The Browns and Vikings will be very familiar with one another once the final whistle blows after their preseason Week 2 matchup on Saturday.
The two teams had two joint practice sessions this week and will meet at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Aug. 17. Most of the reps during the two days of practice featured first and second-string players, with the game providing a chance for players further down the roster to showcase their talent.
Minnesota received bad news this week as their first-round pick, QB J.J. McCarthy, will miss the season after undergoing knee surgery. Veteran QB Sam Darnold took reps during Wednesday's practice and is expected to be the team's Week 1 starter.
"It's tough, but he's so young and he has so much ahead of him that even though he won't be out there getting reps, he can still do a bunch of stuff in the film room, in the meeting room, studying the plays," Vikings C Garrett Bradbury said after Wednesday's practice.
The Browns and Vikings had a spirited but clean practice Wednesday and had another competitive session Thursday. Ahead of the joint session, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell emphasized his respect for head coach Kevin Stefanski.
While the two coaches never overlapped at the same time, Stefanski spent 14 seasons with the Vikings in various roles before taking the head coaching position with the Browns in 2020.
"I just have to say, the Browns organization and mainly Kevin Stefanski and his staff, who do these things [and] are as important as actually getting them scheduled, and I think he's just phenomenal. I've got so much respect for him," O'Connell said before Wednesday's practice. "Detailed, organized but he's got a great way about him. Great to work with and I think we're going to get two really good days of work in here."
O'Connell spent most of his time Wednesday with the offense, meaning he got a chance to see Browns DE Myles Garrett up close and personal. Garrett had an explosive day, getting to Darnold multiple times for would-be sacks.
"I told him today after practice, I said, 'You know what? To me, it looked like you got some good work. I'm not going to speak for Coach Stefanski but if you want to take tomorrow off, that is totally alright by me," O'Connell joked on “Voice of the Vikings” after practice.
O'Connell added that he respected Garrett's willingness to play hard on every snap and called him "one of if not the top edge rusher in the league."
Wednesday's practice featured run at thud contact, meaning players could hit each other but not tackle players to the ground.
Vikings CB Camryn Bynum said he enjoyed getting to go against non-teammates at close to full speed.
"Just going against other people and not going against your own guys just gives you a little more space to be more physical," Bynum said. "So, us being able to go against some people we haven't seen yet made it more fun and the energy was up and the pads, you could hear them popping too."
One exciting matchup this week was between Vikings WR Justin Jefferson and Browns CB Martin Emerson Jr. The two battled back and forth throughout the two practices, with Jefferson scoring a long touchdown Wednesday and Emerson answering with an interception Thursday.
"With a defense like they have on their side of the ball, it's great work going against them in joint practices," Jefferson said. "[Emerson is] definitely a tremendous corner and we've been going at it this whole entire joint practice, so it's definitely work on both sides."
Jefferson, the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, said that he could see Emerson emerging as one of the top cornerbacks in the league.
"He's a long physical corner. He's definitely going to cause some problems out there on the field," Jefferson said.
