Vikings HC praises Christian Darrisaw’s work thus far in training camp

(ABC 6 News) — The Minnesota Vikings have more than 10 million dollars in salary cap space, but they have not been aggressive in signing any free agents in the last few weeks.

Thus far in training camp, center Garrett Bradbury has continued to struggle in pass protection. Bradbury has put on more than 10 pounds, but he still has been pushed around this camp.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell says the starting center job is still open, but he has praised the work of Christian Darrisaw, who has been working to lock up the blind side spot.

"I’ll tell you one thing about him – he’s so physically gifted," O’Connell said. "The strength, he’s got great feet, he’s got the length to play that position. It’s tough with some of the rushers they have to go against, but I think it’s an underrated thing we don’t talk about enough – the game makes sense to him."

"It’s been great getting out here and being able to compete now against each other," Darrisaw said. "Having the new coaching staff… it’s everything just being out here and being able to put it all on the field now and put it on film so we can get ready for the season."

The Vikings will trout out the first iteration of the starting offensive line when they take on the Las Vegas Raiders on August 14 in the first game of the preseason.