Vikings' Jakobe Thomas returns to extensive practice; Theo Jackson not seen
The second-year safety was back flying around with the ones for his first extended work in a couple of weeks, while Theo Jackson was absent from the session Alec Lewis observed.
The Vikings got a defensive back back on the field Monday. Safety Jakobe Thomas was mixing in with the first team during practice — his first extensive work in a couple of weeks, per Alec Lewis — and was, in Lewis' words, "back and flying around."
Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis): Vikings practice just wrapped up a bit ago. Didn’t see S Theo Jackson, so it was a lot of Jacob Thomas and Jakobe Thomas mixing in with the 1s. Jakobe Thomas was back and flying around, his first extensive practice in a couple of weeks.
Thomas' return is a small but meaningful bit of depth news for a Minnesota secondary that has been managing bodies all camp. Getting a younger safety back into the rotation with the ones this close to the regular season is exactly the kind of ramp-up the staff wants to see rather than a player racing the clock.
The flip side of the same observation: Lewis did not see safety Theo Jackson during the session, a notable absence given how the reps were distributed. With Thomas back in the mix and Jackson out of view, the pecking order at the back end of the roster is shifting in real time during the final week of camp — the kind of detail that tends to matter once cutdown decisions get made.