The first look at J.J. McCarthy throwing footballs could come if he participates in rookie minicamp after the April 24-26 NFL draft, but we know for certain that he'll be on the field and working out when the Minnesota Vikings report for organized team activities (OTAs) in May.
The first day of Minnesota's program is April 21, and things really ramp up in May and June as the Vikings hold OTAs and mandatory minicamp. Overall, it's a nine-week period that is broken up into three phases.
Phase One is the first two weeks, consisting of meetings and strength/conditioning workouts. Phase Two is the next three weeks, where teams move into on-field workouts but are still limited to drills and walk-through reps. Phase Three, the final four weeks, includes 10 organized team activity (OTA) sessions with padless, contact-free full team reps. There's also a mandatory minicamp during the third phase of the offseason program.
These are the dates for the Vikings:
Rookie minicamp May 2-5 or May 9-12. The Vikings haven't announced which weekend it'll be just yet.
Either way, training camp is coming sooner than later and before you know it the Vikings will be putting on the pads for hot summer practices and preseason games.
