Despite heat, offense looks crisp

Jim Rueda here following the Vikings' Wednesday afternoon practice session at Minnesota State.

The team worked out exclusively in Blakeslee Stadium as the heat returned with temperatures in the mid-90's and high humidity. In addition to a few 11-on-11 drills, the team did a lot of special teams work.

The offense looked fairly sharp with Tarvaris Jackson hitting Greg Lewis with a 30-yard pass near the left hash mark and then finding Jaymar Johnson with a high-arcing touchdown pass near the left sideline. Sage Rosenfels got into the act, finding Mark Mitchell with a 30-yarder near the middle of the field.

Near the end of practice, the Vikings worked a little on their Wildcat formation. Jaymar Johnson took a number of direct snaps during the drill but said it was probably just a one-time thing.

 "That was mostly to give the defense a chance to look at it," he said. "I was just filling in back there. You won't see me doing that during the season."

Fullback Naufahu Tahi was back for both practices Wednesday and showed no signs of the injury that kept him sidelined for much of the week. The same was true of Darius Reynaud who seems to have embraced his position change from wide receiver to running back.

The Vikes have just two more practices left before they break camp. There's one at 9 a.m. Thursday morning and another at 2:15 Thursday afternoon. The team is expected to hold a mass autograph session after the first practice.