives included a third-and-5 conversion to Lucky Jackson and a bulleted throw to Jeshaun Jones on a third-and-10. A personal foul on Jones' tackler inched Minnesota into scoring range and set up Will Reichard for a 42-yard field goal – and the Vikings a 3-0 lead – soon after.

Rypien, who finished 7-for-14 passing with 62 yards and an interception, came out swinging too.

The 29-year-old nearly completed a chunk pass, targeting Tim Jones, on his very first snap when he entered in the second quarter (Jones, unsuccessfully, tried tight-roping the sideline). Rypien responded on the next play with pinpoint precision on an out-breaker to Thayer Thomas and then started to heat up on his second drive, dinking and dunking down the field until breaking for the 2-minute warning.

Following the pause in action, Rypien hooked up with Jeshaun Jones for 18, advancing to the Titans 12.

Then, former Vikings defensive lineman James Lynch busted through the interior, whacking Rypien's blindside as he released his pass. The ball wobbled high in the air and was picked off at the goal line.

Rypien was evaluated for a concussion. He re-entered the game with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter.

"I thought both those guys did some really good things. Max, once again showed some of the things he's shown throughout camp. Good decision-maker, made some plays, [bought] a little time with his legs, [converted] some third downs via some tight completions," O'Connell said. "I just thought both those guys did some good things. We didn't do enough to win the game. We had a couple of costly penalties."

Four of Minnesota's six penalties occurred in the first half, which stalled a couple good-looking possessions, most notably a quasi-2-minute drill where Brosmer had 27 seconds starting at Minnesota's 34 and netted 7- and 24-yard completions before Joe Huber was penalized for illegal use of his hands.

"It's always tough to come out short," Brosmer said. "It's one of the harder feelings of football. Sometimes the ball goes your way, sometimes it doesn't. And unfortunately, we didn't capitalize on getting down into the red zone and scoring points. And that's something we've got to go back to the drawing board on and work together as a team and, you know, use it as a learning lesson too."

While his spot on the roster isn't certain, there is zero question Brosmer left it all on the table.

"I think the 'pressure' talk is, you know, if you have pressure something's probably expected of you or you expect it from yourself. And I think it's a good thing. I think the pressure, the cliché is 'the pressure makes diamonds,' and there's so much truth about that statement, especially in athletics," he said. "It's like you're playing in a brand-new stadium that you haven't played in before in Tennessee and you're playing in front of new fans, in front of new people. And it's easier to play at home when you're playing in front of the same people every week, and we have one of the best fan bases in the country. Now we're coming into a different territory and you're kind of feeling maybe, 'All right, I have the expectation to go execute every single play to the best of my ability.' But that's the mindset, just go 1-0 on every play you can and don't focus too far in the past or in the future and usually that calms me down.

Brosmer concluded, "I like to look at the logo on my chest and remind myself who I'm playing for, who I'm playing with, and that keeps me grounded."

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