It wasn't a perfect performance, but it didn't need to be.
It's practice, after all.
The first of two joint practices with New England on Wednesday returned eight former Vikings players, including longtime starters Stefon Diggs and Garrett Bradbury, to their old stomping grounds. It provided an extra competitive setting, with some unscouted looks, for both teams to keep working out the kinks.
It also placed 2024 top-10 draft picks J.J. McCarthy and Drake Maye under heightened scrutiny, on adjacent fields against respective first-team defenses that were pinning their ears back to pass rush.
How did they fare? Fine overall, each with some shaky passes that were maybe forgotten about due to other impressive moments. Maye, for instance, hit TreVeyon Henderson for a long TD in a 2-minute drill.
McCarthy turned in a sharp sequence in the clutch, too.