The Minnesota Vikings will host the Baltimore Ravens at noon CT on Saturday, Aug. 22, in their lone exhibition game this season at U.S. Bank Stadium. Kevin O'Connell said Kyler Murray will not play, and J.J. McCarthy is likely to start.
That makes the game the next checkpoint after two days of joint practices at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, where the teams focused on starter against starter work rather than loading up the preseason game with first-team snaps. It is the kind of setup that tells you the real work happened during the week, even if the game carries the label on the schedule.
The timing matters because this is the only exhibition contest the Vikings will play at home this season, and the broadcast plan is already in place for fans across the region. KMSP FOX 9 in the Twin Cities and affiliates in 11 markets across the Upper Midwest will carry the game, with Anchorage and Fairbanks in Alaska also on board, while KFAN, KTLK 1130-AM/FM 103.5 and the Vikings Audio Network handle radio coverage. The pregame radio show begins at 10 a.m. CT, and Vikings GameDay Live airs on FOX 9 at 11 a.m.
There is still a practical wrinkle buried in all that planning: the practices were built around first-team work, but it is unlikely that many, if any, first-teamers will play in the game. That leaves McCarthy as the clearest face of the afternoon, unless the plan shifts before kickoff.
Fans in the Twin Cities and designated international markets in the United Kingdom and Canada can stream the game on the Vikings app or Vikings.com, while out-of-market preseason viewers can use NFL+ or NFL+ Premium. Nolan Teasley will join the simulcast in the third quarter, and Joshua Metellus will join in the fourth, but the bigger answer still sits at quarterback. If McCarthy starts, the Vikings Game becomes less about padding the preseason and more about one more controlled look before the real season arrives.
