Minnesota Vikings — The Vikings dressed their starters for a half, but Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson and all the other Minnesota starters on offense and defense did not take the field Saturday against the Titans.

Cousins did make the video board at U.S. Bank Stadium and hoisted his arms in appreciation in the first half when the crowd clapped for a Happy Birthday message as his favorite band Switchfoot’s “Meant to Live” played over the speakers. He also was serenaded by the offensive line in the locker room after the game.

But the Vikings fell 24-16 in their second preseason game of 2023. 

The Vikings opted to start Nick Mullens and play him the entire first half before bringing in rookie Jaren Hall.

Mullens finished 13-of-23 passing for 151 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 76.5.

He led scoring drives of 48 yards (six plays), 45 (10 plays) and 46 (seven) that resulted in field goals of 45, 33 and 26 yards by Greg Joseph and a 9-7 halftime lead. The group suffered from penalties and was unable to build and sustain momentum.

“Really some sloppy things that were totally in our control in the first half offensively,” Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Had some opportunities to maybe finish those drives with touchdowns, and we just did not do it, and when we weren’t able to get drives going, most of the time, penalties struck again. I know a lot of these guys aren’t getting a ton of [practice] reps … but I still would like to believe that we can play clean football and execute the play call without penalties or mental errors, and we’ve got to continue to work through that with the group that was out there.”

O’Connell opted to have the offensive line that started open the second half with Hall, but the group also started slowly.

Minnesota finally reached the end zone with 5:50 remaining in the game. Rookie running back DeWayne McBride powered in from a yard out to end a 12-play, 83-yard drive led by Hall.

Hall finished 4-of-7 passing for 49 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 78.9.

The Vikings tried to get the ball back to give Hall an opportunity to lead the team in the 2-minute drill, but Minnesota was unable to stop Tennessee on a third-and-1 from the Minnesota 45-yard line.

“We got it to one score there, just couldn’t get that last stop,” O’Connell said. “Tried calling some timeouts and seeing if we could maybe get one more drive for Jaren. I would have loved to have seen him in that end-of-the-game, 2-minute drive, but it just didn’t come together.”

O’Connell prioritized the joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday with the Titans as the most valuable window to have starters compete.

The following players did not play: OLB Marcus Davenport, RB Alexander Mattison, WR Jordan Addison, CB Byron Murphy, Jr., QB Kirk Cousins, CB Mekhi Blackmon, WR K.J. Osborn, WR Justin Jefferson, CB Akayleb Evans, S Harrison Smith, S Camryn Bynum, RB Kene Nwangwu, FB C.J. Ham, LB Brian Asamoah II, CB C.J. Coldon, Jr., S Josh Metellus, C Garrett Bradbury, LB Jordan Hicks, RG Ed Ingram, LT Christian Darrisaw, LG Ezra Cleveland, RT Brian O’Neill, WR N’Keal Harry, TE Johnny Mundt, TE T.J. Hockenson, OLB Pat Jones II, DL Jonathan Bullard, DL Dean Lowry, DL Khyiris Tonga, DL Harrison Phillips, OLB D.J. Wonnum and OLB Danielle Hunter.

“I know we sat a few more guys this week than we did last week, mainly because of the reps we had Wednesday-Thursday with our first groups and the substitutions among those first groups,” O’Connell said. “Very much looking forward to this week with the Arizona Cardinals coming to town. It’s going to be hot. We’re planning on just a little bit more work during the practices rep-wise as part of our build toward the season, so it’s going to be a big-time challenge for our guys.”

Notes/injury updates: Addison is in concussion protocol but is likely to return next week; Blackmon left Thursday’s practice early; Nwangwu has been sidelined for a bit with an undisclosed ailment; Asamoah is working his way back; Bullard did not participate Thursday after returning Wednesday.

O’Connell said Harry dealt with “a little bit of a soft tissue kind of aggravation in warm-ups and we wanted to be smart with him instead of trying to make him push through it, but that was unfortunate. Wanted to see him tonight.”

The Vikings had six flags accepted against them for a total of 35 yards, but there’s always hidden stories with penalties.

The most glaring infraction occurred on a third-and-9.

Malik Willis fumbled the snap and recovered the ball. He kept it alive before throwing an incompletion, but officials flagged Jaylin Williams for holding.

Instead of facing a fourth-and-9 at the 38, the Titans received a fresh set of downs.

Rookie Tyjae Spears scored on the following play after using a nifty scissors move to get past a tackle attempt by Lewis Cine.

Dykes, who just signed with Minnesota on Thursday, opened the game with a 38-yard kickoff return that was Minnesota’s best of the night.

The kickoff return unit looked cleaner on multiple returns, but others resulted in being stopped well inside the 25-yard line.

Dykes totaled 112 yards on five returns.

Greg Joseph was 3-for-3 on field goals and kicked his lone extra point through the uprights.

Ryan Wright had a few boomers, averaging 48.0 yards, but his shortest — a 28-yarder — resulted in the Vikings getting the ball back after Titans cornerback Tre Avery made contact with the football.

Tay Gowan recovered it for Minnesota.