The Minnesota Vikings held their first training camp practice open to fans on Saturday, and one rookie was notably absent.
Teams aren’t required to put out injury reports during camp, so knowing whether an absence is due to injury or personal reasons is hard to know. Still, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported that the Vikings sixth-round pick was not seen at practice.
Running back Demond Claiborne, the Vikings rookie out of Wake Forest, was not seen at Saturday’s practice after participating in the first few days of training camp according to Seifert.
Demond Claiborne Missing from Practice After Impressive Start
Claiborne is battling for a spot in the Vikings backfield behind starters Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones Sr. The 4.3 speedster had impressed so far this week, garnering the attention of offensive coordinator Wes Phillips.
“Explosive, great feat, great kid,” said Phillips. “There were a lot of growing pains in the spring as far as being disciplined with his footwork, his tracks, and then learning the protection scheme and all the calls and the things that go into it. But you just see a much more comfortable player even in the first few days here, coming into camp.”
He’s also caught the eye of special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, who has been impressed with his return abilities thus far.
“Really excited about Demond. I think he’s done an excellent job. You talk about movement skills, explosiveness,” said Daniels. “I don’t think we’ve had a guy like this since Kene [Nwangwu]. I don’t want to put him in that category just yet. But the way that he moves, the first step, the first step burst that he has, the explosion that he plays with, the lateral quicks and short area, short area quickness and lateral agility that he does have, gets you really, really excited.
Hopefully Claiborne’s absence is short-lived because it’s clear that the team has high expectations for him. The Vikings will be back on the field on Monday, and that will be his next chance to get back to the action.
Caleb Banks a ‘Full Go’ After Rehabbing a Foot Injury This Summer
Another rookie who fans were monitoring was defensive tackle Caleb Banks, who was working his way back from a foot injury suffered at the NFL Combine. Kevin O’Connell said that Banks is now fully healthy and ready to go ahead of preseason.
“He’s definitely full go,” said O’Connell on Saturday. “It’s been a good chunk since he’s played football. We’re building up those reps. He’ll get a little bit more today. We’re being real purposeful with the fact that he’s in there with a lot of the first group.”
Banks is already getting reps with the first-team defense, and could prove to be a key piece of the Vikings defense in his first year. The No. 18 overall pick slid in the draft due to his injury history, but so far things are on track for Banks to play and maybe even start in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers.
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