Note: “Jerick’s journey into the NFL” will run each Sunday during the preseason in the Statesboro Herald.

    During Minnesota Vikings training camp sessions, the alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m.
    Jerick McKinnon has an hour to get ready for the day and eat breakfast with the team.
    Quickly after that, special teams meet. Then, offense and defense break off into their meetings. Then a walkthrough. Then, suit up and practice. Then, special teams walkthrough.
    After all of that, it’s not even lunchtime.
    There’s enough time to grab a shower and something to eat, then it’s back to the grind.
    After the offense and defense have more meetings, there’s 30 minutes to suit up and get back out on the practice field for two more hours. After that, it’s time to recover in the cold tub and meet for dinner for an hour.
    Then, after another special teams meeting, the offense and defense have more meetings. Finally, at around 9:20 p.m., the day is, for the most part, over. McKinnon has enough time to grab some food — he prefers Chipotle — and after that, curfew is 11 p.m.
    McKinnon watches film until he falls asleep.
    Is there any time for anything other than football during NFL training camp?
    “Not really,” McKinnon said. “The mind is always on football. Sometimes you overthink.”
    McKinnon saw the fruits of his labor last week in the preseason opener against Oakland. He was the game’s leading rusher.
He continued on Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals to battle with Matt Asiata for the No. 2 spot in a Vikings backfield that contains Adrian Peterson, one of the best in the game.
    “It feels pretty good to finally be out there,” McKinnon said. “It’s something you dream about since you’re a little kid. Seeing that game atmosphere was a blessing.”
    McKinnon doesn’t pay much attention to what goes right on the field. It’s all about fixing his mistakes.
    “100 percent,” he said. “It’s all about getting better and developing when you’re a rookie. I didn’t have any big mistakes, but I’m really hard on myself. I developed that at Georgia Southern, because of coach (Jeff) Monken and the staff. It’s something I've carried with me. I’m just waiting for my opportunities. I’m learning from Matt when he’s in — taking mental reps and getting better that way. When I get in, I do what I can and then learn from the film.”
    On Thursday, McKinnon had the opportunity — or the misfortune, depending on how you look at it — to take his mind off of football for a brief moment. The rookies put on a “rookie show” for the veterans.
    As of Wednesday, McKinnon hadn’t sorted out his performance yet.
    “It’s tomorrow,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Aw man, it’s tomorrow. From the looks of it, I might have to sing. I’m not trying to sing though. I just need to hurry up and put something together and get it over with. If I sing, I’m probably going to sing John Legend. That’s what they want. They want you to sing so they can laugh at you and boo you.”
    Then, it’s back to the grind. Anybody who’s heard an NFL quarterback in the huddle or at the line of scrimmage knows that the play calls are complex. So complex, in fact, that the string of calls and audibles have instructions for every player on the field.
    Once McKinnon figured that out, it was like a lightbulb went off.
    “When you get into it,” he said, “every position is packed into the play call. It’s long. Once you figure out what to ignore, it’s pretty easy. At first, I was listening to the whole call and it was throwing me off. Once I figured out how to listen for my position — the play within the play — I was good to go.”
   
    Matt Yogus may be reached at (912) 489-4908.