On why the offense was wearing the white jerseys during practice yesterday instead of the blue jerseys: “We’ve always done it. I’m not talking about here. We’ve always done it, we switch them.”
On DE Devin Taylor’s role decreasing this season: “I still think that he’s improving, but I also think obviously, George (Johnson) has been playing extremely well. Darryl (Tapp) has a role as well. He’s a guy that’s been around, has a good sense of what we’re doing schematically. Devin, you just don’t see him quite as much because of the number of guys that are rotating in. I think that’s a good thing as opposed to a bad thing, but I do think he’s been improving. We’re not disappointed with how’s he’s progressing, and I expect before the year’s out, you’ll see some good things from him.”
On what kind of a bonus it’s been to get production out of Tapp and Johnson: “Well, I think with that entire group, George has added some depth to it and Darryl as well. So, it’s allowed us to rotate them. Anytime that you can rotate guys in a position in the trenches, it’s a good thing. And we rotate them quite often freely because of the fact that they’ve all been productive for us. That front four has been pretty tenacious and one of the reasons why they’ve been tenacious is because they’ve been fresh. They haven’t been overworked in a ballgame, which could easily happen to you, particularly with some of the no huddle stuff that we’ve faced.”
On how pleased he is with DT Nick Fairley’s play and his physical condition: “He’s been really diligent in terms of taking care of himself and doing the things that we’ve asked him to do. He got his weight down to where he’s most effective, I think. Not only that, but he’s enjoying himself and he’s having a very fine year. Active, disruptive and really full of energy, so we’ve been pleased with his progress.”
On if there’s a weight he would consider being too light for Fairley: “That could be a concern, but right now he’s probably right around 299, 300 pounds, 305 is probably a good range for him. But I don’t think you have to worry about the other end of it.”
GMEN HQ
On why WR Golden Tate is so good with picking up yards after catch: “He’s probably one of the quickest guys that you will see from a start and stop standpoint. He does that so quickly that it’s difficult to tackle him, to get a beat on him. You think he’s going in one direction and all of the sudden, he puts the brakes on and he spins out of it. I think he has an uncanny knack for that, it’s a pretty special quality and trait. You don’t see it much. Primarily you don’t see it much in this league because the minute you stop, there’s quite a few fast guys that are on their way. But he has the other portion of it that makes him effective and that’s the starting part of it. So, he can stop and get rolling. Most of the time, you tell guys, ‘Hey listen, you put your foot in the ground, you take one plant and cut and you better go because they’re going to close it in on you rather quickly.’ But he has a special knack for that.”
On Tate’s lack of ego and ability to step in and be the No. 1 receiver: “I probably would not describe him of having a lack of ego, in that regard. Let’s just say this, he does not have an ego problem. I think we all have egos, but we don’t have an ego problem. He does not have an ego problem. That shows that obviously, he is determined to be a quality player who is also a very good leader and a very good teammate as well.”
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On if it’s disappointing that the offense hasn’t fully clicked yet: “Certainly not and I do think it sometimes takes perspective. Often times, we lack that because of the fact that this is a right-now business. And also, I think you have to understand too that from our standpoint we see things in practice probably before you see them in games, and the incrementals and the sort of improvements and things. But I think that happens throughout the season regardless of how long you’ve been in a system. I had been in a system for nine years and it happened in the 10th year. You still see improvement, you still see growth, you still see development, that’s consistent. And the exact same thing could happen in this offense seven years from now. We’d still be talking about the same thing. That’s just kind of the nature of it. I think it’s kind of a blend between the competitive portion of it that you see from different teams adjusting to what you do, and then also your familiarity with how well you do and what adjustments you make off of it. So, it’s going to be constant, never-ending. You never get to a point where you see an offensive system in this league that is exactly the same juggernaut each and every week. That’s rare, that’s really rare. And so, there’s going to be some ups and downs, ebb and flow, but hopefully it’s enough to get you wins. The reason why we’re talking about it is fact that we’ve dropped two, but nevertheless, if we had performed a little bit better, we’d probably be having a different conversation. Maybe about the same thing because the point totals may be the same, but I do think there’s improvement. I’m not disappointed at where we are. We just have to keep working. The fact of the matter is, we’re not where we want to be, but we’ve just got to keep hammering home and trying to make certain that we get better along the way.”
On how players can move on from a tough loss: “I think that most of the young guys are resilient and I do think they bounce back. But sometimes, you find different things linger. Now, don’t think it’s not bothering them today. You’d be naive if you thought so. They have a way of compartmentalizing things, putting it behind them a little bit. But until you get that next victory, it’s still going to bother you a little bit. The thing that I think they can do is they can adjust. They can reboot and start over again.”
The Viking Age
On if there’s anything different in the way the team will defend the Vikings’ read option and play action: “The system, and everyone is kind of doing something a little bit different, Washington, when RGIII (Robert Griffin III) was in, was running a little bit of a different sort of scheme, protecting the quarterback a little bit more with what we call a bash tight end leading in front of more of an off back leading in front, which takes away the mesh point problem, things of that nature. Cam Newton runs a variation of what we will see this week, but I think what makes them unique, because the scheme is not that different from what Carolina does, but what makes it different is the guy with the ball in his hands. This guy is quicker, he has bursts of speed that you can underestimate, but he’s fast. That’s what I think really makes it tough. Now, how do we defend it? We have to make certain that we take care of our gaps, take care of our assignments and not try to do anybody else’s job. The minute you do that, he’s out in the open on the run.”
On his experiences with Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer: “I’ve been in the league 14 years, so my first year we didn’t face him at Tampa, but I know for a fact we played Cincinnati every preseason game for the most part at Indianapolis. We might have played him a few times during the year. Obviously, at Baltimore we played him twice. So, it’s a pretty good number of times that we’ve had a chance to see him. He’s a real fine coordinator of defenses, a real fine leader and I don’t think it’s any exception to what they’re doing now. They give you all kinds of problems. He understands offensive schemes very well. That’s why he’s such a good defensive coordinator. He knows where your problems lie. They have something for everything within their scheme. Obviously, he’s doing a tremendous job there where he is now.”
On his most defining memory of playing in the Metrodome: “I’ve only been in the dome once or twice, I think, in terms of coaching there. I remember my first game there actually. I had gotten fired at Wake Forest and Denny Green was the head coach with the Minnesota Vikings at the time, and so I was out of work and I hadn’t been to a pro game in a long, long time after coaching for that number of years in college, 20 -something years. I called him up and said, ‘Hey, you think you could get me a couple of tickets to the game?’ We flew up and watched the game and they were playing Green Bay. It was quite a game. But then we played there and I can’t remember if we won or loss when we were there. A noisy place and I do remember the motorcycle. You don’t forget those kinds of things and the place seemed to shake when you’re there. Quite an atmosphere.”
On how playing Minnesota outdoors changes the nature of the game on Sunday: “It makes it a bit different, obviously. The weather is such where you’re going to have a wind factor, where indoors you don’t. Obviously, it could be a little bit colder than it is inside, but we’re an indoor team with an outdoor mentality, so that’s not going to bother us. We practice outside, but it does make for dealing with the elements like you do at a number of different places. University of Minnesota’s stadium is a bit different than the one that they had years and years ago. It was a little different. At Iowa we used to battle for Floyd of Rosedale in that game against the University of Minnesota. That was a long time ago.”
On if he played in TCF Bank Stadium: “No, the stadium that we are going to play in this coming week is a newer stadium than the one that they had. They had an old stadium. I can’t remember the name of it. As a matter of fact, I knew where the dressing room was. In the dressing room you could look out and you were almost looking out at field level because it was down a little bit at the end of the stadium. You kind of had to walk up and I do remember that over the couple of times we played there. Some old memories.”