November 9, 2024 • 10 mins
Vikings Radio Network sideline reporter and former NFL linebacker Ben Leber gives the key to quarterback Sam Darnold’s success, what drives wide receiver Justin Jefferson and what has triggered the Vikings’ defensive performance with senior reporter J.P. Shadrick on Countdown to Kickoff.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Contown to Kickoff continues ahead of the Vikings and Jaguars matchup,
and we visit now with the Vikings Radio Network sideline
reporter Ben Lever. It's week ten, We're three weeks to Thanksgiving,
and boy want a race in the NFC North right now.
It's gotta be fun week to week. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm doing great. JP's great to see you and great
to be on with you. It's very exciting. You know,
I was conflicted last week when green Bay was hosting
the Lions. Here I am saying, hey, this might be
the only time I really cheer for green Bay and
they're like I was saying that around some of the
guys at the radio station and they're like, well, why
would you cheer for green Bay. I'm like, well, don't
(00:38):
we want them to knock off the Lions? And they're
like yeah, but you know, if the Lions are so
going to run away with this, like we really want
that number two spot, like we want to solidify that
number two spot, Like gosh, you're right. I was like
thinking that we have to get to the top of
the heap, and you know, we have to get that
number one seed potentially, and you know, they kind of
(00:58):
talked me out of that. Okay, well, well maybe I
guess I'll cheer for the Lions then. But it's really,
it really is kind of fun to be in this
battle to see who's going to either first, finish first
or second.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, of all years for the Jaguars to play the
NFC North, this is the year. Great, That's just kind
of how it's gone for the Jags. And they're right
in the thick of it, Jags at Detroit next week.
So this kind of is what it is. They just
said the Packers a couple of weeks ago. Let's talk
about this Viking team. And I mean it starts for
me obviously with the quarterback at his play this year overall,
(01:30):
Sam Donald unexpected starting quarterback this year. He wasn't supposed
to be out there, but the last year he is.
And what is it about now? Why is this the
season where Sam Donald has finally figured it out?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I wish I really knew the full answer to that.
I just know that he does play with a ton
of confidence. I didn't I didn't know much about his
personality before he got here, but I am very impressed
with I think his calm demeanor, he never, never, once
during any of the offseason workouts to any of the
training camp workouts, he never ever seemed like he was overwhelmed,
(02:08):
he was flustered. He never looked like he played with
a lot of pressure on his shoulders. And maybe that's
the way he's always been, or maybe he's just been
tested and he's been hardened through his journey that, Okay,
you know, I don't have to lead this franchise. You know,
he came in here knowing his role. His role was
to come in be a one year guy, to be
(02:30):
a sort of a mentor to JJ McCarthy. He knew
his lot in life, and I think he accepted that
role and he knew and we've heard from time and
time again how all these quarterbacks really want to play
for Kevin O'Connell. And I think that he knew he
was going to go to a good situation as very
quarterback friendly, and so I think that gave him a
lot of confidence. And that's what he's playing like. He's
(02:54):
just letting it ripped.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Obviously, every player makes mistakes. I mean, he made two
mistakes last week where you threw the ball right in
the hands of defenders and they're sort of you know,
one was kind of an aggressive play, the other one
was just kind of like what do you do in
type of play. But he acknowledges it, he recognizes it.
He's really done a good job of taking away some
of those careless mistakes this year. Again, maybe it's maturity,
(03:19):
maybe it's coaching, maybe it's a combination both. I just
think that he knows that he doesn't have to be
the guy. He doesn't have to force too much. He's
got great weapons around him now that TJ. Hawkinson's back.
You know, he trusts the scheme, and I think that's
a big part of it.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Ben Lieber from the Vikings Radio Network sideline reporter with US.
Yet it helps when you have Justin Jefferson doing historic
things from the outside. I mean, when you're in the
same conversation as Don Hudson. I mean that gives you
an idea of like things like this don't happen. I mean,
he could be one of those guys that leads the league.
And he's on pace to lead the league again in
(03:55):
receiving yardage, and only Don Hudson has is the other
receiver to do it under the age of twenty six.
So historical perspective, right, I mean, Justin Jefferson's ability, we'd
see it every week. But what goes behind that? For Justin?
What drives this guy to be at that elite level
that you've seen.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
He just wants to be the greatest. And I think
a lot of it is against we're so much of
our own journey just kind of forges who we are
as people, as athletes, and for him being a late bloomer.
You know, he was not. He was not a top
tier athlete growing up in high school. You know, he
(04:35):
wasn't one of these kids that you see in Pop
Warner and you're like, oh my god, Like look at
Derek Henry run in high school, like he's going to
be a Hall of Fame running back.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Everybody knew that, like unless something like major happens injury
wise or otherwise, this guy's destined to be an NFL
Hall of Famer. And Justin Jefferson wasn't that. You know,
he was under recruited, only really went to LSU because
of because of family highs, and he really had to
work for everything. And I think that that humility to
(05:07):
work and prove yourself every day, even though he's the
top of the.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
League as far as the receivers go.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Like, I think that still burns inside of him that
he's got to do more. He's got to go out
and prove it again every day in practice. He's got
to go out and prove it. I mean, you know,
when he was going through his contract situation in the
off season, I think so much of it, for all
of us around here, so much of about was more
about what he does off the field. He's such a
great leader. He's great for the community. He has a
(05:34):
right he has the right amount of cockiness and superstardom
to him, but the humility to go along with it.
He's got self awareness, like he's sort of the total package.
And it's like, yeah, pay for what he does on
the field, yes, but he's so important to building the
locker room and building the team and uh and those
guys are so lucky to have him.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and a
lot of receivers we know just jump right over that line. Sometimes.
Ben liber with us from the Vikings radio network. You
and I called a game in London Vikings Jets on
Westwood One where the Vikings defense had three interceptions off
Aaron Rodgers in that game, a couple of underthrown balls. However,
this is a group that's done it all year. I
(06:15):
mean there's second in the league in takeaways, number one interceptions.
I love the veteran back end. I mean Harrison Smith,
like the all time Viking, you know, stuff on Gilmore
does pass rush. Guys are starting to really heat up,
it feels like, but you know, and they haven't really
changed their strikes, right, Bryan Flores brings pressure in a
lot of different ways. What's what what is the status
(06:37):
of this Vikings defense now going into Week ten?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, listen, they are gonna they are gonna heat you up.
You know, we lead the league and blitz straight and
I think pressure rate as well. But that doesn't come
without some weaknesses. You know, when we when we give
up five six rushers, sometimes that only leaves a few
guys in the back end of this defense. I mean
there was there was times in the Los Angeles Rams
(07:01):
game where you know, I saw only five guys in
coverage and they're playing They're not even playing a you know,
a straight up man, They're playing a zone with three
over the top and two underneath and It's like, all right, guys,
if if you're gonna leave these two underneath guys to
cover all this ground, somebody better get home and get
to the quarterback. And that didn't happen. And so if
(07:22):
you're well coached up and you understand where the blitzes
are coming from, and you use your six blockers against
our six rushers, well you're gonna throw the ball on us.
And and I think Brian Flores is okay with that.
It very much is a bend but don't break. It's
you know, you typically see that in a true cover
two scheme. But because he uses so many guys in
(07:45):
the rush, he knows that you're gonna get your yards.
But he also knows, all right, when you get into
that red zone, guess what everything gets is going to
get compressed. And that helps our defense out in our secondary.
So we do a really good job of just keeping
points off the board. But you can throw the ball
on us. I think the biggest the biggest thing for
us the last couple of years with Brian Flores is
(08:07):
our run defense. Our run defense has gotten so much better.
Harrison Phillips, Jonathan Bullard, all these guys, these big bee
feeders up front. They do a really good job. I'm
not getting pushed back off of double teams, allows you know,
Cashman when he's in there to fly around, allows Ivan paced,
he's such a downhill player, allows those guys to get
(08:27):
clean reads and get down into those A and B
gaps and make plays. And so we do a really
good job of contacting ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage,
and that, as you know, JP is the number one thing.
Stop the run, make it frustrating and make the team
one dimensional, and then we heat him up on the blitzes.
So that's why we've been so disruptive.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
All right, final thought, I've known Cam Robinson for a
long time. I have a feeling he's gonna be ready
to roll in this game against the Jaguars, just with
everything that went down the last couple of weeks. We
saw the game game ball was gifted to a by
O'Connell after last week's game. Have you had a chance
to visit with Cam yet and what can he do
to help down the stretch on the old line?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, he was Actually I think the first interview I
did after the game in the locker room was like,
all right, we got to go talk to Cam like,
how did you do it? You know, how did you
how did you come here on a couple of days
notice and get ready for this game plan and play
so well? And you know, of course, as you know,
he was actually very humble and just like, look, I
just I had to study a lot and I got
some help, and you know, they were kind of telling
(09:28):
me a little bit about you know, clueing on this
and this.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Is what I should be doing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I imagine that he's gonna be doing the same thing.
I know he's going to be geeked up for this game.
Every former player that wants to go against this against
the former team, like wants to go out and show out.
But he's still going to have help. I mean, that
is the one thing I don't I don't think that
you can just let him go out there and be
one on one and solo on the edge just yet.
I know he's capable of it. But he did get
(09:53):
some help last week. And you know, we had Josh
Oliver over there on that on that side, our big,
our big tight end who actually had a career day
last week with the five catches, but he was chipping.
You know, we had we had some other receivers chipping
over there on their release, and so we did enough
to protect him as well to give him a little
bit of time. I imagine we'll probably do the same thing,
(10:16):
and partially because it was so effective. You know, we
had a bunch of receptions off of sort of this
delayed chip and release that the defense wasn't really ready for.
And it's kind of a new wrinkle for us. So
I bet you that'll be a big part of the
game plan.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Another former Jaguar, Josh Oliver, you're welcome. All the former
Jags are going to Minnesota. You got a couple of ours, right, Yeah,
it's a two way street, I suppose. Yeah, yeah, that's
what it is. And we'll find out on Sunday. Thanks
for the time. Always great to see you. Appreciate it. Yeah,
great to see you. Good luck,
Contown to Kickoff continues ahead of the Vikings and Jaguars matchup,
and we visit now with the Vikings Radio Network sideline
reporter Ben Lever. It's week ten, We're three weeks to Thanksgiving,
and boy want a race in the NFC North right now.
It's gotta be fun week to week. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm doing great. JP's great to see you and great
to be on with you. It's very exciting. You know,
I was conflicted last week when green Bay was hosting
the Lions. Here I am saying, hey, this might be
the only time I really cheer for green Bay and
they're like I was saying that around some of the
guys at the radio station and they're like, well, why
would you cheer for green Bay. I'm like, well, don't
(00:38):
we want them to knock off the Lions? And they're
like yeah, but you know, if the Lions are so
going to run away with this, like we really want
that number two spot, like we want to solidify that
number two spot, Like gosh, you're right. I was like
thinking that we have to get to the top of
the heap, and you know, we have to get that
number one seed potentially, and you know, they kind of
(00:58):
talked me out of that. Okay, well, well maybe I
guess I'll cheer for the Lions then. But it's really,
it really is kind of fun to be in this
battle to see who's going to either first, finish first
or second.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, of all years for the Jaguars to play the
NFC North, this is the year. Great, That's just kind
of how it's gone for the Jags. And they're right
in the thick of it, Jags at Detroit next week.
So this kind of is what it is. They just
said the Packers a couple of weeks ago. Let's talk
about this Viking team. And I mean it starts for
me obviously with the quarterback at his play this year overall,
(01:30):
Sam Donald unexpected starting quarterback this year. He wasn't supposed
to be out there, but the last year he is.
And what is it about now? Why is this the
season where Sam Donald has finally figured it out?
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I wish I really knew the full answer to that.
I just know that he does play with a ton
of confidence. I didn't I didn't know much about his
personality before he got here, but I am very impressed
with I think his calm demeanor, he never, never, once
during any of the offseason workouts to any of the
training camp workouts, he never ever seemed like he was overwhelmed,
(02:08):
he was flustered. He never looked like he played with
a lot of pressure on his shoulders. And maybe that's
the way he's always been, or maybe he's just been
tested and he's been hardened through his journey that, Okay,
you know, I don't have to lead this franchise. You know,
he came in here knowing his role. His role was
to come in be a one year guy, to be
(02:30):
a sort of a mentor to JJ McCarthy. He knew
his lot in life, and I think he accepted that
role and he knew and we've heard from time and
time again how all these quarterbacks really want to play
for Kevin O'Connell. And I think that he knew he
was going to go to a good situation as very
quarterback friendly, and so I think that gave him a
lot of confidence. And that's what he's playing like. He's
(02:54):
just letting it ripped.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Obviously, every player makes mistakes. I mean, he made two
mistakes last week where you threw the ball right in
the hands of defenders and they're sort of you know,
one was kind of an aggressive play, the other one
was just kind of like what do you do in
type of play. But he acknowledges it, he recognizes it.
He's really done a good job of taking away some
of those careless mistakes this year. Again, maybe it's maturity,
(03:19):
maybe it's coaching, maybe it's a combination both. I just
think that he knows that he doesn't have to be
the guy. He doesn't have to force too much. He's
got great weapons around him now that TJ. Hawkinson's back.
You know, he trusts the scheme, and I think that's
a big part of it.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Ben Lieber from the Vikings Radio Network sideline reporter with US.
Yet it helps when you have Justin Jefferson doing historic
things from the outside. I mean, when you're in the
same conversation as Don Hudson. I mean that gives you
an idea of like things like this don't happen. I mean,
he could be one of those guys that leads the league.
And he's on pace to lead the league again in
(03:55):
receiving yardage, and only Don Hudson has is the other
receiver to do it under the age of twenty six.
So historical perspective, right, I mean, Justin Jefferson's ability, we'd
see it every week. But what goes behind that? For Justin?
What drives this guy to be at that elite level
that you've seen.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
He just wants to be the greatest. And I think
a lot of it is against we're so much of
our own journey just kind of forges who we are
as people, as athletes, and for him being a late bloomer.
You know, he was not. He was not a top
tier athlete growing up in high school. You know, he
(04:35):
wasn't one of these kids that you see in Pop
Warner and you're like, oh my god, Like look at
Derek Henry run in high school, like he's going to
be a Hall of Fame running back.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Everybody knew that, like unless something like major happens injury
wise or otherwise, this guy's destined to be an NFL
Hall of Famer. And Justin Jefferson wasn't that. You know,
he was under recruited, only really went to LSU because
of because of family highs, and he really had to
work for everything. And I think that that humility to
(05:07):
work and prove yourself every day, even though he's the
top of the.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
League as far as the receivers go.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Like, I think that still burns inside of him that
he's got to do more. He's got to go out
and prove it again every day in practice. He's got
to go out and prove it. I mean, you know,
when he was going through his contract situation in the
off season, I think so much of it, for all
of us around here, so much of about was more
about what he does off the field. He's such a
great leader. He's great for the community. He has a
(05:34):
right he has the right amount of cockiness and superstardom
to him, but the humility to go along with it.
He's got self awareness, like he's sort of the total package.
And it's like, yeah, pay for what he does on
the field, yes, but he's so important to building the
locker room and building the team and uh and those
guys are so lucky to have him.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and a
lot of receivers we know just jump right over that line. Sometimes.
Ben liber with us from the Vikings radio network. You
and I called a game in London Vikings Jets on
Westwood One where the Vikings defense had three interceptions off
Aaron Rodgers in that game, a couple of underthrown balls. However,
this is a group that's done it all year. I
(06:15):
mean there's second in the league in takeaways, number one interceptions.
I love the veteran back end. I mean Harrison Smith,
like the all time Viking, you know, stuff on Gilmore
does pass rush. Guys are starting to really heat up,
it feels like, but you know, and they haven't really
changed their strikes, right, Bryan Flores brings pressure in a
lot of different ways. What's what what is the status
(06:37):
of this Vikings defense now going into Week ten?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, listen, they are gonna they are gonna heat you up.
You know, we lead the league and blitz straight and
I think pressure rate as well. But that doesn't come
without some weaknesses. You know, when we when we give
up five six rushers, sometimes that only leaves a few
guys in the back end of this defense. I mean
there was there was times in the Los Angeles Rams
(07:01):
game where you know, I saw only five guys in
coverage and they're playing They're not even playing a you know,
a straight up man, They're playing a zone with three
over the top and two underneath and It's like, all right, guys,
if if you're gonna leave these two underneath guys to
cover all this ground, somebody better get home and get
to the quarterback. And that didn't happen. And so if
(07:22):
you're well coached up and you understand where the blitzes
are coming from, and you use your six blockers against
our six rushers, well you're gonna throw the ball on us.
And and I think Brian Flores is okay with that.
It very much is a bend but don't break. It's
you know, you typically see that in a true cover
two scheme. But because he uses so many guys in
(07:45):
the rush, he knows that you're gonna get your yards.
But he also knows, all right, when you get into
that red zone, guess what everything gets is going to
get compressed. And that helps our defense out in our secondary.
So we do a really good job of just keeping
points off the board. But you can throw the ball
on us. I think the biggest the biggest thing for
us the last couple of years with Brian Flores is
(08:07):
our run defense. Our run defense has gotten so much better.
Harrison Phillips, Jonathan Bullard, all these guys, these big bee
feeders up front. They do a really good job. I'm
not getting pushed back off of double teams, allows you know,
Cashman when he's in there to fly around, allows Ivan paced,
he's such a downhill player, allows those guys to get
(08:27):
clean reads and get down into those A and B
gaps and make plays. And so we do a really
good job of contacting ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage,
and that, as you know, JP is the number one thing.
Stop the run, make it frustrating and make the team
one dimensional, and then we heat him up on the blitzes.
So that's why we've been so disruptive.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
All right, final thought, I've known Cam Robinson for a
long time. I have a feeling he's gonna be ready
to roll in this game against the Jaguars, just with
everything that went down the last couple of weeks. We
saw the game game ball was gifted to a by
O'Connell after last week's game. Have you had a chance
to visit with Cam yet and what can he do
to help down the stretch on the old line?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, he was Actually I think the first interview I
did after the game in the locker room was like,
all right, we got to go talk to Cam like,
how did you do it? You know, how did you
how did you come here on a couple of days
notice and get ready for this game plan and play
so well? And you know, of course, as you know,
he was actually very humble and just like, look, I
just I had to study a lot and I got
some help, and you know, they were kind of telling
(09:28):
me a little bit about you know, clueing on this
and this.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Is what I should be doing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I imagine that he's gonna be doing the same thing.
I know he's going to be geeked up for this game.
Every former player that wants to go against this against
the former team, like wants to go out and show out.
But he's still going to have help. I mean, that
is the one thing I don't I don't think that
you can just let him go out there and be
one on one and solo on the edge just yet.
I know he's capable of it. But he did get
(09:53):
some help last week. And you know, we had Josh
Oliver over there on that on that side, our big,
our big tight end who actually had a career day
last week with the five catches, but he was chipping.
You know, we had we had some other receivers chipping
over there on their release, and so we did enough
to protect him as well to give him a little
bit of time. I imagine we'll probably do the same thing,
(10:16):
and partially because it was so effective. You know, we
had a bunch of receptions off of sort of this
delayed chip and release that the defense wasn't really ready for.
And it's kind of a new wrinkle for us. So
I bet you that'll be a big part of the
game plan.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Another former Jaguar, Josh Oliver, you're welcome. All the former
Jags are going to Minnesota. You got a couple of ours, right, Yeah,
it's a two way street, I suppose. Yeah, yeah, that's
what it is. And we'll find out on Sunday. Thanks
for the time. Always great to see you. Appreciate it. Yeah,
great to see you. Good luck,
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