The calls for an Adam Thielen reunion are mounting for a Minnesota Vikings team that has seen its wide receiver room ravaged by injury.
Justin Jefferson is ramping up at practice after missing a month with a hamstring strain. Jordan Addison will miss the first three games due to suspension for an alcohol-related offense, but the biggest development is Jalen Nailor being ruled week-to-week with a hand injury.
The state of the wide receiver room led Kay Adams to ask head coach Kevin O’Connell about the prospect of bringing back Thielen, which would require a trade with the Carolina Panthers.
While O’Connell pivoted to coachspeak, he couldn’t hide the grin on his face.
“What is that smile?” Adams chuckled.
“This is the first I’m hearing of that idea,” O’Connell quipped after regaining his composure.
Adams played into the bit with the Vikings coach before he added, “I love Adam Thielen. Talk about the 2022 year, you don’t build something from Day 1 the way these guys did and the players did without players like Adam Thielen… Huge fan of Adam Thielen.”
Vikings Fans React to Kevin O’Connell’s Response to Adam Thielen Reunion
Several accounts on X (formerly Twitter) shared O’Connell’s reaction to the Thielen question, highlighting the coach’s grin.
Adams continued to fan the flames as an account reshared the video, saying, “Oh, it’s happening. She responded: “I know right???!!!”
“Bring him home,” one fan replied.
“That smile by Coach tells me Thielen is going to be traded back to Minnesota even if he didn’t say anything #Skol,” another fan wrote.
Adam Thielen Already Has Chemistry With Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy
The possibility of Thielen landing in Minnesota has legs.
Thielen is considered a trade target due to the Panthers’ wide receiver room overhaul over the past two years. Carolina has spent back-to-back first-round picks at the position in Xavier Legette and No. 8 overall pick Tetairoa McMillan.
Thielen also has chemistry with J.J. McCarthy. The two have practiced together the past two summers in Minnesota before their respective training camps.
Thielen has shown nothing but high praise for McCarthy and has experience with bringing along a young quarterback in Bryce Young the past two seasons in Carolina.
“He’s got all the things it takes to be a successful player in this league, and kind of the things that we talked about about how I’ve gotten to year thirteen, he’s already got it,” Thielen said in a July interview with KSTP. He’s got consistency, he’s got that mindset. He’s got all the skills to be able to play at a high level. So I’m really excited now, my second summer working with him, to see him get an opportunity, and to see what he does with the opportunity, because I see it. Now, on the field, just his mindset, and all the things that it takes to be to be a great core mechanism League, and I’ve been around a lot of great ones. He has everything you need, so I’m excited to see.”
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