EAGAN, Minn. — There was double the normal amount of purple Wednesday at TCO Performance Center as Minnesota and idyllic weather hosted Baltimore to begin two consecutive days of joint practices.

The grounds were overflowing with fans, and the fields full of engrossing competition for two hours.

Photogs flocked to Derrick Henry concealing his body-builder biceps with a black long-sleeved shirt underneath Ravens white practice uniforms, and Vikings Legend Randy Moss going incognito in a hoodie. Moss had lines of children, as well as players and staff wishing to speak with him once practice ended, and he also talked shop with recently retired receiver Adam Thielen.

Head Coach Kevin O'Connell met with media right before the session and noted he enjoyed putting together a plan for Wednesday and Thursday in conjunction with Baltimore Head Coach Jesse Minter. The process included O'Connell sending Minter a stack of PowerPoint slides of rules and expectations that are conducive to both teams maximizing time on the grass and maintaining a standard of discipline.

O'Connell also touched on how the joint practices allow for more Xs and Os than a preseason game, which is why teams tend to allocate all the reps in competitive periods to first- and second-team players.

"There's still a lot to evaluate in preseason games, but normally it is guys' ability, technique, fundamentals, throwing, catching, covering, tackling — not so much how they have to handle the 'Football 501' that can go into a regular season NFL game, so we can get into that world out here a little bit," he said. "There's not a ton of game-planning that goes on for these, so there's still a level of, you're doing different things that you want to see, that you want to try, but you're still not at a place where you have four or five weeks of game inventory on the Ravens to really home in on what you want to do."

In a controlled environment, though, O'Connell said there's ways to properly push the boundaries.

"The analogy I always use is I would prefer Rottweilers over Chihuahuas," he said about toughness compared to crossing the proverbial line. "If you've ever walked by a Rottweiler sitting on the front porch, it doesn't have to say a whole lot. But if it needs to, it can do a whole lot. And then vice versa, the Chihuahua that's barking at you from their side of the fence the entire walk by, how intimidating is that?"

While I watched the fields and drills with Vikings defensive players, Craig Peters kept an eye on the offense. Beginning with results from the final period of practice, here are six observations from Day 1.

1. Twice is nice for Vikings offense in 2-minute drill | By Craig

The Vikings first- and second-team offense each received an opportunity in the 2-minute drill, and both groups capitalized in the situation with winning touchdowns.

Each group received the ball at the Baltimore 45-yard line with 1:00 remaining and the defense ahead 26-21.

Kyler Murray and the first offense started the possession with a completion of about 15 yards to Jordan Addison (sorry it's hard to see yardage lines from the vantage point). A short pass to Jauan Jennings gained about 4, setting up a second down.

Despite a little bit of pocket pressure, Murray was able to arc one high off his back foot and get enough mustard on the fluttering football to allow Justin Jefferson to run past the coverage combo of safety Malaki Starks and cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

J.J. McCarthy started the second-team offense's possession with an attempt to Tai Felton that fell incomplete. He followed by going right back to Felton for a gain of about 5.

On third down, Myles Price streaked down the middle of the field, and McCarthy uncorked the ball, giving Price a chance to go up and get it. Price continued his strong preseason by making the snag against coverage by cornerback Chandler Rivers and safety Keondre Jackson.

The players with the second unit streaked down the field to congratulate Price. Tackle Ryan Van Demark hoisted the receiver into the air, and several others, including Murray, came off the bench to celebrate the thrilling end to practice for the Vikings offense.

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2. Twice is nice for Vikings 2-minute defense, too | By Rob

Dealing with congruent time constraints, field position and offensive deficit, Minnesota's first- and second defenses played lights out against Baltimore's rapid attacks; both drives ended on fourth downs.

Both also featured an abundance of pressure on the Ravens.

Dallas Turner teleported to the backfield for a possible sack on the first snap, but Lamar Jackson was allowed to dirt the ball on a screen pass. Jackson responded with a 12-yard throw to Mark Andrews, but that was the only positive of the series. He threw too high to his left on first down, incomplete deep to his right on second, and then Turner confirmed a sack on third, causing Baltimore to burn its timeout.

Jackson connected with a receiver on fourth down, except it was well shy of the sticks.

The Vikings second defense fared even better — and the Ravens second offense even worse.

With QB Tyler Huntley at the controls, Baltimore was flagged for a false start out of the gate. Then, undrafted rookie safety Jacob Thomas applied pressure up the gut and got his hands in Huntley's face to force an incompletion. The Ravens moved early, again, on second down, and after resetting Ivan Pace, Jr., flew into Huntley's lap for a sack. Huntley hurled a pass anyway, and Jay Ward intercepted it … but the play was ruled dead by officials. Tyler Batty joined the party with a sack (maybe a prayer pass that fell incomplete) on third down.

In the end, Baltimore set up for a fourth-and-forever, and then Jay Ward finished practice with a sack.

3. Stacking sacks | By Rob

The defense's dominance with the clock dwindling was a carryover from the other team periods.

By our count, Jackson was sacked seven other times. Of course, Jackson wasn't tackled and is one of the select few quarterbacks capable of escaping on plays that would otherwise be considered surefire sacks. But the Houdini-esque QB didn't attempt at all to scramble and conserved his legs.

That resulted in a fury of individual and team sacks. Jackson was visited in the backfield by Blake Cashman, Joshua Metellus, Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Andrew Van Ginkel and Eric Wilson.

Overall, Jackson's lack of time in the pocket prevented him from stretching the field. The majority of Baltimore's completions were products of quick hits to the perimeter and checkdowns over the middle.

4. Vikings completions hard to find early | By Craig

The Ravens have an admirable roster with playmakers — young and old — throughout the defense.

Coverage by Humphrey, a 10^th-year pro, and Nate Wiggins, who is entering his third season, at corner led the challenge for Vikings receivers during team periods.

Wiggins was able to prevent a catch by Jefferson on one rep, and Humphrey matched up with "Jets" well on another.

Aside from a couple of screens, the Ravens made it tough on Murray and McCarthy for a bit before both QBs caught fire in the 2-minute drill.

5. Close but no cigar | By Rob

Two plays with immense potential in the Vikings defense's 7-on-7 period didn't materialize to their fullest.

The first resulted in a phew reaction when Jackson flicked his prettiest pass of the afternoon on a deep post route to Zay Flowers, who had Byron Murphy, Jr., beat by a step or two. The top player in the Ravens WR room left his feet to make the grab, but it bounced off his hands. Maybe, he heard Murph's footsteps.

The second near-splash favored the Vikings and safety Theo Jackson, who zipped in front of a target 10-15 yards down the field and almost intercepted Jackson. At least a pass breakup, the noise was ah shoot!

6. Up front with a couple first rounders | By Craig

Joint practices make it difficult to see everything at once because of how the teams spread out to maximize their limited time. I opted to spend time watching Minnesota's defensive line and outside linebackers participate in pass-rush drills Wednesday (we plan for one of us to watch Minnesota's offensive line vs. Baltimore's defense if a similar period exists Thursday).

This meant a look at Vikings first-round pick Caleb Banks going through 1-on-1 drills against 2025 third-round pick Emery Jones, Jr., for two reps. Banks won the first in a fashion that prompted someone to shout, "Do it again." On the second rep, Banks was even better with lighting quickness.

Vikings 2025 fifth-round pick Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was matched up with Ravens 2026 first-round pick Vega Ioane. Although Ingram-Dawkins has shown great growth this offseason, Ioane didn't yield.

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