Vikings camp observations: Irv Smith shines in front of big crowd

Irv Smith received an invitation this summer to Tight End University, the NFL-wide summit the Chiefs' Travis Kielce and 49ers' George Kittle created with former tight end Greg Olsen for players around the league. During the June get-together in Nashville, Smith made a point to find Kittle, the two-time Pro Bowler who's excelled in an offense that shares plenty of roots with the Vikings' scheme.

"We pick each other's brains, for sure. He's had a lot of success in this league in similar offenses. Just going back and forth, our favorite plays and our favorite routes and what we like to run. 'How you get open on this play, against a certain defense when they show this look? How do you go about it?'" Smith said. "It was super cool having everybody there and learning from each other."

Smith was the Vikings' top receiving tight end a year ago, but with Kyle Rudolph gone, the third-year player ranks as the most established member of the tight end group now. He certainly looked the part on Friday, making a pair of acrobatic catches during a strong afternoon in the Vikings' third practice of camp.

His best grab of the day came on a leaping attempt over Mackensie Alexander along the sideline. Smith bobbled the ball, but tracked it on the way down and managed to come down in bounds with it on his chest.

"I just want to go out there and make plays — in the run game, the pass game," Smith said. "I feel like in all aspects, run after the catch, the first man should never tackle me. If they do, I should be fined by the tight end room, but I don't think so. So little things like that, I just try to be hard on myself. Coaches have high expectations. I know players do, Kirk does. I'm just excited."

Here are some other camp observations from the Vikings' third practice of the week on Friday:

• The crowd was the Vikings' biggest of camp, as cooler weather and slightly less smoky skies brought out a larger group on Friday afternoon than was present for the Vikings' first two practices. The general admission bleachers in the end zones were nearly full, heading into the Vikings' Saturday evening practice inside TCO Stadium.

• Four players again missed practice — first-round pick Christian Darrisaw, kicker Riley Patterson, center Cohl Cabral and cornerback Jeff Gladney, who once again was the only player not present, a day after his grand jury hearing in Dallas County that should determine by early next week whether domestic assault charges will be filed against the 2020 first-rounder following an April arrest.

• Bashaud Breeland and Alexander got first-team work at left cornerback during the middle of the practice as Cameron Dantzler left for part of the session. Dantzler later returned to take part in team drills, though Breeland could have a strong chance to start after getting $2.075 million of guaranteed money from the Vikings in a one-year deal. He picked off Cousins on a crossing route as the quarterback threw late for Justin Jefferson while retreating from pressure.

• The Vikings had their first scuffle of camp on Friday, when center Garrett Bradbury and defensive tackle Armon Watts got into a brief shoving match at the end of a pass-rushing drill.

• Wide receiver Bisi Johnson left practice, and did not return, after going down while breaking on an out route during a receiver/cornerback drill. Johnson stayed down on the field briefly, but was able to walk off without assistance as he left with athletic trainers.

• Fourth-round pick Kene Nwangwu had a nice moment in the middle of practice after catching a swing pass from Kellen Mond, shaking a defender near the sideline and showcasing his open-field speed on the way to the end zone. Mond fielded a low snap on the play from Wyatt Davis, who's been doing some work at center the past two days and said the position is fairly new to him, aside from a little work at Ohio State.