EAGAN, Minn. — The alarming morning call for Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell came at an unusual time for a break in the NFL calendar, a summer holiday weekend marred by the sudden death of rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson.
The fourth-round pick out of Oregon was scheduled to report to training camp this week with his scout team.
Instead, O’Connell spent much of his preseason meeting Monday discussing plans to honor the affable 24-year-old who didn’t play in the game and how the Vikings are still disappointing. Jackson since he and two friends — Isaiah Hazel and AJ Lytton — were killed in a car accident on July 6 in their hometown of Maryland.
“Between his happiness, the way he attacked life and that spirit of hard work,” general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said, “we were very happy to include him in this building, this culture. It’s a tragedy that he is not. Here.”
Jackson and Hazel’s funeral will be held on Friday. The Vikings said they have donated more than $20,000 toward the expenses, and Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell will attend the service along with defensive coordinator Brian Flores, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels and head coach safety Daronte Jones. The team will fly Jackson’s family to Minnesota in the coming weeks for a private memorial service with Vikings players and coaches.
Jackson’s jersey — he wore No. 31 — and the locker will go unused this season. Players will wear helmets with initials on them, and coaches will wear matching pins.
There were 38 players who reported to team headquarters on Sunday – mostly rookies, quarterbacks and injured players – before the team arrived on Tuesday. O’Connell typically waits until everyone is in attendance to deliver his season-opening address, but this year he took extra time to speak to the first team to recap. the availability of mental health resources and explaining to the players who were closest to Jackson. the group plans to pay tribute.
“Khyree wasn’t part of our team very long, but the way our culture is … it doesn’t take long for guys to build strong bonds and relationships,” O’Connell said. . “During my conversations this summer with some of our former leadership and how they shared their thoughts and things, it was amazing to hear the impact he had in such a short period of time. .”
Perhaps the biggest impact Jackson will leave on the Vikings is a reminder of the fragility of life, and for players, the eternal nature of their careers.
O’Connell said: “I think it’s a wake-up call in many ways that we’re not guaranteed one day on this earth at any time. “And there’s not one player in that room. of making amends that he probably didn’t think about at some point in their grief, just unfair to Khyree and his family how this was, and ‘That would have been how did it go?’ or ‘Could it be me?’ kind of questions.”
That issue became especially painful a week later when second-year wide receiver Jordan Addison was arrested in California on suspicion of driving under the influence. Addison, who was cited as an overachiever before his first training camp, was expected to report to camp on Tuesday.
The Vikings have deferred any disciplinary action from the NFL under its joint player conduct policy, and such sanctions from the league are rarely handed down until the legal process is complete.
Adofo-Mensah said: “Whatever disappointment there may be in Jordan, Jordan has plenty of it.” “She holds herself to a high standard, she’s raised in a big family. She knows the kinds of behaviors she needs to do to be the best version of herself. She’s kind of free from that. To use the words of like discipline and different things like that, we don’t really talk about it like that inside these walls, it’s to design the result we want in the field, and you’re bought into that thing.
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