The Minnesota Vikings enter their second padded practice and their seventh training camp practice overall on Wednesday. It’s an important practice, as the Vikings have a day off on Thursday.

It could be a huge differentiating factor in the quarterback competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy. A big day from Murray or McCarthy could swing the tide.

What happened on Wednesday? I was live at TCO Performance Center. Let’s break it down.

J.J. McCarthy starts strong and has a solid day

The first team period of practice was 7-on-7 with McCarthy getting the first reps. He looked a lot more comfortable operating the offense during that period, including a nice corner route to Jeshaun Jones. It was an important step for McCarthy, who has been inconsistent thus far.

Once they did team drills where it appeared to be a full drive, they were a mixed bag for McCarthy. He had a couple of reps where he was processing well, but had a couple of sacks where he didn’t sense the pressure very well. Would have liked to see some better recognition, especially during red zone drills, where he was operating slow.

McCarthy’s two-minute drill was with the twos against the twos was solid, getting the ball to the 32 yard line with four seconds left for a field goal attempt to win it.

Kyler Murray continues to attack deep

When Murray came into his 7-on-7 period, he was immediately attacking downfield. He tried to hit Tai Felton on a dig route a smidge late, but Theo Jackson jumped it for a near pick. He later found Jauan Jennings on a 40-yard post route for a score and peppered in a couple more digs. The edict seems to be challenging Murray to throw down the field and he’s delivering on that.

Once he got to team drills, Murray continued to attack vertically. He found Tai Felton on a 60-yard post route in team drills. Murray continues to be unafraid to attack vertically. He was still processing quickly, and was taking the check down when necessary.

This was also the first day we got to see the legs pop for Murray, which was a long time coming.

In two-minute drill with 1:10 left and one timeout, Murray was excellent with the ones against the ones, completing all three passes, including a jump ball touchdown to Jefferson from 54 yards out. He’s also had a nice scramble to avoid pressure and pick up six yards.

Who was better?

This is the question that everyone wants to know. You can spin this whatever way you want it to. They were both good on the day, but Murray attacking vertically as well as he did keeps the gap in the quarterback battle at least where it was today.

In order to take steps forward in that gap, McCarthy will need to stack days of consistent processing and show he can attack vertically like he did. The real winner is the Vikings, as they had two good quarterback performances.

We need to talk about Tai Felton

Over the first six days of training camp, there were multiple moments where Felton flashed. It think we are past it being a flash in the pan, and he’s now just good at football.

Felton was consistently getting open every which way, including scoring on a deep post from Murray. He’s showcasing a well rounded ability to get open, especially deep. That will translate in this offense.

We may be looking at a K.J. Osborn situation with Felton.

Other notes

• Safety Jakobe Thomas flashed during individual special teams blocking drills. He did a great job exploding through blockers and attacking downfield. Unfortunately, he looked to pull up lame on a one-on-one and it appeared to be a hamstring, but he did return.
• Edge rusher Dallas Turner wreaked havoc in the team period with a multitude of pressures.
• Rookie cornerback Charles Demmings had another pass breakup and had a nice rep against Justin Jefferson where he was in lockstep with him, including another one in the red zone on a fade stop.
• Wide receiver Dontae Fleming continues to create separation on routes. Stacked Isaiah Rodgers in one-on-ones for a near completion on the sideline. Then, he stacked Dwight McGlothern on the next rep. Overall, he’s showing a plus ability to run routes.
• Running back Demond Claiborne has another drop, marking three drops in two practices. Not a great showing for him.
• Linebacker Jamal Adams showed out on Wednesday. He smacked Claiborne in the hole n a run play for a loss and got another one and the same way during red zone drills. He’s got a pop in his pads.