Vikings day at camp: Defense perks up during afternoon practice

Defense shows signs of life in the afternoon

Hours after boss man Mike Zimmer accused his star-studded defense of being complacent and softer than the offense of late, the defense perked up with a little more chippy effort in the afternoon practice. Zimmer had been particularly critical of how the defense had been getting beat in the daily "situation" drill. Thursday's situation drill put the offense in its own territory while trailing 16-10 with 1:07 left. The defense held while the offense ran nine plays without reaching the end zone.

Cornerback Xavier Rhodes and receiver Stefon Diggs took turns throwing some Pro Bowl-caliber haymakers at each other. During a 7-on-7 drill, Rhodes went up and ripped a ball out of Diggs' grasp. Later, during one of the few deep balls spotted at this camp, Diggs got a step on Rhodes before hauling in a well-thrown pass from Kirk Cousins that would have been a touchdown during an 11-on-11 session.

Sheldon Burns, the Vikings' longtime team physician, almost became his own patient during the seventh period of Thursday's practice. He was standing on the sideline when Cousins threw a pass to Adam Thielen right in front of him. Safety Harrison Smith closed quickly, got tangled up with Thielen before leaping over a water cooler and accidentally clipping Burns and knocking him on his backside. But the old doc shook it off after being helped to his feet.

The Vikings went to a team goal-line drill during the third period. The first four snaps by the first units saw ups and downs for both sides. Dalvin Cook scored easily on a sweep left on the first play. Cousins was flushed from the pocket and would have been sacked by Smith on the second play. A pass over the middle on the third play was too hot to handle for well-covered running back Ameer Abdullah. And, finally, Thielen took a pitch on a misdirection play and found the end zone on the fourth play.

"A guy told me, 'If you win the Super Bowl, we're going to elect you governor.' I said, 'I don't want to be governor.' That's the last thing I want to do." — Zimmer on a fan he met at Canterbury Park this week.

Aviante Collins, who's competing with Rashod Hill for the swing tackle position, had to be carted off the field with a left leg injury suffered in a live goal-line running play. Defensive end Stephen Weatherly, who left practice Wednesday, didn't practice Thursday. Defensive tackle Curtis Cothran missed another practice. Nose tackle Linval Joseph continues to go through some individual drills while being held out of team drills. Mike Hughes and David Morgan are still on the physically-unable-to-perform list, while Tashawn Bower and Sharmar Stephen are still on the non-football injury list.

MARK CRAIG