Wednesday’s practice at TCO Performance Center was the official end of training camp, the last workout before the last preseason game, set for 7 p.m. Friday against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

By all measures, it’s been a good camp for J.J. McCarthy, and the young quarterback went out with a bang, completing 26 of 33 passes — including a few highlight connections — in a roughly two-hour scrimmage under blue skies and a hot, late-August sun.

With the top offense and defense mostly playing against the second units — with many players subbing in and out of the latter — McCarthy was 7 for 7 with completions to four different receivers on the first drive, and completed three touchdown passes on a late red zone drill.

Confidence, McCarthy said, is “Extremely high. Highest it’s ever been.”

It was a good way to end camp for McCarthy who, despite missing all of last season because of a knee injury, will start the Sept. 8 opener at Chicago with just one preseason possession under his belt.

Most, if not all, starters will sit out Friday’s game as head coach Kevin O’Connell and his staff prepare to cut the roster to 53 active players before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. CDT deadline.

“I feel like just looking at the other guys, the coaching staff, that gives me all the confidence in the world,” McCarthy said. “They’ve got my back, and all of our backs. I get goosebumps right now just thinking about it.

“We put in the work, the rest is going to take care of itself. But the confidence, as a precursor to the work, it just makes me really excited.”

Here are more takeaways from the final day of training camp:

How is McCarthy?

Well, terrific. He was in control of the offense, hung tough in the pocket, and with the exception of one or two throws, hit receivers on the hands or the numbers. He did not throw an interception and hit a variety of receivers.

He mostly found Jordan Addison, who will miss the first three games because of an NFL suspension resulting from a DUI arrest last summer. But maybe his best play was a touchdown pass to Lucky Jackson on a red zone drill. He also found Thayer Thomas a few times at the tail end of his progression for gains over the middle.

His last connection — a long timing route to tight end Josh Oliver — was one of the best and, appropriately, the final play of the scrimmage.

Before practice, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips was asked if anything about McCarthy’s camp has surprised him.

“Well, we drafted him,” he said. “We thought he was good.”

Who stood out?

— Those were all big catches for Jackson and Thomas, two young receivers trying to make the team, if only to fill Addison’s role early — particularly as the Vikings are reportedly looking at a possible free-agent addition.

— In a two-man battle to be the team’s punt returner, Silas Bolden won the day, catching everything sent his way by punter Ryan Wright while his competition, Myles Price, fielded punts from Oscar Chapman and dropped the first one before recovering it near his own end zone.

Asked before practice what the team was looking for from its kick and punt returners, special teams coach Matt Daniels said, “Tracking the ball, catching the ball and decision making. Probably ball security is going to be at a premium.”

— Left tackle Christian Darrisaw, returning from a knee injury that prematurely ended a strong season, played a lot of snaps Wednesday, a good sign with the season opener three weeks away.

Quote of the day

“In season, it’s kind of difficult; I feel like every time I close my eyes I’m going to fall asleep.” — Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, on practicing meditation

Injury report

— Tai Felton, hoping to catch on as a depth receiver and returner, appeared to injure his left hand early in Wednesday’s scrimmage and didn’t return. He left the field with a bandage on his left thumb.

— Linebacker Blake Cashman watched the scrimmage from the sidelines. Safety Harrison Smith also was absent.

What’s next?

After Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff at Tennessee, the coaching staff has to trim down to an active roster of 53 players by 3 p.m. CDT on Tuesday.

J.J. McCarthy #9 of the Minnesota Vikings is tackled as he carries the ball in the second quarter of the preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium on Aug. 10, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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The Vikings might have the best group of pass catchers in the NFL.

Not only do they have a talented trio in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jalen Nailor at receiver, they have a security blanket underneath in T.J. Hockenson at tight end.

The issue for the Vikings is they won’t be a full strength for the foreseeable future.

Though it appears Jefferson is nearly back to 100% after suffering hamstring injury early in training camp, Addison will open the season with a suspension that will keep him out until Week 4, and Nailor is dealing with a hand injury that could linger.

That might explain why NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero recently reported that the Vikings are exploring the trade market.

There’s no reason for the Vikings to overreact to their current situation, so a blockbuster deal with, say, the Washington Commanders for the disgruntled Terry McLaurin seems like a long shot.

That doesn’t mean the Vikings won’t try to improve their roster, either by flipping a pick in the middle rounds, or swapping a pick in the later rounds.

Here are five receivers that make sense for the Vikings:

Adam Thielen

This would be much more than the Vikings making a fun headline.

Never mind that Thielen isn’t as impactful as he was with the Vikings at the peak of his powers. He’s shown he still has tread on the tires with steady production since signing with the Carolina Panthers.

It’s not crazy to think the Panthers would be willing to part ways with Thielen if the price is right. They have a number of young receivers that need playing time, including Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker.

The sticking point for the Vikings might end up being money. Are they willing to pay Thielen’s base salary of roughly $6 million if he will likely take a backseat as soon as Addison returns from his suspension?

The pros might outweigh the cons when considering everything Thielen brings to the table. He wouldn’t need much time to acclimate to the offense after playing for Kevin O’Connell in the past. He also caught passes from J.J. McCarthy over the summer during a workout at Woodbury High School.

Odell Beckham Jr.

This wouldn’t require the Vikings having to give up an asset as Beckman is currently a free agent. There have been multiple reports over the past couple of weeks indicating Beckham is hoping to continue playing in some way, shape or form.

Beckham isn’t the dynamic player he was in his prime. He struggled to produce during his most recent stint with Miami, for example, and probably can no longer be a player that drives winning by himself.

Could he still be a meaningful contributor in a lesser role? If the Vikings decide to engage with Beckham, O’Connell would be a big part of answering that question.

That Beckham already has some familiarity with O’Connell could go a long way in his potential recruitment, as they seemed to bring out the best in each other on their way to winning a Super Bowl together with the Rams.

Allen Lazard

If the Vikings are looking for experience, it’s worth keeping an eye on Lazard over the next couple of weeks. He has underwhelmed since signing with the New York Jets, so a change of scenery could be in order if the Vikings show interest.

The most intriguing part about Lazard is that he probably wouldn’t cost much.

There’s still a lot to like about Lazard on paper, however, as he’s a proven pass catcher, and his 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame makes him a legitimate threat in the red zone. That’s how he made a name for himself with the Packers early in his career.

Kendrick Bourne

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they didn’t get an opportunity to see Bourne in person during joint practices with the New England Patriots. He’s still working through a leg injury that has kept him off the field for the past few weeks.

There’s a chance Bourne gets cut by the Patriots in the near future, so the Vikings could get him without giving up an asset. If they decide they want to jump the line, they could probably swap a pick in the later rounds to make it happen.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (1) warms up before playing against the Los Angeles Rams in an NFL preseason football game, Sunday, Aug.11, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. Rams defeated the Cowboys 13-12. He could be a potential trade candidate for the Vikings. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis)

Jalen Tolbert

There have been examples of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah buying the dip in the past. He did it early in his tenure with the Vikings, acquiring Jalen Reagor from the Philadelphia Eagles without paying a premium.

Could the Vikings do something similar with the Dallas Cowboys? Just because it didn’t work out with Reagor doesn’t mean it won’t with Tolbert.

It’s worth noting Tolbert would probably cost the Vikings a little bit more than some other players out there. He was selected in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft and could be in position to take on more responsibility for the Cowboys.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday sided with the Trump administration and stayed a lower court’s order keeping in place temporary protections for 60,000 migrants from Central America and Nepal.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco granted the emergency stay pending an appeal as immigrants rights advocates allege that the administration acted unlawfully in ending Temporary Protected Status designations for people from Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal.

“The district court’s order granting plaintiffs’ motion to postpone, entered July 31, 2025, is stayed pending further order of this court,” wrote the judges, who are appointees of Democrat Bill Clinton and Republicans George W. Bush and Donald Trump.

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Temporary Protected Status is a designation that can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary, preventing migrants from being deported and allowing them to work. The Trump administration has aggressively sought to remove the protection, thus making more people eligible for removal. It’s part of a wider effort by the administration to carry out mass deportations of immigrants.

Secretary Kristi Noem can extend Temporary Protected Status to immigrants in the U.S. if conditions in their homelands are deemed unsafe for return due to a natural disaster, political instability or other dangerous conditions.

Noem had ruled to end protections for 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans after determining that conditions in their homelands no longer warranted them. Their designations are set to expire Sept. 8 after more than two dozen years working in the U.S. after Hurricane Mitch devastated both countries in 1998.

TPS designations for an estimated 7,000 people from Nepal were scheduled to end Aug. 5.

The National TPS Alliance did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

In a sharply written July 31 order, U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson in San Francisco kept the protections in place while the case proceeds. The next hearing is Nov. 18.

She said the administration ended the migrant status protections without an “objective review of the country conditions,” such as political violence in Honduras and the impact of recent hurricanes and storms in Nicaragua.

In response, Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary at DHS, said, “TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system, yet that is how previous administrations have used it for decades.”

The Trump administration has already terminated TPS designations for about 350,000 Venezuelans, 500,000 Haitians, more than 160,000 Ukrainians and thousands of people from Afghanistan and Cameroon. Some have pending lawsuits in federal courts.

Lawyers for the National TPS Alliance argued that Noem’s decisions are unlawful because they were predetermined by President Donald Trump’s campaign promises and motivated by racial animus.

But Drew Ensign, a U.S. deputy assistant attorney general, said at a hearing Tuesday that the government suffers an ongoing irreparable harm from its “inability to carry out the programs that it has determined are warranted.”

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end TPS designations for Venezuelans. The justices provided no rationale, which is common in emergency appeals, and did not rule on the underlying claims.

By MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — At least 600 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are receiving permanent termination notices in the wake of a recent court decision that protected some CDC employees from layoffs but not others.

The notices went out this week and many people have not yet received them, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 2,000 dues-paying members at CDC.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

AFGE officials said they are aware of at least 600 employees being cut.

But “due to a staggering lack of transparency from HHS,” the union hasn’t received formal notices of who is being laid off,” the federation said in a statement on Wednesday.

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The permanent cuts include about 100 people who worked in violence prevention. Some employees noted those cuts come less than two weeks after a man fired at least 180 bullets into the CDC’s campus and killed a police officer.

“The irony is devastating: The very experts trained to understand, interrupt and prevent this kind of violence were among those whose jobs were eliminated,” some of the affected employees wrote in a blog post last week.

On April 1, the HHS officials sent layoff notices to thousands of employees at the CDC and other federal health agencies, part of a sweeping overhaul designed to vastly shrink the agencies responsible for protecting and promoting Americans’ health.

Many have been on administrative leave since then — paid but not allowed to work — as lawsuits played out.

A federal judge in Rhode Island last week issued a preliminary ruling that protected employees in several parts of the CDC, including groups dealing with smoking, reproductive health, environmental health, workplace safety, birth defects and sexually transmitted diseases.

But the ruling did not protect other CDC employees, and layoffs are being finalized across other parts of the agency, including in the freedom of information office. The terminations were effective as of Monday, employees were told.

Affected projects included work to prevent rape, child abuse and teen dating violence. The laid-off staff included people who have helped other countries to track violence against children — an effort that helped give rise to an international conference in November at which countries talked about setting violence-reduction goals.

“There are nationally and internationally recognized experts that will be impossible to replace,” said Tom Simon, the retired senior director for scientific programs at the CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.