Friday's game provided ample opportunity for players who haven't gotten as many practice snaps as those higher on the depth chart.
"You find out what they learned," Vikings Coach Kevin O'Connell said. "You find out who can learn, maybe, without the maximum number of reps. Because you go into training camp and you try to communicate to those guys that reps are coming, so maximize your walk-through reps, maximize your meeting time when you're going through the practice tape and you're watching somebody else get coached up at the positions. You've gotta be able to apply that.
"That is such life for a lot of young players in this league, to be ready for their moment when called upon," O'Connell continued. "We've had a lot of guys — a lot of guys who came in under different circumstances, whether it's a rookie minicamp tryout guy who catches the eye of his position coach, or it's a guy like Max [Brosmer] or Myles Price, and you just go down the line.
"Especially on the defensive side, there's some guys who really came on and started to get some real work with the first and second units," he added. "I told the team, this group came together in a way that you could feel it. You can feel it in the locker room. We've got a lot of hard decisions to make."