EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings were plenty busy as players reported for training camp on Tuesday, giving right tackle and offensive line leader Brian O'Neill a big contract extension and adding 10th-year veteran Jamal Adams to bolster their depth on defense.
The most consequential camp development was still waiting to unfold, with quarterbacks Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy set to take turns with the first team offense during the first practice on Wednesday — and for as long as it takes for the Vikings to declare a starter. Each player will also work with the second team to add another layer to the evaluation that will be led by head coach Kevin O'Connell.
“We want to be comprehensive, but at the same time I think it’s important when we feel good about a decision as a group and we’re ready to move forward to do that so we can prepare that player for the season but also give the team and our players clarity of exactly the direction we’re going,” O'Connell said.
Entering his fifth season on the job with 43 wins but none in the playoffs, O'Connell will ultimately face as much scrutiny over his ability to get the best out of his quarterback as the quarterback will himself around his performance.
Murray, with seven years of experience, is the clear favorite to win the spot. O'Connell, though, has steadfastly committed to an open competition even if that has limited Murray's repetitions with a new and complex offense. The joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens for Aug. 19-20 create a natural deadline on the schedule, but O'Connell declined to put the decision on a public timeline.
“I know both guys will feel like they’ve got an opportunity to compete, and they both know — and everybody on our team knows — we’re going to do what’s best to give us a chance to be a really good football team this year,” O'Connell said.
New general manager Nolan Teasley, who joined O'Connell for a pre-camp news conference at the team's practice facility on Tuesday, will provide valuable input as well after his time in the front office with the Seattle Seahawks.
“When it’s decision-making time, ultimately you want to give your coaching staff that freedom to make the choice,” Teasley said, “but certainly I should have the ability to offer a different vantage point and we’ll discuss it actively.”
With a four-year, $96 million extension, the Vikings gave Brian O'Neill a new contract that's the second-largest among NFL right tackles in terms of annual average value, just behind Lane Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles.
The new deal, which will run through the 2030 season, is expected to lower his current-year salary cap hit. Most importantly, it's another step toward long-term solidification of an offensive line that has been in perpetual flux under O'Connell.
“He’s been somebody who has poured in everything since I’ve been here and a long time before that,” O'Connell said. “I know Brian is going to go out there and have the best year yet with the type of offseason he’s had.”
Adams, the sixth overall pick in the 2017 draft, made three Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro in 2019 with the New York Jets. He has been an excellent blitzer who set the NFL season record for sacks by a defensive back (9½) in 2020 after being traded to the Seattle Seahawks. Injuries have derailed him since then, with Minnesota becoming his fifth team in four years. Adams severely tore his quadriceps in the 2022 season opener.
Adams, who transitioned to linebacker in a part-time role last year with the Las Vegas Raiders, has 55 tackles for loss, 22½ sacks, eight forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and four interceptions in his career.
Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson are set as the starters at inside linebacker, with rookie Jake Golday learning behind them, but Adams can provide valuable depth and another tool for defensive coordinator Brian Flores to work with. Starting safety Josh Metellus is one prime example of a player who has thrived in the scheme while moving around to different spots to better maximize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses.
As for the status of veteran safety Harrison Smith? He has yet to declare his retirement, or commit to coming back. And that's just fine with the Vikings.
“Nothing has really changed,” said O'Connell, who spoke recently with Smith. “There was never an expectation at least on my end that now would be the time that we would really dive into that.”
The Vikings announced they'll induct running back Adrian Peterson into their Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony on Nov. 9, a Monday night game against the Buffalo Bills. They also revealed a three-week suspension for defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander, who pled guilty earlier this month to drunken driving.
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FILE - Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Brian O'Neill (75) watches before an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Jamal Adams (33) walks off the field prior to an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Dec. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Maria Lysaker, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia's forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days, shattering a brief pause in fighting.
All Iranian missiles launched against American forces in the Middle East were intercepted, U.S. Central Command said, adding that they “remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness.” In announcing the strikes in Iraq, the U.S. warned that further attacks on American troops or Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure risked additional action.
The United States and Iran had experienced a period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for days following weeks of escalation over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway and narrow chokepoint through which 20% of the world’s traded oil normally flows.
There was no immediate comment from Tehran on the U.S. military statement or the strikes.
The fighting flared at the end of a month packed with multiple pressure points on President Donald Trump. In recent weeks, four U.S. troops died during the fighting, while the Pentagon asked an increasingly skeptical Congress for money to cover the conflict’s ballooning costs.
High gasoline prices tied to the choked-off Strait of Hormuz are contributing to fears that Republicans are vulnerable in November’s midterm elections. The U.S. House narrowly passed a resolution to halt military action in Iran last week, sending another warning to Trump that reflects the war’s unpopularity with many Americans.
Trump has repeatedly retreated from threats to knock out bridges, power plants and other infrastructure but he told Fox News Channel earlier Tuesday that Iran knows he’ll “finish the job” if its leaders don’t make a deal to end the war.
Iran launched its ballistic missile attack before American and Saudi forces carried out strikes in Iraq, according to a U.S. official, who stressed that the two attacks were not connected. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military operations.
“U.S. and Saudi fighter aircraft struck multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in a strong response to over 30 IRGC-directed aerial drone attacks in the last 72 hours,” U.S. Central Command said, using an acronym for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
It said the Revolutionary Guard “and its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further U.S. military response.”
The Saudi Defense Ministry acknowledged the strikes in a post on social media, warning that “the Kingdom emphasizes that it does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression it faces.”
Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their self-styled blockade of the kingdom.
The kingdom's Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones that had tried to target petroleum facilities in the nation's eastern region. It said the attacks were “once again launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iran-affiliated terrorist militias.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered security agencies to investigate after the Saudis alleged a similar attack on Monday. The Iraqi military said the country is committed to “preventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries.”
The Iraqi militias have denied any role in the drone attacks. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, called the Saudi claims “fabrications" and implied that Monday's attacks were carried out by the Houthis, who had themselves claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities.
The Houthis claimed to have fired missiles at the Saudi oil tanker NCC Ghazal, forcing it to turn back. Last week, they announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, putting another key Middle Eastern waterway — through the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea — at risk.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said a tanker reported hearing explosions while traveling in the southern Red Sea. It did not name the tanker but said the crew and vessel were safe.
The rebels fired on at least one Saudi tanker in the Red Sea last week.
Iran and the U.S. had paused their fighting over the weekend, though tensions remained high even as officials said mediators achieved progress in getting the two sides back to negotiations.
Iran said earlier Tuesday that U.S. strikes during an earlier period of escalation destroyed an airport and a marine control tower, and caused damage to 12 bridges and two tunnels, among other infrastructure.
Iran had effectively closed the strait when the war began by firing at freighters and tankers off its coast or threatening them. Following the signing of an interim ceasefire deal in June, a battle for control over the strait erupted.
Iran demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and said it can potentially charge fees. Ships were increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation when Iran attacked some vessels.
The new strikes came on the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Trump at the White House for the first time since the two launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28. Israel has been notably absent from the recent fighting with the Islamic Republic.
Netanyahu said it was an “excellent” meeting, and Trump called it “very good,” noting that “many important subjects were discussed.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. ability to intercept Iran’s incoming strikes has become an increasingly salient issue as lawmakers, members of the military and experts raise concerns over the nation’s diminishing stockpiles of missile interceptors.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, pushed back on those concerns, saying the military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the president’s choosing.”
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
An Iranian pro-government demonstrator waves her country's flag in a gathering at a square in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A demonstrator prays as he holds an Iranian flag in a pro-government gathering at a square in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man walks past anti-U.S. graffiti on the wall of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Small boats line the shore as cargo ships and other commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
Young men ride motorcycles along the shore as a tractor pulls equipment from the water and commercial vessels appear anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
