December 5, 2024 • 30 mins
Welcome to episode 298 of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast presented by Pepsi - Made for Vikings watching! Tatum Everett meets up with Vikings cornerback Shaq Griffin to discuss his feelings on the strong locker room the Vikings have had this season, what he was thinking after his game sealing interception last week, the uniqueness of the number of twins inside the Vikings locker room, and what makes facing Atlanta's offense this weekend so challenging. Plus, Paul 'Meatsauce' Lambert joins Tatum to pick their MVP's of last week's game, why the playoff picture could get interesting after week 14, and what type of atmosphere they predict U.S. Bank Stadium will be like when they face the Falcons this Sunday. All of this and more is in episode 298 of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast presented by Pepsi - Made for Vikings watching!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Vikings fans.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Ben Lever here.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm so excited to be a new Lifetime member, and
so are my kids. They love the tennis, the pick
a ball, the basketball, and of course the Yummy Cafe.
Check him out at Lifetime dot life to find a
club nearest you.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Your Vikings reached ten wins by December after a thrilling
come from behind victory over the Cardinals. Welcome to the
Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I'm Tatum Everett alongside Kafans Paul Lambert
aka meets Us from the Power Trip morning show. The
Vikings now face the Atlanta Falcons at us Bank Stadium
for another noonkick on Fox. We have a really exciting
(00:35):
player on this podcast this week, Paul. We are about
to be joined by Shaq Griffin, who had that amazing
play there to seal the deal at the end. I mean,
it was great to see him finally get a moment
this season and that was all his own. Yeah, it
was great, and so we'll talk to him on the
other side of this show, on the other side of
this break rather, but I want to talk more about
the game we just watched before we dive into the
(00:58):
Atlanta matchup. We call the show MVP lovingly because it's
the Minnesota Vikings podcast just worked out the right game, right,
Who do you think your MVP is from Sunday's game?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I mean, that's a very good question because there could
be a lot there's a lot of people to pick from.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
I think it's Sam Darnold.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
And the beauty of what we saw on Sunday was
the Vikings offense didn't really find a rhythm until the
Arizona Cardinals let them find a rhythm when they went
up nineteen to six and with like four thirty six left.
I have it here in my notes that I actually
wrote down because I wanted to impress the listeners to
(01:37):
show them that I actually somewhat know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Will we trust you?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
But when the Vikings went up nineteen or excuse me,
when at lant when the Cardinals went up nineteen to six,
Kay Adams tweeted this, he went twelve of seventeen for
one hundred and fifty six yards and two touchdowns. Incredible,
they went up nineteen to six in almost the end
of the third quarter. It's Sam Donald And like, I know,
(02:02):
like there's been a lot of talk of like what
are we gonna do next year. Let's worry about next
year because Sam Donald is having one of these careers
that you just see, like just it just shows in
any walk of life when somebody has faith in what
you're doing and gives you confidence, you can go a long,
long way. And Sam and Koc have found this confidence
(02:23):
together and the sky's the limit. They they the fact
that they've had all these come from behind victories doesn't
mean they're a bad team, doesn't mean that they don't
belong where they are. They're ten and two and they
have this belief that they can beat anyone, because they
can beat anyone.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So my answer is Sam Donald, I love that answer.
I would probably also do it if we were not
needing a second answer. Yes, No, I think you're right.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Though.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Sam has this toughness about him, this like he gets
this look in his eye almost when he gets out
there and his back's against the wall. It's like he responds.
He had the like that. I there's two throws that
they're living in my head, rent Free after Sunday. It's
the one to JJ who was in a triangle of
(03:09):
coverage and he lifts the ball. The air yards on
that ball were just insane and then he lifts it,
it drops right into the bread basket. He gets the
first down and it was just an incredible pass in
that cover. And like, that's the type of plays where
I think you're gonna start seeing a little bit more
creativity from Kevin O'Connell because they're learning and not not learning,
(03:32):
they're just evolving into Justin Jefferson being able to be open,
like he had ninety nine yards in this last game.
And granted, I know a lot of fantasy owners are
upset because they're not getting touchdown points, but he's he's consistent.
JJ is consistent, So he's probably my second MVP. There's
another throw where he took Addison. He broke away off
(03:52):
towards the sideline and he perfectly puts the ball out
there just for him.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
That's one of the best passes he's thrown.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Toe tap it gets and gets it, and it's just
like when you need it to me. He hits chunk yards,
he hits an eighteen yard, hits eighteen yards, HiT's fifteen yards,
sends them all the way down the field to get
the go ahead score, and it was just I mean,
he's dialing it up. So JJ would be my MVP,
but I think a very nice honorable mention could go
to Parker Romo. Yeah, he's been great, he has been wonderful.
(04:20):
I really hope that he's able to see some success
with his career after this. You know, the first kick
he missed was indoors, first of all, and it was
last week in a first field goal that he missed.
But he has been such a huge part of this team,
this offense, just everything about it. It's been nice to
have him and the reason we're saying this, and we
don't know what will happen the rest of the week.
(04:42):
We are recording on Tuesday, and will record has been
elevated and so has Andrew Depaula from injured reserve to
the active rosters. So we're not sure what's going to
happen with that. I think the thought processes of your doing,
if you're opening the window, they will be there eventually.
They have what twenty one days to get back up there,
so so they are designated for return excuse me, not
active roster, designated for return to practice.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
So we shall see which is good because I mean,
you Andrew Depaula as a captain, like you can't just
you can't just throw a captain by the wayside and
they're going to bring both of them back. They spent
draft capital on Will Ryker, no, of course, and and
they've we've seen in other regimes you give up on
a kicker too soon and he might be one of
the best kickers in the league. But that's for a
(05:25):
different time. The point though, is is like this team
is just kind of it was the bit that everybody,
you know, the beauty of social media, there's there are
some good things with social media. Is there's a video
that went viral yesterday of every team kind of does it,
but like you can doubt us, like everybody kind of
did early on. And one of the things is I
think it was probably in the room we're recording in,
(05:48):
like right next door, we're right in the beginning of
the year, KOC and I'm paraphrasing, but he did this
speech about how like you don't have people outside of
this room don't have to believe us, but we know
what we have, we know how good we're gonna be,
and to get ten wins in any situation, I don't
care if it's an easy schedule. I don't care if
it's a tough schedule. Ten wins, double digit wins before
(06:11):
you know on just by December first, is an unbelievable accomplishment.
And it's just a it's a team game. They have
found something in every special team's offense and defense they
all carry for everybody, and it's just it's awesome to see.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I love that you said that, because Kevin O'Connell has
said that literally all season. It's like you're a mid
You're a mid market, right because you're not in New York,
you're not LA, you're not Miami, but like you can
fly under this radar of like go ahead, doubt us,
doubt us because we're not those teams that are getting that.
We're not the Cowboys and we're getting talked about twenty
four to seven. But I think that works for this area,
(06:48):
that works for this fan base, like you want more
of it, but like it also comes at a price,
like enjoy this, listen to listen to your Vike's Entertainment network,
listen and stay in your bubble, keep winning, and that's
that's what KOC does. So ten wins before December or
on December first, huge feet, because I think going into this,
so many people had them six and eleven or.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
I whenever I whenever I talk about the way that
this goes, I do an overtime show after fanline on
Kfan after every noon game, and the thing I always
go back to is ESPN dot Com pick them to
have the number one overall pick. And these aren't like
just random people. These are quote unquote experts. They thought
(07:35):
they'd be the worst team in the league. There are
people that thought they'd be two and ten. And to
what we're talking about is it doesn't matter what ESPN
dot Com thought about this team back in August. There's
plenty of people that thought this may be a four
win a four win operation. They might not lose four games.
That's how like this the belief. And if there's any
(07:56):
more reason to be jacked up this weekend, it's who
they get to play and who who's coming town. And
I know, like you, sometimes you got to create your
own juice, as they say, but this is the on Sunday,
it's going to be electric in US Bank Stadium.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And not to mention, this Falcons team is coming in
kind of beaten and bruised right now. They did not
have a great November by any stretch. Of the imagination.
They are currently on a three game losing skid where
kirk Cousins has thrown no touchdown you and six interceptions.
He's also responsible for four fumbles, so he's responsible for
ten takeaways in three games. Three games.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
That's really bad.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
It's honestly, like not even like no jokes aside, Like
it's not it's some of the worst ball that he's played.
So the Falcons. But but the thing about their division
is even on a losing skid like that, they are
still six and six. They're tied for the NFC South
because they so much to play for when they come
(08:53):
in here, they are playing for the ability to go
to the playoffs because they if they do not like
there's almost there's not no possibilities to make the playoffs.
But like, if you don't win your division in the
nac South, you're not gonna make it to the playoffs, no, correct,
So they're playing for that and it's on the line
against kirk Cousins. Returning to US Bank Stadium, it's gonna
(09:13):
be an emotional day.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, it'll be interesting because like they're in a situation
in Atlanta where like they owe him a lot of money,
one hundred million guaranteed. I think his dead cap next
year is sixty two million.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
But they also took.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
A quarterback with the eighth overall pick, not the one
hundred and eighth overall pick, Not on a team that
could have probably used Roma Donza or used another one
of the weapons that we saw go in the first round,
not a defensive player like Dallas Turner or Jared Verse.
They took a quarterback like this isn't something they're not
(09:47):
gonna wait so like it'll be interesting if if this
is a rocky game for Kirk Cousins in Atlanta against
our Minnesota Vikings, it may be a shorter and shorter
leash every week because event you're going to want to
see what you have in the rookie.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
And I'm just glad it's not our problem any That's.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
A fair assessment. The funny thing is, you know that
the Atlantic defense is playing well enough to keep them
in games. You know they they didn't allow the Chargers
to score an offensive touchdown. They had a season high
in sacks last week with five. They held the Chargers
run game to under sixty yards. UNBELI I mean it
was for the first time this season they held a
(10:26):
team under two hundred and seventy yards, so historically they
allow a lot of yards. But you know, the defense
is feeling confident. If Kurt can clean up his his
his giveaways, if he can clean up his game, you know,
this offense could hume. So you just don't want them
to get their footing against against the Vikings at home.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
You do not.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And the fact the place is going to be yeah,
very like, very loud the minute that offense, the Falcons
offense takes the field, though, I think it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Really loud, and I think it's going to be exceptionally loud. Yeah,
to your point, the second comes out on in the offense,
the Atlanta offense has to take the field, it's.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Gonna be crazy. So we did talk a little bit
about playoff pictures because when this podcast airs on KFN
on Thursday, it will be before the Thursday night football game,
which is huge, huge, huge for this NFC North race.
It's the Packers at the Lions. The Lions have yet
(11:24):
to get their second loss, which would be very helpful.
They were, you know, on skates against the Bears on
Thanksgiving Day. Just how in your eyes, how massive, like
how many. First of all, I think the Amazon Prime
is gonna love the viewership from the Mans area. Yes,
but but this is a massive game because the Packers
either lose a little bit of traction in their you know,
(11:46):
in their race, but they're probably gonna make the playoffs.
Did you know out of the seven seeds that are
going to the playoffs, the next best teams, like the
number number eight team in the NFC, is a six
and six record. So the drop off between a fifth
seed or the Packers, yeah, ten wins, nine wins, they're
almost guaranteed playoff wins, and they don't if they don't
(12:07):
do it terrible for the rest of the season.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I think if the Vikings win and the Rams lose
and then one other team loses, they will clinch a
playoff spot this weekend. The weird part is and we
talk about it all the time on the par trip
and Eric nord quis PA's producer, and I talk about
it all the time, and he says it all the
time with PA. They might be a fourteen win wild
(12:30):
card team and same they might go to eight and
nine Atlanta for seven and nine Tampa like they might be.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
They might have.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Seven more wins than the team they are playing. Who
is the host of a playoff game? Yes, Thursday's game
is unbelievable. My wife is a Packer fan, so that'll
be unbelievable to watch. But we had Cambinam on on
Tuesday out of Shields for the Toys for Tots event
and he basically he was like, I don't want to
say it, but like we have to cheer for that
(13:04):
green and gold deam.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
That's the way he put it.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Well, you do you have to do because you need
the Lions to lose a game and then if you
went out to win the division, yeah you could.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You could get the number one seed.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
The number one seed, playing all of your playoff games
at home. Like the details, like every play matters from
here on out. I can't even imagine. I know they
always have that mindset, but it is the margin of
error is so slim this season. Have you seen anything
like this? Like do you remember seeing anything like this?
Speaker 4 (13:36):
No?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I mean I it's it's weird because like us, as
Vikings fans, I don't know yet how to feel. I'm
enjoying it. I love every second of it, but like
this is a they could legitimate they just won three
straight road games. I don't care that they were against
bad teams. That's tough to do. And if the Lions
somehow find their way to the number one seed, the
(13:57):
Vikings will probably have to play three straight road games
to get to the Super Bowl. And granted they're not
going to play Tennessee and the Bears, but still they
are road tested. This is a team that could win
and make a lot of noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Well, I'm loving that. I am true great than it's
been great. A big thank you to Paul Meatzauce Lambert
for joining us today in the first half of MVP.
Still to come our guest Minnesota Vikings cornerback Shaq Griffin.
He took some time out of his busy schedule to
chat about being in Minnesota and his thoughts on the
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than the laugh out Loud comedy Ghosts is for you
All Nude Ghosts Thursday at eight thirty seven thirty Central
on CBS. Welcome back into the Minnesota Vikings Podcast MVP,
as we lovingly call it. I'm your host, Tatum Everett
and the Vikings are gearing up for a huge game
(15:41):
on Sunday. They're ten to two and they're hosting these
six and six Atlanta Falcons. Kirk Cousins makes his return
to US Bank Stadium. There'll be a tall task for
this defense. And speaking of I think it's a great
time to welcome in our guest for the show. Cornerback Shackgriffin.
His second intersect of the season sealed the Vikings victory
(16:02):
on Sunday. We're gonna say hello now to cornerback Shack Griffin.
That moment was so nice in front of the home crowd.
What were you What were you like afterwards? I mean
you must have been really excited.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
Yeah, very excited. You know.
Speaker 6 (16:15):
It's funny I try something new this year. I know
I'm usually on like social media and all the platforms.
I told my fiance that I wanted to try something
different some time. I can get on no social media.
I'm just gonna play football and just focus on what's
going on the house. And so after the interception, after
the game, everything everybody's hyped up. I'm getting all these
messages and I'm talking to my twin brother. They said,
(16:37):
how do you feel? I said, you know what, it
doesn't feel the same as it would if I was
on social media. You know, people hype you up and
see all the messages. I said it right now, I
think I'm more ready just to get another one.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Oh, I love again. I love that you so you
like held out like you didn't go online and look
at it all.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Huh. The only videos I've seen was the ones that
the Vikings posted, my girls sending it to me, oh nice,
or a message that, uh, maybe is somebody at home.
One of my family memory recorded sitting to yeah, you know,
and I said. My brother's asking me, what's the difference.
I said, I just think the difference is I'm out
on social media watching people try to hype me up.
Oh tell me about display or should do that? I
(17:12):
think now is man, I just want to continue to
do it again. You know, That's all that I can think.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I mean, so interesting not being on social media when
this team has been What they're saying, let me tell
you is that you know, this wasn't a ten win team.
This wasn't a team that was going to achieve this much.
But you guys never thought that. When When did you
find that you had a lot of belief in this team?
Because you know, you know, your first year here in Minnesota.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
It started early for me.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
I remember having conversations during OTAs then I felt like
this group was special. And I remember my agent, you know,
being my first year, that's asking me, how do you
feel about the organization, how you feel about the coaches?
I said, Oh, well, that's wait. You know, let's go
to camp. You know, first three games you definitely can
tell what's going on. But we get to camp and
we're just hitting off all cylinders everybody who's already connected,
and everything kind of makes sense. It was just clicking
(17:58):
the correct way so early, and when you have a
feeling like that, I just knew something was specially is
going to happen, you know. And it's kind of hard
to explain that going into the first game the season,
trying to explain that, but everybody in this locker room,
everybody in the organization kind of already felt that feeling.
And it's been also awesome to be a part of.
So happen the first three games. My age asking me again,
how you feel about the organization, the coaches since phenomenals,
(18:20):
Like I said, I can see here and play football
for a lot of years.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It feels like this, Oh yeah for sure, Oh yeah, sure, you.
Speaker 6 (18:28):
Can make this work for a long time. You feel
like this, said man, this is something that I felt
during O t A, so.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
It came from me very early.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, you know, this is It's an interesting time though,
because it is a final week of buys for some teams,
and you guys had to buy it feels like last year.
How are you guys feeling right now, because you haven't
really had a break since, you know, Week five, Body's.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Feeling really well.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
Actually, you know, I feel like it's the it's the
best it has been, you know, from the eight years
that I've been in the league, and I think what
we do well here. I think a lot of guys
kind of take it upon theirself to take their body
very seriously.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Everybody come in and get treatment.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
The coaches kind of feel to find ways to kind
of take care of us when we need it. And
you know, when you got the players and the coaches
all on the same page, it makes it easier to
kind of take care.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
Of your body.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
And that fel that we got a group where everybody
knows the plan and the focus and what's the goal,
and everybody is to find a way to take care
of everybody just a little bit more, a little bit better.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, it's funny you should say that because I feel
like I've heard a lot about recently coaching styles changing.
You know, like coaches don't maybe coach as hard as
they do. But then conversely, you hear a lot about
when coaches believe in you. When they have that, like,
you know they can, you know they count on you,
(19:46):
and that you're not going to get that same tough
critic necessarily, but it's in a good way. How much
as a player does it change? Because we've seen for instance,
I'll give you an example of what I keep thinking
about is the way that Sam Darnold started his career
out and now he's got a coach that believes in
him so much and the difference in his play. How
much does that belief like really matter to a player?
Speaker 6 (20:08):
Oh man, it's huge and I feel like it's now
is where you got this type of belief in me?
I have to have that in myself, and you know
when the coaches kind of have that type of trust,
I think the only thing that's going through any player
of mine. I'm more to sure everybody feel the same
way any player of mine is I don't want to
let him down for him feeling that way. So if
you feel that way, I gotta feel like that times too.
(20:29):
And when it comes to we know, with the example
with Sam Donald, he always felt like that by himself
and to have someone else to kind of say the
same thing, it's no way he wants to go out
there and let him down. And I feel like everybody
in this building feels the same way, you know, for
our coaches, our staff, this organization. I feel like anybody
will run through a big wall for these guys, you know,
and that's because the type of trust that they're have
(20:50):
in us. It's a maturity level understanding that they don't
have to be so hard on us, understand that we're
going to be just as hard on ourselves, and then
we won't have to wait for a coach or anybody
in an organization that say, hey, we got to pick
this or we got.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
To do this.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Everybody feels like this, and I think that's just the
maturity level. And like I said, for them to have
that type of trust, we got to sit here and
do whatever it takes to make sure we don't let
them down. Knowing it, they installed so much trust in us.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
So you guys are obviously on a hot streak. You've
got five straight wins, you are a ten win team.
You have a big game against the Falcons on Sunday.
But before all of that happens, there's a Thursday night
football game that I know we're not looking at other teams,
but it has all it could have some significant implications
(21:36):
on where you guys end up in the playoff picture.
Do you watch the game? Do you kind of take
it on? Like how do you approach that knowing that
like that game is like happening, and like I got
some free time, I'm watching film, but like, oh no,
there it is.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Yeah, I might click it on and off. I wonder
about that you have through out the night, might click
it on and off. Or if I'm watching, maybe my
son turned it all there, so I'm walking past the TV.
Might be kind of one of those things, right, you know,
depending on what team I'm rooting for.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I know, you guys know you're winning out is the goal,
and that's obviously what matters the most. Is there conversation
about how there's just this little margin of error because
of the division you're in.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Yeah, you know, like I said on that Thursday, come
it might be one team or rooting for a little
bit more than the other, you know, And I get
superstitious again while I'm watching a game and that team,
who I'm not really rooting for, it might do too good,
so maybe I turn it off. So it's one of
the things. I'm not sure that's a Thursday they actually come.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Oh, I know, right, well, the expectations for this team
is the playoffs. You guys have a four game cushion
right now on teams that are not making it right, So,
like the eighth team in the NFC is six and six,
you guys are already ten and two, So like, you
know you've got wiggle room, but you don't because you've
got the lions. Like, what does that feel like? Going in?
Like you've already achieved so much, but yet you're still
(22:55):
not there?
Speaker 6 (22:56):
You know, it's crazy. I don't think we even focus
on just a building off yet. Thing right now, we're
in the spot where I think we're just trying to
focus on playing our best ball and I don't think
we capture our best ball yet. You know, it might
look nice or it might look really close, but I
feel like in our heart that everybody around this organization
(23:16):
we haven't played our best ball yet, so we're not
even thinking too far ahead.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
It's literally no ko.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
We go through each week talk about going one to know,
and I think we really haul in on that and
everybody believes in that that we have to take this
one day at a time. Now I'm going to say
one week, but one day at a time. You know,
we got to win each day. And I feel like
with everybody thinking like that, it makes it easier to
kind of continue to go through these games knowing that
it might take the final second and try to win
this or pull it off.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Understand that we just.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
Try to capture our best play and we haven't even
seen that yet, so right not going into this week.
Hope we can try to capture that this week and
the week after. So our only goal is is to
play our best ball through each week?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
What is your best ball? What will that look like?
Speaker 6 (23:57):
Anytime we have a chance to capitalize on the play,
it might be someone throwing the ball up. It's said
of us dropping intercession, we catch everyone, or every time
we get to the red zone on it as a
defense and we got to stop offense. We make that
stop when it comes to the offense. Every time we
get into that red zone, we score every single time.
I think, when everything is clicking right and nothing can
(24:17):
go wrong, that's when we're playing that best ball. And
I feel like we haven't got a chance to capture
that yet. Yeah, but that's what we're fighting for and
that's awesome because we all feel.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
The same way.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Is that. I mean, to your point, it doesn't matter
who you play, but at the end of the day,
you're not It doesn't sound like you're like, Okay, we're
gonna beat so and so it's like, no, if we
do all of the if we play the best ball,
the results are there.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yeah, it's nothing gonna change. It don't matter who we're playing.
Speaker 6 (24:40):
And that the goal, the goal is to come in
each week, each game is to understand we're gonna treat
everybody the same. It don't matter if you got two
wins or six wins or ten, doesn't matter.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Everybody's being treated the same way.
Speaker 6 (24:51):
And if we're playing that best ball and another team
comes and kind of downplay it, then that could be
a tough situation for them. But we have to play
our best ball first, no matter who we've played. At
the end of the day, we're just trying to capture
our best ball and that's capitalizing on every situation throughout
the whole entire game and making sure that we coming
on the top winning.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Hopefully that happens on Sunday. I know that the defense,
there's a lot of new faces on this defense, but
there are a lot of guys on the team who
are well versed in the way that Kirk Cousins played.
Have you ever played him before?
Speaker 6 (25:21):
Uh? Yeah, a lot. When I was in Seattle, got
a chance to play here a couple of times. I
think this is when you know, feeling and yeah, digs
and everybody will still here. So I got a chance
to play against him a couple of times, for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
What how do you prepare for a quarterback who plays
the way that he does, which is very different than
the way that the last two guys you've played play.
You know that running mobile Kyler Murray Caleb Williams two
of the best to really escape all the pressure when
Kirk just he's quick, he's decisive, sits in the pocket. No,
you know he's a veteran. How does your preparation change
(25:53):
for that?
Speaker 6 (25:54):
So we got to understand that this is a guy
with a ton of experience, seeing a lot of balls,
seeing a lot of different things. I feel like now
we've got to go into the game and figure out
the things that.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
Will make it tough on him.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
You know, it don't matter what it is, could be
from disguises to whatever the case may be. We have
to find ways to take pieces off the board from
a guy who has so much experience, who can make
players out of nothing.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
We don't see that happen.
Speaker 6 (26:15):
We have to take the pieces around him away and
let him have to go win the game by.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Something which has been hard for him a little bit lately.
You know, I'm not trying to trash anyone here, but
I'm going by the stats here. It's been a three
game losing streak for the Falcons. He's thrown noah touchdowns,
six interceptions, He's had four fumbles, responsible for those ten takeaways.
He's not playing his best ball. However, Brian Flores knows better.
He's said in this press conference this week that Kirk
is just a bounce back kind of guy, and so
(26:41):
you guys expect to see the best version of him
out there. You don't think Brian Flores has got a
little bit of an edge on this. He knows Kirk
inside and out right.
Speaker 6 (26:48):
Yeah, but I just know how he treat everybody. You know,
it doesn't matter of like you got a little edge.
He wants to find ways to kind of eliminate every
ability for someone to use against us. That's fair when
it comes to him, Like I said, with the experience,
we got to find ways to make sure he can't
use that against us.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Yeah, how did you start playing football?
Speaker 6 (27:07):
Started playing football? My oldest brothers played, and I think
I just want to be like you. And then my
dad really down in to make sure.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
We got the best out of it.
Speaker 6 (27:16):
So when it comes to training or what in case
may be, he just went to make sure we could
beat our older brothers and everything was a competition. So
kind of found the left and a passion for it
early on, just trying to imitate what my older.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Brothers was doing.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
It's so interesting too, because I think everyone knows you guys,
like we know you and your brothers sho queen like
as a unit, like you guys are we know you?
We know you guys. And it's interesting because I feel
like there's three new guys on the team that each
have a twin brother, Like, what are the odds of that?
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Is there?
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Like some scientific thing? Like it's kind of crazy. Do
you guys ever, Like if you ever talked about that before?
Speaker 5 (27:51):
Yeah, we talked about it. We actually took a picture together,
you know.
Speaker 6 (27:54):
But it's funny because everybody was missing that that half
of day twins.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
Oh right, But you know, me and Aaron Jones is
really close. You know.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
It's funny that the conversation that him and his brother
have sounded like the same conversation me and my brother have.
I mean, they sounds so identical. It's crazy. But they
were really close, and now me and my brother are
the same way. But man, it's just something about that
twin connection. It just feels a little different.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, and all three of you guys have like male
twins like they're boys right like, which is so crazy too.
So it's just like a whole bunch of football players
or ex football players. That's so funny. I wanted to
ask you one more question before I let you get going.
I've enjoyed this so much so far. By the way,
I wanted to know what more about you? If you
weren't playing football, what would you be doing right now?
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Yeah? Yeah, I have the time at ACF.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
Well, I want to run track and be a triple
jumper and okay one day and make it to the Olympics.
And you know what's crazy, my brothers actually just got
to approved for the pair of Olympics, so he'll be
training for the next Olympics.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 5 (28:49):
So, yeah, I get a chance.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
What events will he try to do?
Speaker 6 (28:52):
He'll be doing the loan jump, triple jump, and uh
maybe he might do the cataline.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Man, you guys are just so athletically gifted, just naturally
I thought of Come.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
So he'll be going for the twenty twenty eight Olympics.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Congratulations.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
Yeah, that should be awesome. Now he'll give me a
chance to let him train him a little bit. It's
gonna be some real exciting time coming. Oh.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
I love to make Oh that's gonna be so much fun. Well,
thank you so much for joining a shock. I know
that you have to get going here. You're going to
a Toys for Tots event. Do you do you want
to tell everyone a little bit more about what you're
doing today?
Speaker 6 (29:20):
Oh man, Well, get a chance to take a kid.
They don't get a chance to shop see some things.
Let them on, be a little excited for him. Get
a chance to pick some things out, some toys and
get ready to put them in a Christmas spirits.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Why is that important for you to do?
Speaker 5 (29:33):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (29:33):
Man, I feel like it's just important to kind of
be able to have that chance to give back. You know,
if I felt like if I was that kid and
I had a chance to get a chance to enjoy
a guy who's in the NFL, to get a chance
to shop around, hang around, even just having conversations, That's
something I'd definitely be looking forward to. So to be
that guy, to be able to give that chance back
to someone else, to a kid that might be a
little less fortunate or whatever the case may be, I
(29:54):
would love to be that guy have some fun with
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate getting
know you a little bit better, and uh, good luck
on Sunday. We're looking forward to seeing more big plays
out of you.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
Oh, thank you. Appreciate for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
A big thank you to Shack Griffin for joining us
for the second half of MVP, and another thanks to
Paul meetzas Lambert for being on the earlier portion. The
Vikings returned to US Bank Stadium on Sunday for the
second straight weekend. They're hosting the Atlanta Falcons a noonkick
on Fox. Minnesota looks to improve to eleven and two
and notch their sixth straight win. That's all on Sunday.
(30:29):
For now, I'm Tatum Everett, your host here at the
Minnesota Vikings podcast, and thanks for listening.
Hey, Vikings fans.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Ben Lever here.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm so excited to be a new Lifetime member, and
so are my kids. They love the tennis, the pick
a ball, the basketball, and of course the Yummy Cafe.
Check him out at Lifetime dot life to find a
club nearest you.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Your Vikings reached ten wins by December after a thrilling
come from behind victory over the Cardinals. Welcome to the
Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I'm Tatum Everett alongside Kafans Paul Lambert
aka meets Us from the Power Trip morning show. The
Vikings now face the Atlanta Falcons at us Bank Stadium
for another noonkick on Fox. We have a really exciting
(00:35):
player on this podcast this week, Paul. We are about
to be joined by Shaq Griffin, who had that amazing
play there to seal the deal at the end. I mean,
it was great to see him finally get a moment
this season and that was all his own. Yeah, it
was great, and so we'll talk to him on the
other side of this show, on the other side of
this break rather, but I want to talk more about
the game we just watched before we dive into the
(00:58):
Atlanta matchup. We call the show MVP lovingly because it's
the Minnesota Vikings podcast just worked out the right game, right,
Who do you think your MVP is from Sunday's game?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I mean, that's a very good question because there could
be a lot there's a lot of people to pick from.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
I think it's Sam Darnold.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
And the beauty of what we saw on Sunday was
the Vikings offense didn't really find a rhythm until the
Arizona Cardinals let them find a rhythm when they went
up nineteen to six and with like four thirty six left.
I have it here in my notes that I actually
wrote down because I wanted to impress the listeners to
(01:37):
show them that I actually somewhat know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Will we trust you?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
But when the Vikings went up nineteen or excuse me,
when at lant when the Cardinals went up nineteen to six,
Kay Adams tweeted this, he went twelve of seventeen for
one hundred and fifty six yards and two touchdowns. Incredible,
they went up nineteen to six in almost the end
of the third quarter. It's Sam Donald And like, I know,
(02:02):
like there's been a lot of talk of like what
are we gonna do next year. Let's worry about next
year because Sam Donald is having one of these careers
that you just see, like just it just shows in
any walk of life when somebody has faith in what
you're doing and gives you confidence, you can go a long,
long way. And Sam and Koc have found this confidence
(02:23):
together and the sky's the limit. They they the fact
that they've had all these come from behind victories doesn't
mean they're a bad team, doesn't mean that they don't
belong where they are. They're ten and two and they
have this belief that they can beat anyone, because they
can beat anyone.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So my answer is Sam Donald, I love that answer.
I would probably also do it if we were not
needing a second answer. Yes, No, I think you're right.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Though.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Sam has this toughness about him, this like he gets
this look in his eye almost when he gets out
there and his back's against the wall. It's like he responds.
He had the like that. I there's two throws that
they're living in my head, rent Free after Sunday. It's
the one to JJ who was in a triangle of
(03:09):
coverage and he lifts the ball. The air yards on
that ball were just insane and then he lifts it,
it drops right into the bread basket. He gets the
first down and it was just an incredible pass in
that cover. And like, that's the type of plays where
I think you're gonna start seeing a little bit more
creativity from Kevin O'Connell because they're learning and not not learning,
(03:32):
they're just evolving into Justin Jefferson being able to be open,
like he had ninety nine yards in this last game.
And granted, I know a lot of fantasy owners are
upset because they're not getting touchdown points, but he's he's consistent.
JJ is consistent, So he's probably my second MVP. There's
another throw where he took Addison. He broke away off
(03:52):
towards the sideline and he perfectly puts the ball out
there just for him.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
That's one of the best passes he's thrown.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Toe tap it gets and gets it, and it's just
like when you need it to me. He hits chunk yards,
he hits an eighteen yard, hits eighteen yards, HiT's fifteen yards,
sends them all the way down the field to get
the go ahead score, and it was just I mean,
he's dialing it up. So JJ would be my MVP,
but I think a very nice honorable mention could go
to Parker Romo. Yeah, he's been great, he has been wonderful.
(04:20):
I really hope that he's able to see some success
with his career after this. You know, the first kick
he missed was indoors, first of all, and it was
last week in a first field goal that he missed.
But he has been such a huge part of this team,
this offense, just everything about it. It's been nice to
have him and the reason we're saying this, and we
don't know what will happen the rest of the week.
(04:42):
We are recording on Tuesday, and will record has been
elevated and so has Andrew Depaula from injured reserve to
the active rosters. So we're not sure what's going to
happen with that. I think the thought processes of your doing,
if you're opening the window, they will be there eventually.
They have what twenty one days to get back up there,
so so they are designated for return excuse me, not
active roster, designated for return to practice.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
So we shall see which is good because I mean,
you Andrew Depaula as a captain, like you can't just
you can't just throw a captain by the wayside and
they're going to bring both of them back. They spent
draft capital on Will Ryker, no, of course, and and
they've we've seen in other regimes you give up on
a kicker too soon and he might be one of
the best kickers in the league. But that's for a
(05:25):
different time. The point though, is is like this team
is just kind of it was the bit that everybody,
you know, the beauty of social media, there's there are
some good things with social media. Is there's a video
that went viral yesterday of every team kind of does it,
but like you can doubt us, like everybody kind of
did early on. And one of the things is I
think it was probably in the room we're recording in,
(05:48):
like right next door, we're right in the beginning of
the year, KOC and I'm paraphrasing, but he did this
speech about how like you don't have people outside of
this room don't have to believe us, but we know
what we have, we know how good we're gonna be,
and to get ten wins in any situation, I don't
care if it's an easy schedule. I don't care if
it's a tough schedule. Ten wins, double digit wins before
(06:11):
you know on just by December first, is an unbelievable accomplishment.
And it's just a it's a team game. They have
found something in every special team's offense and defense they
all carry for everybody, and it's just it's awesome to see.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I love that you said that, because Kevin O'Connell has
said that literally all season. It's like you're a mid
You're a mid market, right because you're not in New York,
you're not LA, you're not Miami, but like you can
fly under this radar of like go ahead, doubt us,
doubt us because we're not those teams that are getting that.
We're not the Cowboys and we're getting talked about twenty
four to seven. But I think that works for this area,
(06:48):
that works for this fan base, like you want more
of it, but like it also comes at a price,
like enjoy this, listen to listen to your Vike's Entertainment network,
listen and stay in your bubble, keep winning, and that's
that's what KOC does. So ten wins before December or
on December first, huge feet, because I think going into this,
so many people had them six and eleven or.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
I whenever I whenever I talk about the way that
this goes, I do an overtime show after fanline on
Kfan after every noon game, and the thing I always
go back to is ESPN dot Com pick them to
have the number one overall pick. And these aren't like
just random people. These are quote unquote experts. They thought
(07:35):
they'd be the worst team in the league. There are
people that thought they'd be two and ten. And to
what we're talking about is it doesn't matter what ESPN
dot Com thought about this team back in August. There's
plenty of people that thought this may be a four
win a four win operation. They might not lose four games.
That's how like this the belief. And if there's any
(07:56):
more reason to be jacked up this weekend, it's who
they get to play and who who's coming town. And
I know, like you, sometimes you got to create your
own juice, as they say, but this is the on Sunday,
it's going to be electric in US Bank Stadium.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And not to mention, this Falcons team is coming in
kind of beaten and bruised right now. They did not
have a great November by any stretch. Of the imagination.
They are currently on a three game losing skid where
kirk Cousins has thrown no touchdown you and six interceptions.
He's also responsible for four fumbles, so he's responsible for
ten takeaways in three games. Three games.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
That's really bad.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
It's honestly, like not even like no jokes aside, Like
it's not it's some of the worst ball that he's played.
So the Falcons. But but the thing about their division
is even on a losing skid like that, they are
still six and six. They're tied for the NFC South
because they so much to play for when they come
(08:53):
in here, they are playing for the ability to go
to the playoffs because they if they do not like
there's almost there's not no possibilities to make the playoffs.
But like, if you don't win your division in the
nac South, you're not gonna make it to the playoffs, no, correct,
So they're playing for that and it's on the line
against kirk Cousins. Returning to US Bank Stadium, it's gonna
(09:13):
be an emotional day.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, it'll be interesting because like they're in a situation
in Atlanta where like they owe him a lot of money,
one hundred million guaranteed. I think his dead cap next
year is sixty two million.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
But they also took.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
A quarterback with the eighth overall pick, not the one
hundred and eighth overall pick, Not on a team that
could have probably used Roma Donza or used another one
of the weapons that we saw go in the first round,
not a defensive player like Dallas Turner or Jared Verse.
They took a quarterback like this isn't something they're not
(09:47):
gonna wait so like it'll be interesting if if this
is a rocky game for Kirk Cousins in Atlanta against
our Minnesota Vikings, it may be a shorter and shorter
leash every week because event you're going to want to
see what you have in the rookie.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
And I'm just glad it's not our problem any That's.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
A fair assessment. The funny thing is, you know that
the Atlantic defense is playing well enough to keep them
in games. You know they they didn't allow the Chargers
to score an offensive touchdown. They had a season high
in sacks last week with five. They held the Chargers
run game to under sixty yards. UNBELI I mean it
was for the first time this season they held a
(10:26):
team under two hundred and seventy yards, so historically they
allow a lot of yards. But you know, the defense
is feeling confident. If Kurt can clean up his his
his giveaways, if he can clean up his game, you know,
this offense could hume. So you just don't want them
to get their footing against against the Vikings at home.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
You do not.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And the fact the place is going to be yeah,
very like, very loud the minute that offense, the Falcons
offense takes the field, though, I think it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Really loud, and I think it's going to be exceptionally loud. Yeah,
to your point, the second comes out on in the offense,
the Atlanta offense has to take the field, it's.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Gonna be crazy. So we did talk a little bit
about playoff pictures because when this podcast airs on KFN
on Thursday, it will be before the Thursday night football game,
which is huge, huge, huge for this NFC North race.
It's the Packers at the Lions. The Lions have yet
(11:24):
to get their second loss, which would be very helpful.
They were, you know, on skates against the Bears on
Thanksgiving Day. Just how in your eyes, how massive, like
how many. First of all, I think the Amazon Prime
is gonna love the viewership from the Mans area. Yes,
but but this is a massive game because the Packers
either lose a little bit of traction in their you know,
(11:46):
in their race, but they're probably gonna make the playoffs.
Did you know out of the seven seeds that are
going to the playoffs, the next best teams, like the
number number eight team in the NFC, is a six
and six record. So the drop off between a fifth
seed or the Packers, yeah, ten wins, nine wins, they're
almost guaranteed playoff wins, and they don't if they don't
(12:07):
do it terrible for the rest of the season.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
I think if the Vikings win and the Rams lose
and then one other team loses, they will clinch a
playoff spot this weekend. The weird part is and we
talk about it all the time on the par trip
and Eric nord quis PA's producer, and I talk about
it all the time, and he says it all the
time with PA. They might be a fourteen win wild
(12:30):
card team and same they might go to eight and
nine Atlanta for seven and nine Tampa like they might be.
Speaker 4 (12:41):
They might have.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Seven more wins than the team they are playing. Who
is the host of a playoff game? Yes, Thursday's game
is unbelievable. My wife is a Packer fan, so that'll
be unbelievable to watch. But we had Cambinam on on
Tuesday out of Shields for the Toys for Tots event
and he basically he was like, I don't want to
say it, but like we have to cheer for that
(13:04):
green and gold deam.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
That's the way he put it.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Well, you do you have to do because you need
the Lions to lose a game and then if you
went out to win the division, yeah you could.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You could get the number one seed.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
The number one seed, playing all of your playoff games
at home. Like the details, like every play matters from
here on out. I can't even imagine. I know they
always have that mindset, but it is the margin of
error is so slim this season. Have you seen anything
like this? Like do you remember seeing anything like this?
Speaker 4 (13:36):
No?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
I mean I it's it's weird because like us, as
Vikings fans, I don't know yet how to feel. I'm
enjoying it. I love every second of it, but like
this is a they could legitimate they just won three
straight road games. I don't care that they were against
bad teams. That's tough to do. And if the Lions
somehow find their way to the number one seed, the
(13:57):
Vikings will probably have to play three straight road games
to get to the Super Bowl. And granted they're not
going to play Tennessee and the Bears, but still they
are road tested. This is a team that could win
and make a lot of noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Well, I'm loving that. I am true great than it's
been great. A big thank you to Paul Meatzauce Lambert
for joining us today in the first half of MVP.
Still to come our guest Minnesota Vikings cornerback Shaq Griffin.
He took some time out of his busy schedule to
chat about being in Minnesota and his thoughts on the
Falcons game on Sunday. Say hello to Fallasy Smooth Skin
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is a s balon post to you is it online
at spalon dot com. Ready to have your spirits lifted
than the laugh out Loud comedy Ghosts is for you
All Nude Ghosts Thursday at eight thirty seven thirty Central
on CBS. Welcome back into the Minnesota Vikings Podcast MVP,
as we lovingly call it. I'm your host, Tatum Everett
and the Vikings are gearing up for a huge game
(15:41):
on Sunday. They're ten to two and they're hosting these
six and six Atlanta Falcons. Kirk Cousins makes his return
to US Bank Stadium. There'll be a tall task for
this defense. And speaking of I think it's a great
time to welcome in our guest for the show. Cornerback Shackgriffin.
His second intersect of the season sealed the Vikings victory
(16:02):
on Sunday. We're gonna say hello now to cornerback Shack Griffin.
That moment was so nice in front of the home crowd.
What were you What were you like afterwards? I mean
you must have been really excited.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
Yeah, very excited. You know.
Speaker 6 (16:15):
It's funny I try something new this year. I know
I'm usually on like social media and all the platforms.
I told my fiance that I wanted to try something
different some time. I can get on no social media.
I'm just gonna play football and just focus on what's
going on the house. And so after the interception, after
the game, everything everybody's hyped up. I'm getting all these
messages and I'm talking to my twin brother. They said,
(16:37):
how do you feel? I said, you know what, it
doesn't feel the same as it would if I was
on social media. You know, people hype you up and
see all the messages. I said it right now, I
think I'm more ready just to get another one.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Oh, I love again. I love that you so you
like held out like you didn't go online and look
at it all.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Huh. The only videos I've seen was the ones that
the Vikings posted, my girls sending it to me, oh nice,
or a message that, uh, maybe is somebody at home.
One of my family memory recorded sitting to yeah, you know,
and I said. My brother's asking me, what's the difference.
I said, I just think the difference is I'm out
on social media watching people try to hype me up.
Oh tell me about display or should do that? I
(17:12):
think now is man, I just want to continue to
do it again. You know, That's all that I can think.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I mean, so interesting not being on social media when
this team has been What they're saying, let me tell
you is that you know, this wasn't a ten win team.
This wasn't a team that was going to achieve this much.
But you guys never thought that. When When did you
find that you had a lot of belief in this team?
Because you know, you know, your first year here in Minnesota.
Speaker 5 (17:35):
It started early for me.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
I remember having conversations during OTAs then I felt like
this group was special. And I remember my agent, you know,
being my first year, that's asking me, how do you
feel about the organization, how you feel about the coaches?
I said, Oh, well, that's wait. You know, let's go
to camp. You know, first three games you definitely can
tell what's going on. But we get to camp and
we're just hitting off all cylinders everybody who's already connected,
and everything kind of makes sense. It was just clicking
(17:58):
the correct way so early, and when you have a
feeling like that, I just knew something was specially is
going to happen, you know. And it's kind of hard
to explain that going into the first game the season,
trying to explain that, but everybody in this locker room,
everybody in the organization kind of already felt that feeling.
And it's been also awesome to be a part of.
So happen the first three games. My age asking me again,
how you feel about the organization, the coaches since phenomenals,
(18:20):
Like I said, I can see here and play football
for a lot of years.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
It feels like this, Oh yeah for sure, Oh yeah, sure, you.
Speaker 6 (18:28):
Can make this work for a long time. You feel
like this, said man, this is something that I felt
during O t A, so.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
It came from me very early.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, you know, this is It's an interesting time though,
because it is a final week of buys for some teams,
and you guys had to buy it feels like last year.
How are you guys feeling right now, because you haven't
really had a break since, you know, Week five, Body's.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Feeling really well.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
Actually, you know, I feel like it's the it's the
best it has been, you know, from the eight years
that I've been in the league, and I think what
we do well here. I think a lot of guys
kind of take it upon theirself to take their body
very seriously.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
Everybody come in and get treatment.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
The coaches kind of feel to find ways to kind
of take care of us when we need it. And
you know, when you got the players and the coaches
all on the same page, it makes it easier to
kind of take care.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
Of your body.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
And that fel that we got a group where everybody
knows the plan and the focus and what's the goal,
and everybody is to find a way to take care
of everybody just a little bit more, a little bit better.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, it's funny you should say that because I feel
like I've heard a lot about recently coaching styles changing.
You know, like coaches don't maybe coach as hard as
they do. But then conversely, you hear a lot about
when coaches believe in you. When they have that, like,
you know they can, you know they count on you,
(19:46):
and that you're not going to get that same tough
critic necessarily, but it's in a good way. How much
as a player does it change? Because we've seen for instance,
I'll give you an example of what I keep thinking
about is the way that Sam Darnold started his career
out and now he's got a coach that believes in
him so much and the difference in his play. How
much does that belief like really matter to a player?
Speaker 6 (20:08):
Oh man, it's huge and I feel like it's now
is where you got this type of belief in me?
I have to have that in myself, and you know
when the coaches kind of have that type of trust,
I think the only thing that's going through any player
of mine. I'm more to sure everybody feel the same
way any player of mine is I don't want to
let him down for him feeling that way. So if
you feel that way, I gotta feel like that times too.
(20:29):
And when it comes to we know, with the example
with Sam Donald, he always felt like that by himself
and to have someone else to kind of say the
same thing, it's no way he wants to go out
there and let him down. And I feel like everybody
in this building feels the same way, you know, for
our coaches, our staff, this organization. I feel like anybody
will run through a big wall for these guys, you know,
and that's because the type of trust that they're have
(20:50):
in us. It's a maturity level understanding that they don't
have to be so hard on us, understand that we're
going to be just as hard on ourselves, and then
we won't have to wait for a coach or anybody
in an organization that say, hey, we got to pick
this or we got.
Speaker 5 (21:02):
To do this.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Everybody feels like this, and I think that's just the
maturity level. And like I said, for them to have
that type of trust, we got to sit here and
do whatever it takes to make sure we don't let
them down. Knowing it, they installed so much trust in us.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
So you guys are obviously on a hot streak. You've
got five straight wins, you are a ten win team.
You have a big game against the Falcons on Sunday.
But before all of that happens, there's a Thursday night
football game that I know we're not looking at other teams,
but it has all it could have some significant implications
(21:36):
on where you guys end up in the playoff picture.
Do you watch the game? Do you kind of take
it on? Like how do you approach that knowing that
like that game is like happening, and like I got
some free time, I'm watching film, but like, oh no,
there it is.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Yeah, I might click it on and off. I wonder
about that you have through out the night, might click
it on and off. Or if I'm watching, maybe my
son turned it all there, so I'm walking past the TV.
Might be kind of one of those things, right, you know,
depending on what team I'm rooting for.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
I know, you guys know you're winning out is the goal,
and that's obviously what matters the most. Is there conversation
about how there's just this little margin of error because
of the division you're in.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Yeah, you know, like I said on that Thursday, come
it might be one team or rooting for a little
bit more than the other, you know, And I get
superstitious again while I'm watching a game and that team,
who I'm not really rooting for, it might do too good,
so maybe I turn it off. So it's one of
the things. I'm not sure that's a Thursday they actually come.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Oh, I know, right, well, the expectations for this team
is the playoffs. You guys have a four game cushion
right now on teams that are not making it right, So,
like the eighth team in the NFC is six and six,
you guys are already ten and two, So like, you
know you've got wiggle room, but you don't because you've
got the lions. Like, what does that feel like? Going in?
Like you've already achieved so much, but yet you're still
(22:55):
not there?
Speaker 6 (22:56):
You know, it's crazy. I don't think we even focus
on just a building off yet. Thing right now, we're
in the spot where I think we're just trying to
focus on playing our best ball and I don't think
we capture our best ball yet. You know, it might
look nice or it might look really close, but I
feel like in our heart that everybody around this organization
(23:16):
we haven't played our best ball yet, so we're not
even thinking too far ahead.
Speaker 5 (23:19):
It's literally no ko.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
We go through each week talk about going one to know,
and I think we really haul in on that and
everybody believes in that that we have to take this
one day at a time. Now I'm going to say
one week, but one day at a time. You know,
we got to win each day. And I feel like
with everybody thinking like that, it makes it easier to
kind of continue to go through these games knowing that
it might take the final second and try to win
this or pull it off.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Understand that we just.
Speaker 6 (23:41):
Try to capture our best play and we haven't even
seen that yet, so right not going into this week.
Hope we can try to capture that this week and
the week after. So our only goal is is to
play our best ball through each week?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
What is your best ball? What will that look like?
Speaker 6 (23:57):
Anytime we have a chance to capitalize on the play,
it might be someone throwing the ball up. It's said
of us dropping intercession, we catch everyone, or every time
we get to the red zone on it as a
defense and we got to stop offense. We make that
stop when it comes to the offense. Every time we
get into that red zone, we score every single time.
I think, when everything is clicking right and nothing can
(24:17):
go wrong, that's when we're playing that best ball. And
I feel like we haven't got a chance to capture
that yet. Yeah, but that's what we're fighting for and
that's awesome because we all feel.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
The same way.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Is that. I mean, to your point, it doesn't matter
who you play, but at the end of the day,
you're not It doesn't sound like you're like, Okay, we're
gonna beat so and so it's like, no, if we
do all of the if we play the best ball,
the results are there.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yeah, it's nothing gonna change. It don't matter who we're playing.
Speaker 6 (24:40):
And that the goal, the goal is to come in
each week, each game is to understand we're gonna treat
everybody the same. It don't matter if you got two
wins or six wins or ten, doesn't matter.
Speaker 5 (24:49):
Everybody's being treated the same way.
Speaker 6 (24:51):
And if we're playing that best ball and another team
comes and kind of downplay it, then that could be
a tough situation for them. But we have to play
our best ball first, no matter who we've played. At
the end of the day, we're just trying to capture
our best ball and that's capitalizing on every situation throughout
the whole entire game and making sure that we coming
on the top winning.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Hopefully that happens on Sunday. I know that the defense,
there's a lot of new faces on this defense, but
there are a lot of guys on the team who
are well versed in the way that Kirk Cousins played.
Have you ever played him before?
Speaker 6 (25:21):
Uh? Yeah, a lot. When I was in Seattle, got
a chance to play here a couple of times. I
think this is when you know, feeling and yeah, digs
and everybody will still here. So I got a chance
to play against him a couple of times, for sure.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
What how do you prepare for a quarterback who plays
the way that he does, which is very different than
the way that the last two guys you've played play.
You know that running mobile Kyler Murray Caleb Williams two
of the best to really escape all the pressure when
Kirk just he's quick, he's decisive, sits in the pocket. No,
you know he's a veteran. How does your preparation change
(25:53):
for that?
Speaker 6 (25:54):
So we got to understand that this is a guy
with a ton of experience, seeing a lot of balls,
seeing a lot of different things. I feel like now
we've got to go into the game and figure out
the things that.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
Will make it tough on him.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
You know, it don't matter what it is, could be
from disguises to whatever the case may be. We have
to find ways to take pieces off the board from
a guy who has so much experience, who can make
players out of nothing.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
We don't see that happen.
Speaker 6 (26:15):
We have to take the pieces around him away and
let him have to go win the game by.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Something which has been hard for him a little bit lately.
You know, I'm not trying to trash anyone here, but
I'm going by the stats here. It's been a three
game losing streak for the Falcons. He's thrown noah touchdowns,
six interceptions, He's had four fumbles, responsible for those ten takeaways.
He's not playing his best ball. However, Brian Flores knows better.
He's said in this press conference this week that Kirk
is just a bounce back kind of guy, and so
(26:41):
you guys expect to see the best version of him
out there. You don't think Brian Flores has got a
little bit of an edge on this. He knows Kirk
inside and out right.
Speaker 6 (26:48):
Yeah, but I just know how he treat everybody. You know,
it doesn't matter of like you got a little edge.
He wants to find ways to kind of eliminate every
ability for someone to use against us. That's fair when
it comes to him, Like I said, with the experience,
we got to find ways to make sure he can't
use that against us.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Yeah, how did you start playing football?
Speaker 6 (27:07):
Started playing football? My oldest brothers played, and I think
I just want to be like you. And then my
dad really down in to make sure.
Speaker 5 (27:15):
We got the best out of it.
Speaker 6 (27:16):
So when it comes to training or what in case
may be, he just went to make sure we could
beat our older brothers and everything was a competition. So
kind of found the left and a passion for it
early on, just trying to imitate what my older.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Brothers was doing.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
It's so interesting too, because I think everyone knows you guys,
like we know you and your brothers sho queen like
as a unit, like you guys are we know you?
We know you guys. And it's interesting because I feel
like there's three new guys on the team that each
have a twin brother, Like, what are the odds of that?
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Is there?
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Like some scientific thing? Like it's kind of crazy. Do
you guys ever, Like if you ever talked about that before?
Speaker 5 (27:51):
Yeah, we talked about it. We actually took a picture together,
you know.
Speaker 6 (27:54):
But it's funny because everybody was missing that that half
of day twins.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
Oh right, But you know, me and Aaron Jones is
really close. You know.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
It's funny that the conversation that him and his brother
have sounded like the same conversation me and my brother have.
I mean, they sounds so identical. It's crazy. But they
were really close, and now me and my brother are
the same way. But man, it's just something about that
twin connection. It just feels a little different.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, and all three of you guys have like male
twins like they're boys right like, which is so crazy too.
So it's just like a whole bunch of football players
or ex football players. That's so funny. I wanted to
ask you one more question before I let you get going.
I've enjoyed this so much so far. By the way,
I wanted to know what more about you? If you
weren't playing football, what would you be doing right now?
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Yeah? Yeah, I have the time at ACF.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
Well, I want to run track and be a triple
jumper and okay one day and make it to the Olympics.
And you know what's crazy, my brothers actually just got
to approved for the pair of Olympics, so he'll be
training for the next Olympics.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Oh that's so cool.
Speaker 5 (28:49):
So, yeah, I get a chance.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
What events will he try to do?
Speaker 6 (28:52):
He'll be doing the loan jump, triple jump, and uh
maybe he might do the cataline.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Man, you guys are just so athletically gifted, just naturally
I thought of Come.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
So he'll be going for the twenty twenty eight Olympics.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Congratulations.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
Yeah, that should be awesome. Now he'll give me a
chance to let him train him a little bit. It's
gonna be some real exciting time coming. Oh.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
I love to make Oh that's gonna be so much fun. Well,
thank you so much for joining a shock. I know
that you have to get going here. You're going to
a Toys for Tots event. Do you do you want
to tell everyone a little bit more about what you're
doing today?
Speaker 6 (29:20):
Oh man, Well, get a chance to take a kid.
They don't get a chance to shop see some things.
Let them on, be a little excited for him. Get
a chance to pick some things out, some toys and
get ready to put them in a Christmas spirits.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Why is that important for you to do?
Speaker 5 (29:33):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (29:33):
Man, I feel like it's just important to kind of
be able to have that chance to give back. You know,
if I felt like if I was that kid and
I had a chance to get a chance to enjoy
a guy who's in the NFL, to get a chance
to shop around, hang around, even just having conversations, That's
something I'd definitely be looking forward to. So to be
that guy, to be able to give that chance back
to someone else, to a kid that might be a
little less fortunate or whatever the case may be, I
(29:54):
would love to be that guy have some fun with
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate getting
know you a little bit better, and uh, good luck
on Sunday. We're looking forward to seeing more big plays
out of you.
Speaker 5 (30:04):
Oh, thank you. Appreciate for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
A big thank you to Shack Griffin for joining us
for the second half of MVP, and another thanks to
Paul meetzas Lambert for being on the earlier portion. The
Vikings returned to US Bank Stadium on Sunday for the
second straight weekend. They're hosting the Atlanta Falcons a noonkick
on Fox. Minnesota looks to improve to eleven and two
and notch their sixth straight win. That's all on Sunday.
(30:29):
For now, I'm Tatum Everett, your host here at the
Minnesota Vikings podcast, and thanks for listening.
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