Vikings coordinators on defending McCoy, Carlson's misses, adding Bailey and more
Every Thursday during the regular season (when the Minnesota Vikings play a Sunday game), the three coordinators speak to the media. Here's a few highlights from this week's press conferences:
Defensive coordinator George Edwards
Q: What are you seeing from Josh Allen on film?
A: I see a guy that’s got a strong arm, he’s very mobile in the pocket. He’s got a lot of scrambles where he’s picked up first downs throughout the course of the preseason and these first two games, so he’ll be challenge for us. We’re excited about the challenge, but again, this is going to be his second start. They’ve got some things offensively that they gear towards his skill set. He’s very impressive in his ability to get free in the pocket. He’s got a pretty good feel for it and being able to throw the ball down the field.
Q: What did you see from Mackensie Alexander on Green Bay’s 27-yard completion?
A: In that coverage right there you’d like to see him see number two. He got locked in on number three, but that’s one of those experience things that we got to count on to be able to see that and be able to adjust to it in the course of the game.
Q: Are you still trying to solidify who’s going to be taking most of the snaps at nickel, or is that based on specific matchups?
A: Everything we do is kind of geared around a matchup from week to week, and also with the players as we go through the week, what we’re comfortable seeing them do with their skill sets. That’s something where we’re fortunate enough to have two young guys that are able to play the position, so right now we’re using both of their skill sets from package to package.
Q: How do you see Tom Johnson fitting in?
A: It’s great to have Tom back. He’s a player that we definitely wanted to keep last year. We didn’t get the opportunity to, but what he brings as far as the pass rush and things inside, just with the rotation inside, he’ll help us tremendously as we progress down the road. We were elated to get him back, Rick [Spielman] and his staff getting him back in here, and he’s hit it running. We’re just working through this week trying to get him prepared for this game.
Q: Does having Tom Johnson increase the defensive line’s ability to rotate?
A: Yeah, I think right now we’re just feeling out exactly where he is. He’s been going through the offseason and he’s just been here for practice one day. He looks good, he’s working his butt off, and he’s got pretty good recall for what we’ve got going into the game plan this week. We’re just looking for him as we progress to see where he’s at towards the end of the week, and just see what different packages we’ll be able to use him in.
Q: Last year you had a lot of success defending running backs coming out of the backfield in the passing game. What can you carry over, especially facing LeSean McCoy?
A: We definitely got to do a good job there. One thing coming out of last week’s game that we were trying to put and emphasis on was tackling in the open field, and this guy [LeSean McCoy] makes a lot of people miss underneath in coverage. We’ve really got to do a good job with our vision, keeping our head up, the angle that we take in the open field, and getting to the football with a reason and wrap up tackle and get him on the ground. He’s [McCoy] their number one receiver when you look at it at the end of the day. Him being able to catch the ball and pick up yards after the catch is indicative of his skill set, so we’ve got to do a good job that way.
Q: Coach Zimmer has been honest about why he’s handled play calling himself, but you’ve also handled play calling in the preseason before. What are those conversations like between you and him?
A: I keep those conversations private. I think coach Zimmer has explained exactly what he thinks and what he feels. I’m here to do whatever it is to help us win ball games at the end of the day.
Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo
Q: Did you learn anything about Kirk Cousins in that fourth quarter?
A: No, I’d seen Kirk do those things before. It just solidified what type of leader he is and the type of “You’re never out of the game.” That showed our team to play to the end. Play for four quarters. I think it showed our whole team a lot from Kirk’s standpoint.
Q: What was your perspective on Kirk Cousins’ throw to Adam Thielen?
A: There is a fine line. There are certain points in a game situation you have to take chances. If that was a random second down in the middle of the second quarter, I would’ve been like, “Hey, that one is a little tight.” But if you are trying to drive down and win the football game. There is less than a minute to go in the game. Those are the chances you have to take. You want your quarterback to feel comfortable and feel confident in themselves throwing those types of balls in those situations. Depending on the situation you’re in, in my mind, I didn’t read Kirk’s comments, but in my mind that is a situation you need to take a chance.
Q: How encouraging was it to see Pat Elflein get a full practice in yesterday?
A: It’s great. It’s great. We are ready for him to be back out there. It’s just a matter of the medical stuff and none of us are doctors except the doctors. Unfortunately, that stuff is out of our hands. We are ready for him to be back out there.
Q: Is there anything you can do for Laquon Treadwell to rebuild his confidence after a tough game on Sunday?
A: Sure. I think you are supportive. I think you are supportive. As coaches, we are always looking to get every player better every single day and striving to hold guys accountable and doing the right thing and being in the right spot. I think to me, I went back and reminded Laquon how far he’s come since we’ve started. Obviously, he scored his first touchdown of his career in that game in the first quarter. That was a huge play. Crossed the corner’s face. It was a great adjustment. Kirk put a great adjustment on the route which I thought was great. Great read by him. It was just a great play all around. I think people now tend to focus on the negative all the time. I try to focus on some of the positives. Without having my head buried in the sand, there is areas of improvement. We are staying positive. We are staying positive. Are we happy with what happened with the drop and the interception and those things? No. That can’t happen. The whole world knows that can’t happen. At the same time, the kid did some really good things in the game on Sunday.
Q: What did you see from Laquon Treadwell’s body language yesterday?
A: Yes, he is ready to move on. There is no doubt. Obviously, he was disappointed on the sideline during the game. I told him to pick his head up. He has bought in to having short term memory. That is something I preach to the offense since the day I got here was that none of us are going to have success in this league if you don’t have short term memory. He has bought in and we’ll see this week. He had a good day of practice yesterday and obviously we’ll see on Sunday.
Q: What do you see from Kirk Cousins’ ability to be aware of the pass rush but also how he performs under pressure?
A: It was really, really impressive on Sunday. The throw to Thielen, going away from the tunnel, on the third-and-seven, on what we call a circus route, which is basically two step inside release up vertical to 15, roll it out to 18. It was against 22-man. He just had two guys just bearing down on his face. He stood in there, stepped and threw. Knew he was going to get hit. I think that shows everybody, not only our team but a football world, how tough a guy Kirk is. That is not easy to do. Not every starter in the NFL can do what he did on that play. I think you recognize that. I think you show that. I think that it obviously earns him respect as a legitimate tough guy. That is what you need to have success to play this position.
Q: How impressed were you with Brian O’Neill coming in the fourth quarter and how he was able to handle things in pass protection?
A: Brian’s situation was like coming in with a full count, bases loaded, World Series Game 7 and I thought he performed well. I thought he performed well. That was a tough time of the game to come in and your first time as a rookie. I thought he handled himself well. There were a couple times he got bulled a little bit and the guy came down the middle of him. I thought he settled in after the first play or two. I thought he did a really, really nice job.
Q: How is the communication when you are deciding in overtime to take a shot or set up the field goal?
A: When Latavius [Murray] got down to the 20-yard line, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? If there is a mis-exchange, if there was an interception, if there was a fumble. There are two sides of the coin to that. Obviously, the kicker was struggling. But to echo coach [Mike] Zimmer’s words, using his exacts words, “We are expecting him to do his job.” I am not using my words. I am using the head coach’s and he was right. I thought coach Zimmer made a great decision there to be quite honest with you.
Special teams coach Mike Priefer
Q: Is there any way in-game for someone that doesn’t have experience essentially shake it off? How hard is it to restore someone’s confidence in the midst of everything going on?
A: Right before overtime started I brought the three specialists together and said, “Hey guys, lets relax. Let's have some fun. Let's go out and do what we do and it’s going to come down to us winning this game.” Unfortunately, he missed two in overtime. So, my pep talk didn’t work very well unfortunately, but that’s the kind of thing you have to help a young player with. He missed one and kicked off well and made three PATs. I thought for sure he was going to make that 48-, 49-yarder the first one in overtime. I know that didn’t end the game there. We had a kickoff and play defense. I was shocked he missed that. I think that really hurt his confidence and he kicked all three same way, he pushed them right. If anything you want to at least overcorrect if you need to. A lot of times young kickers will overcorrect and he misses it left. To miss all three right that was the tough part for me I think those situations there you’ve got to at least correct the last one it was 35 right down the middle of the field. Dan knows this, Danny know this. He felt horrible. I’m sure it was a very tough, difficult for he and his family and I wish him the best because he was a great kid and fun to be around and he’ll bounce back. He’ll be in this league again.
Q: What was the mistake on the blocked punt?
A: It was on our right side. It’s a look that we did all week. In fact we did it both games prior to because that’s one of their good looks. They executed, we didn’t. That’s what it boiled down to. We didn’t do a good enough job getting our depth. That’s going to be corrected.
Q: With Dan Bailey’s body of work, how do you weigh what he did in the beginning of his career to how things ended in Dallas?
A: I studied all his kicks before we signed him and again after we signed him. I’ve gone over a few of those kicks with him. He’s very, very intelligent. He understands his craft. I think part of that last year at the end was that he was over compensating for his injury like a lot of guys do – kickers, punters, anybody, football players in general, athletes in general. They’re going to over compensate when they have a back, groin or something wrong with them. He hit the ball yesterday and he’s fine. He is perfectly fine. He hit the ball great. We worked on the side with the snapper and holder. He’ll kick some more field goals. He’ll kick off with the team today. He’ll kick field goals with the team today and then we’ll get ready for Sunday.
Q: Considering your struggles in the past with PATs, how encouraging is it to see that he’s only missed two PATs during his time in Dallas?
A: He’s known for just being accurate and just kicking touchbacks. He’s also very good kickoff specialist as well. It’s very encouraging. It’s encouraging for our football team as well. We’re a team that is built on field position – giving our defense good field position, our offense great field position and let them go do their thing. Complementary football is a big thing for us and he’s going to fit right into that.
Q: With less than a week to prepare, what are the most important things for a kicker to address before the game on Sunday?
A: Terminology, what we call certain things on kickoff in the heat of battle when I mentioned a liner kick and he connects. He knows what a liner is. That’s not hard. That’s stuff you have to cover. He came in for about an hour, we watched some tape, went over our game plan, what our strengths are, what we need to do kickoff wise. Then of course the work with the holder and the snapper. That’s the key. That’s who got a lot of reps in yesterday and we’re going to get a lot more in today. Matt [Wile] will adjust just like he did when he first got here with Daniel [Carlson]. Dan is one of those guys. I like his personality because he came in and he’s like, “Hey man just put it down, I’ll kick it through.” He’s not being arrogant, he’s just being confident. He knows we’ve got a good snapper, we’ve got a good holder if we do what we’re supposed to do he’s going to put the ball through the uprights.
Q: Do you think it was important to upgrade the specialists this offseason?
A: In the NFL as you guys know you’re always looking to get better. Kai [Forbath], I mentioned this before, Kai had a good solid performance but sometimes he kicked them too low, he missed a lot of PATs, he’s not as strong on kickoffs, and Kai again did a great job for us. Again, when he left I thanked him for all his work, but you’re always trying to get better. Like I said Dan [Bailey] would have been the type of guy to upgrade that spot. He wasn’t available this offseason. We looked at some other guys and some other guys signed big money other places. Rick [Spielman] felt it was the best thing and I agreed with him to bring in a young kicker. The best one we felt coming out of the college draft. He won the job and the he just didn’t get the job done on Sunday. I think in the NFL you’re always looking to get better with what you got. Which is most of the time or you need to upgrade and you need to upgrade like we did this week.
Q: With how high you drafted Daniel Carlson and time you put into him, how surprised were you that this happened? Was there any confidence issues?
A: No. I mean he’s young. I hate to use that as an excuse because we drafted Blair [Walsh] and he went to the Pro Bowl his rookie year, so it’s kind of the two sides of a coin. I was shocked that he missed three in a row. I’m shocked that he missed the first one to be quite honest with you because I have a lot of confidence in him and his ability. That was a tough pill to swallow because I really thought, me being me, I felt partially responsible. Could I have done something different? Could I have reminded him of something else on the field? And that’s just kind of how I’m wired. Of course I didn’t miss the kick but at the end of the day that’s part of my job is to help this young man and help the young men that I coach to be confident when they go out there and perform.
Note: Quotes courtesy transcripts provided by Minnesota Vikings
