The Minnesota Vikings continue to prepare for the 2015 NFL season in Mankato, with one of the immediate tasks at hand being game planning for the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday night. The additional preseason game (against the Steelers) gave the Vikings the opportunity to start camp a little earlier this year and give players and coaches an extra game to figure out this season's roster and overall plan.

Some of the most notable elements of Thursday's activities were the return of Coach Zimmer and John Sullivan after brief absences. Zimmer was away visiting his father, who is dealing with some medical issues; while Sullivan was away for the birth of his child. Notably missing Thursday was linebacker Anthony Barr, who was out for the day due to what Coach Zimmer called "left-knee inflammation". Other players out for the day included offensive linemen Joe Berger and David Yankey, reciever Gavin Lutman, and defensive linemen B.J. Dubose and Scott Chrichton.

In the presser after morning walk-throughs, Teddy Bridgewater expressed excitement about this Sunday's Hall of Fame Game. He also addressed one of the biggest concerns facing the team this season. The porous offensive line that allowed opposing defenses to get to the quarterback a lot last season continues to be in question, but Teddy shared words of optimism for the line, calling them "new and improved" and saying he feels comfortable behind them.

During the afternoon practice, key standout moments included a few very nice connections between backup quarterback Shaun Hill and rookie wideout Stefon Diggs. Diggs has been getting a lot of hype during camp, and it's easy to see why.

A non-practice related observation worth sharing is that many Vikings fans have apparently forgiven Adrian Peterson for the situation that kept him off the field last season and the following standoff with the team over his contract. Droves of fans sported Peterson jerseys and excitedly waited for autographs as he made his way off the field at the end of the day. It can't be said that everyone has moved on and forgiven him though, based on the uproar on social media from a training camp family day tweet from the Vikings that drew some sharp comments from fans this week. Those voices, while loud, appear to be in the minority as AP and the team have mended things up and they look to get back to football.

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