October 29, 2020 • 21 mins
On this edition of X's and O's with Mike Zimmer, Zimmer and Paul Allen break down the loss to Atlanta, the bye week, and look ahead to Sunday's game against Green Bay. Co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson joins the show to discuss the progress of some of the young players on defense.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A fan Time for X and OS with Vikings head
coach Mike Zimmer on the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network Now
from the TCO studios at Egan Here is the voice
of the Vikings Paul Ellen. Time for XS and OS
(00:21):
on the kfa N Minnesota Vikings Radio Network courtesy of
US Bank. Paul Allen joined by Vikings head coach Mike
Zimmer out of the bye week lambeau Field this weekend, Coach,
did you did you get much downtime during the off time,
because whether I was testing at TCO Performance Center or
(00:41):
here for whatever the reason, I saw your truck here
pretty much every single day. Yeah, I was here quite
a bit. You know, we got a lot of stuff
that we have to look at and continue to try
to get these young guys improved as much as we
possibly can. Now, what are some things on defense that
you're viking through six? And the reason I ask it
(01:02):
that way is sometimes you only or people in your
profession only focus on the negatives or only hear about
the negatives. I would imagine some things are getting better
game by game. Yeah, I think you know. Eric Kendricks
is playing at a high level. Um, Eric Wilson is
doing a nice job as well. Uh, you know, we've
been pretty decent on third downs for the most part.
(01:24):
We've been pretty right in the red zone for the
most part. Uh, we've you know, there's some areas obviously,
we have to improve first first downs. You know, I
think the running game overall, you know, we're giving up
a ton of yards but yards per carry us down there.
So uh, you know, we just got to do a
better job with our time of possession. Help that out.
Now with with Eric Wilson, specifically with those two sacks,
(01:47):
is that a process of the position he plays, or
like a certain play and then like gets extended. What
has led to his sacks? Well, I think a little
bit of it. Paul is um. You know, he understands
we're uh where to take his shots, and there's some
times and we've been trying to get him to add
to the quarterback. There's been times when he's been blitzing,
(02:10):
and so I think just a couple of those times
has helped. Now offensively speaking, Mike, you know, the the
Atlanta game had its problems, so maybe some people are
forgetting from Tennessee through Seattle. Yeah, there there were some
incredibly good things done here offensively. Do you agree with that?
And is that more who your offense is than maybe
(02:32):
the Indianapolis or Atlantic games. Well, I think those those
two things are important. Um, that we that we control
the football, We sustained sustained drives by getting third downs,
and um, you know in both those two games that
you're talking about, UM, we turn the ball over late,
which which uh, you know put us in a tough situations.
(02:53):
So we've got to We've got to continue to possess
the ball, not turn it over. We got to be
able to, um, continue to do the things that the
quarterback does well and and uh our offensive line does well. Now, now,
you you always have taken losing hard, even like when
your team is five and two. So how are you
handling this one? So far? That's been pretty rough? Um,
(03:15):
you know, but I keep trying to look at these
young guys and try to continue to get them better
and think about, you know, what's it going to be
like four weeks from now? You know, and really, um,
you know this has a lot to do with trying
to to better the players and how can we help
them as coaches to continue to get better. Um, you know,
it's it's It's just a situation we're in. You know,
(03:38):
we didn't we didn't ask for Danielle Hunter to get
hurt or Anthony Barr or Michael Pierce opt out or
you know, the corner situation the way it is. But
it is what it is, and so we're just going
to keep keep um, plug him in and keep fighting.
You you traded Unique in goc Way, and you know,
all of his career, including here he sacks the quarterback,
which is important, but with the standards you specifically and
(04:03):
and Ray Patterson have had for many years, the importance
of the complete game is that, you know, what could
could that ever have happened with Unique here contain run
stopping the whole thing? Well, I think, Paul, you know,
he tried to do everything we asked him to do. Um.
You know, I think that uh, you know, he was
(04:24):
having to buy into some of the things that we're
asking to do. And we just and quite honestly, we
feel good about some of these young players and and uh,
you know, we had an idea that he probably wouldn't
be here next year anyway. What do you like about
dj Wanam one of those young players? Yeah, you know,
he's improving every every time out he improves. Um, you know,
he's still like y'all young guys do, and like Daniel
(04:46):
did when he was young, to still thinking too much,
um and not letting all of his athleticism show right now.
But um, you see flashes of it in practice, you
see flashes of it in game. And then when if
you ever can just you know, take a deep breath
and let it go, then he's got a chance. You know,
and I know you you've always been big on making predictions.
(05:06):
So any chance Dj Wantum lead your team in sacks
this year? And then the reason I ask Pete Burstich
analyst Vikings Radio Network and others, you know, a Fadio,
Denibo two and a half, Eric Wilson too, I'm like,
I hope that they they all have fifteen. I'll take
dj Wantam as the long shot in this equation. Is
(05:26):
it a bad take? No, I don't think it's a
bad take. Um, you know he's got one right now.
I believe that was pretty much a free runner though,
So you know, we'll just see. I don't I don't know.
I'm a racetrack guy, you know, I'm looking for the
long shot. Mike Zimmer Rex as and ohs, how is
new DB's coach Toronte Jones handling up handling or holding
(05:51):
up with all of the youth and everything in the secondary. Yeah,
you know, quite honestly, Dorante is doing a terrific job.
He's coaching these guys very hard. Uh, he's very detailed
in his work. Um, you know this. It is a
tough job when you when you have as many young
rookies playing at one time in the back end, because
that's coaching a beck ends a hard deal. But I
(06:13):
think he's doing an outstanding job. These young guys will
keeping getting better or keep improving. I think you've seen
that with uh with Gladney in the slot. You know,
he's playing double duty, playing inside and outside. So, um,
it just keeps improving. And you know, obviously we don't
have a lot of time to keep improving, but we
got to keep getting better. Jeff, Jeff's a really tough guy,
(06:35):
isn't he just like mentally tough, like he wants to
win a fight. Yeah, Jeff's a good competitive kid, and uh,
you know he has all the tools. He makes some
mistakes like like uh, you know, all these guys do,
but uh, he's got a good future. Where do you
feel if Audio Dnibo is most comfortable like for the
most plays in a game. Well, I think he's probably
(06:57):
most comfortable at end. Um, but you know, we move
inside because he gives us a little bit of push
in the middle there and um, but I think you
know he's he's a guy that's going to fight and
pressure and push and keep competing until he can get
to the quarterback. We're gonna have do that this week now.
Dalvin clearly is one of the best overall running backs
(07:17):
in the NFL. That's obvious. Where in non obvious fashion, Mike,
where is Dalvin most important to this offense? I think everywhere? Um,
you know, he's he's great on screens, he's great on uh,
you know, the zone plays, He's he's good in protection,
you know. But him him being out there is important
(07:40):
to the structure of the defense as well, because you know,
you can get a lot more single high He looks
um than you normally would when he's out there, and
with the threat of him running the football Rogers this Sunday,
he really is embracing the no fans concept, isn't he?
I don't know. I haven't paid much attention to that.
(08:03):
He's uh, you know, some of the things I've seen
him do is just you know, he's playing New Orleans,
He's running a bootleg to his left and it's fallen backwards.
It throws a fifty yard or on the money. Um,
you know some of these throws that he makes and
thinks he sees in the way he um manipulates the
defense and not only the hard count, but seeing the
(08:24):
pressures and getting protection turned and knowing where to go
to the football. Uh, this guy's amazing. Um, you know,
it's it's like this every time we have to play him. Well,
he's all of famer and I'm not disrespecting him, but
what I mean by embracing the no fans concept US
Bank Stadium, no fans, Superdome, no fans, no distractions, And
I've just never ever seen him this dialed in with
(08:48):
without these distractions. You know. Yeah, Well, you know, he's
he's very very smart. He hears a lot of things
that the defense says, um, you know, and and so
I think he picks up on a lot of that
as well. So this guy, um, you know, he's as
good as there is, uh, maybe the best of all time.
So hey, what what do you think of Jamal Williams
(09:10):
overall game? You know, I think he's a really good
good I think he's improved a lot in the last
I think it's three years now, but you know, he
runs the ball very physically, he's got good feet, He's
been good in protection as well, and so I think
I think he's improved quite a bit. Last one time
for one more, when um, when getting ready for Green
(09:31):
Bay's defense, does it start with Kenny Clark and you
go out or do you start with the Smiths and
like come into Like I know it all compliments each other,
but like where do you start with those three? Well,
you know, it's a little bit like like it is.
On offense, you got to start with Rogers, Adams and
Aaron Jones, and on defense you got to do with
the Smiths and Kenny Clark. So you know, they've got
(09:53):
three big time playmakers on both sides of the ball
along with you know, guys like Alexander and the two
safeties are good players as well, But as far as
the front guys, it's those three guys that you have
to do a really good job against. And just when
you get squared away on fifty five outside. Then he's
inside doing your a gap mugging right right, he does
all those. Hey, best to luck this weekend. Thanks for
(10:15):
the time, Thanks Paul. Yeah, Sir Mike Zimmer, head coach
of the Minnesota Vikings on XS and OS and in
celebration of sixty seasons, the Vikings are selecting fans for
our sixty Greatest Fans Team, presented by US Bank. We
want to honor the most impassioned of Vikings fans throughout
the history of the Minnesota Vikings. Nominate yourself or somebody
(10:38):
else today at Vikings dot Com. Slash six zero Fans.
XES and OS continues around the corner on the KFA
n Minnesota Vikings Radio Network driven by the XES and
OS continues on the KFA in Minnesota Vikings Radio Network.
(11:00):
Very happy to be joined by Vikings co defensive coordinator
and defensive line coach Andre Patterson. But first play the
new Vikings scratch game from the Minnesota Lottery top prize
one hundred thousand dollars. Just say I'm in. Get details
at M and Lottery dot com. Andre Paul Allen, how
you been I'm doing good Man. Just miss you. I
(11:21):
missed talking to you before practice every day. Well, why
you gotta go there? I mean, now you're getting into
my heart. I missed that every single day. Kidding me.
That's how I feel too, man. I mean, I feel
like off the Lions conversations, I'm squared away on Rick Wagner.
But we can talk about that some other time. You
loved defensive end DJ Wanum into the draft, big chance
(11:44):
for him. Now, how do you think he's going to do?
I think the thing that's that's been very encouraging is
DJ's gotten better every week. He's a hard working kid,
very conscientious. You know, being a good football player is
very poor to him. And those are the things, the
qualities that he showed me before the draft that made
(12:05):
me really like him a lot. And uh now I
just expect him to continue to improve. And I think
he's got a lot left in his game and we
haven't gotten close to seeing the best of his. Shamar Stepan,
is he one of the great team players you've ever had.
I mean I'm not saying like Elvis Dumerville, Denil Hunter
(12:25):
or whatever. I'm saying team guy who will do whatever
it takes to make things work. So there's no question,
you know, Jamar is like having a coach on the field,
and you know, the intangible things that he does. It's
it's hard for you know, people to see with the
naked eye. He's a tremendous leader in my room, you
(12:47):
a tremendous leader on the whole defense by you know,
the team also, you know, but he does things the
way you're coach him to be done. H He's smart.
He studied hard. I mean, you know, I wish I
could have all the players that I coach that have
the intangibles that Shamar has. And you know, as as
a coach, you know, he gives you a great deal
(13:08):
of comfort and um, you know, so for me, it's
it's very rare and unique, you know, as a coach
to have a guy like that that, uh that understands
the value of x's and os and techniques and and
uh being aware of formations and those kind of things.
And that's the kind of guy that he is. Now,
for far, we know, Eric Kendricks seems to be having
(13:30):
a fantastic season. Andre But from from your viewpoint and
the non obvious things Kendricks does, so well, what are
some of those things? Well, you know, I think this
year he's doing a much better job of getting on
and off the box um and so so what that
(13:51):
has afforded us to do is to kind of, you know,
move to those sometimes off the center, and Kendricks has
done a great job this year of engaging the center
and being able to get off of him and still
get to the ball and make and make a play.
You know, there's no doubt in my mind he's the
best coverage linebacker in the NFL when it comes to
covering tight ends, running backs, receivers. He can cover so
(14:14):
much ground and he has a great awareness of where
he needs to be based on the route competitions. And
to me, that's one of the things that makes him
very unique. Andre one of the many great traits I
feel and many around the league feel, you display in
going into what you do as patience and you know,
not necessarily with the defensive line now that you're co
(14:37):
defensive coordinator, but these kids on the back end, I mean,
you're raising kids. You have to be patient, right, There's
no question. You know, Hey, we all want them to
be what they're going to become, you know, down the road.
But there's a process that you have to go to
through in order for that to happen, and you got
to keep coaching them every day. You got to show
(14:58):
them the things that they do well and not just
spend the time on the mistakes that they make. You know, Okay,
you made a mistake. This is what you do to
correct it, all right, and then you move on and
you keep letting them see if they're doing some good
things too, and over time they continue to grow and
grow and grow, and the complete player starts to come out.
(15:19):
You know, people forget you know, Everson Griffin hadn't started
a game before we got here, you know, and everybody
knows who Everson became, who Denil became, who Limbo became. Okay,
but that was a process too, and they continued to
grind and continue to work hard. You know, Eric Henderson
is not the player that he was when he first
(15:39):
walked in here out of UCLA. Same thing with Anthony Barr.
So you know, these things take time, and we just
got to continue to work at it, continue to give
these kids confidence, continued for them to see that they
are doing some good things and that they have to
continue to become more consistent. Andre Patterson, code defensive coordinator
for the Minnesota Vikings, and defense of Lying Coach. By
(16:01):
the way, purchase any twenty ouns Pepsi branded product from
Quick Trip with your rewards card and enter the Vikings
Opening Drive Sweet Stakes. No purchase necessary see store forward details.
With Aaron Rodgers, I feel like I've asked you this
question a million times, but you have different personnel. So
the importance of keeping number twelve in the pocket, No,
(16:23):
it's it's highly important. You know, he makes great plays
when he gets out of the pocket, and you know, Pa,
it's it's it's it's a very hard and difficult to do.
It's not easy to do. And uh, you know, the
the D line has to be precise in their rush angles,
you know, and a lot of times if he wants
to get out, it's almost impossible for you you keep
(16:44):
it from getting out because there's four of us, but
there's six gaps, you know, so uh, you know, so
that's what makes it difficult. And you know, that's what
makes it difficult to rushing and to get him on
the ground because you know, you're trying to do a
great job of of of letting the escape angles get
wide and give him room to get out of there.
So you have to be consistent throughout the course of
(17:07):
the game, and the guys have to do a great
job of executing the rush plan together. Now, speaking of
that rush plan, do you feel if you had had
Unique in Goquay for a season and then maybe longer,
that refining his overall game may have been challenging because
he you know, he's so good at what he does
that one thing. But I mean, would that have been
(17:28):
a big challenge for you? Um? Yeah, you know it's
always hard, you know, Pa, when you get a guy
and he shows up, you know, seven days before the
first game, and he's played in the league at one
place for a long time, and they did things differently.
And the one thing that Yan did is he tried
to do the things that I was trying to teach
him and that we asked him to do within the structure,
(17:50):
you know, of of of our defense. And uh, you know,
he got better at it week the week. But you know,
when you when you have okay, it's like I said,
if the other guys, the longer they're here and the
lower they're they're they're practicing every day and getting better
at it every day, the better they get at it. Well,
the perfect current example in my opinion, Andrea is the Fodiodenibo.
(18:11):
I mean, you know, like like back in the day,
Tom Johnson comes here from the from the Saints, he
learns your plan. Man, he had like six and a
half sacks from the from the defensive tackle slash three
technique spot and Fotio Dentibo. Isn't he that perfect example
off patience and the way you laid that out? Oh,
no question, you know, no question. You know. Uh, you know,
(18:33):
Fotty came in here from Northwestern and we had to
refine his game and it took some time, and he
kept working and kept working and kept working and gotten
better and better and better, and you know now he's
the player he is today. And I know he understands
that he still has to keep grinding because he still
has a lot left, you know, out in front of him.
So uh, you know that that's the way that this
business work, you know, you know, Pa, every year in
(18:56):
the draft, everybody gets so excited about all these d
tackles and all these is that come into this guy
is going to be a perennial pro bowler and all
this and all that. But if you go back and
you look just from that, this year's draft. Look and
see how many of them are playing. Look how many
and see them are getting, how many reps they're getting
through the course of the game, and are they putting
up those kind of numbers. Because the NFL is hard
(19:18):
and you have to learn how to become an NFL player.
It is so much different than college football. And that's
the thing that you know, as coaches and people have
to keep in mind that you have to be in
the developmental business if you're going to if you're going
to build a program that's able to stay good for
a long time, you have to be a part of
developmental business that you're going to develop players. And it's
(19:39):
not about trying to go get somebody else's guys, Andre
last one, because you know, you've taught me this and
I've seen it the importance of domination and pass rush
from your three technique spots. So how important how imperative
is it getting better thrust from your three techniques being forward? Oh,
(20:01):
it's you know, whenever you have a three technique that
has the ability to win, that changes everything because he
has the quickest route to the quarterback. And you know,
pe anything that tells you how difficult it is Okay,
I want you to If you can count five great
ones in today's league right now, okay, then you are
(20:21):
a big time winner. It's hard to come up with
five names of three that are big time pass rushers
in the National Football League. That's how hard it is
to find that guy. It's difficult to do and it's
a hard task to do. And so you know, every
year we're out trying to find that guy. I'm trying
to develop that guy. No, but they're hard to find.
(20:43):
You know. I was lucky in my league and my
early part of my career I had John Randall, and
then from from John Randall, I went to le Roy Glover,
you know, and then after that it started to become
I'm trying to find him or trying to find him
on trying to find it. It's hard to find that guy.
Hey man, you're the best. Missing you every single day,
and we'll talk soon. Okay, Oh, appreciate you, bud, see
(21:05):
you later. Andre Patterson the co defensive coordinator and defensive
line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. And that wraps up
x'es and os with Mike Zimmer and Andre Patterson. We
want to thank Brett Blakemore and Blake Brett Moore for
their assistance at KFA N. Likewise, for Eric Nordquist and
Jesse Marquette from the Vikings Entertainment Network, I'm Paul Allen.
(21:30):
Thanks for listening to XES and OS. I'm the KFA
and Minnesota Vikings Radio network driven by Chaeularis.
A fan Time for X and OS with Vikings head
coach Mike Zimmer on the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network Now
from the TCO studios at Egan Here is the voice
of the Vikings Paul Ellen. Time for XS and OS
(00:21):
on the kfa N Minnesota Vikings Radio Network courtesy of
US Bank. Paul Allen joined by Vikings head coach Mike
Zimmer out of the bye week lambeau Field this weekend, Coach,
did you did you get much downtime during the off time,
because whether I was testing at TCO Performance Center or
(00:41):
here for whatever the reason, I saw your truck here
pretty much every single day. Yeah, I was here quite
a bit. You know, we got a lot of stuff
that we have to look at and continue to try
to get these young guys improved as much as we
possibly can. Now, what are some things on defense that
you're viking through six? And the reason I ask it
(01:02):
that way is sometimes you only or people in your
profession only focus on the negatives or only hear about
the negatives. I would imagine some things are getting better
game by game. Yeah, I think you know. Eric Kendricks
is playing at a high level. Um, Eric Wilson is
doing a nice job as well. Uh, you know, we've
been pretty decent on third downs for the most part.
(01:24):
We've been pretty right in the red zone for the
most part. Uh, we've you know, there's some areas obviously,
we have to improve first first downs. You know, I
think the running game overall, you know, we're giving up
a ton of yards but yards per carry us down there.
So uh, you know, we just got to do a
better job with our time of possession. Help that out.
Now with with Eric Wilson, specifically with those two sacks,
(01:47):
is that a process of the position he plays, or
like a certain play and then like gets extended. What
has led to his sacks? Well, I think a little
bit of it. Paul is um. You know, he understands
we're uh where to take his shots, and there's some
times and we've been trying to get him to add
to the quarterback. There's been times when he's been blitzing,
(02:10):
and so I think just a couple of those times
has helped. Now offensively speaking, Mike, you know, the the
Atlanta game had its problems, so maybe some people are
forgetting from Tennessee through Seattle. Yeah, there there were some
incredibly good things done here offensively. Do you agree with that?
And is that more who your offense is than maybe
(02:32):
the Indianapolis or Atlantic games. Well, I think those those
two things are important. Um, that we that we control
the football, We sustained sustained drives by getting third downs,
and um, you know in both those two games that
you're talking about, UM, we turn the ball over late,
which which uh, you know put us in a tough situations.
(02:53):
So we've got to We've got to continue to possess
the ball, not turn it over. We got to be
able to, um, continue to do the things that the
quarterback does well and and uh our offensive line does well. Now, now,
you you always have taken losing hard, even like when
your team is five and two. So how are you
handling this one? So far? That's been pretty rough? Um,
(03:15):
you know, but I keep trying to look at these
young guys and try to continue to get them better
and think about, you know, what's it going to be
like four weeks from now? You know, and really, um,
you know this has a lot to do with trying
to to better the players and how can we help
them as coaches to continue to get better. Um, you know,
it's it's It's just a situation we're in. You know,
(03:38):
we didn't we didn't ask for Danielle Hunter to get
hurt or Anthony Barr or Michael Pierce opt out or
you know, the corner situation the way it is. But
it is what it is, and so we're just going
to keep keep um, plug him in and keep fighting.
You you traded Unique in goc Way, and you know,
all of his career, including here he sacks the quarterback,
which is important, but with the standards you specifically and
(04:03):
and Ray Patterson have had for many years, the importance
of the complete game is that, you know, what could
could that ever have happened with Unique here contain run
stopping the whole thing? Well, I think, Paul, you know,
he tried to do everything we asked him to do. Um.
You know, I think that uh, you know, he was
(04:24):
having to buy into some of the things that we're
asking to do. And we just and quite honestly, we
feel good about some of these young players and and uh,
you know, we had an idea that he probably wouldn't
be here next year anyway. What do you like about
dj Wanam one of those young players? Yeah, you know,
he's improving every every time out he improves. Um, you know,
he's still like y'all young guys do, and like Daniel
(04:46):
did when he was young, to still thinking too much,
um and not letting all of his athleticism show right now.
But um, you see flashes of it in practice, you
see flashes of it in game. And then when if
you ever can just you know, take a deep breath
and let it go, then he's got a chance. You know,
and I know you you've always been big on making predictions.
(05:06):
So any chance Dj Wantum lead your team in sacks
this year? And then the reason I ask Pete Burstich
analyst Vikings Radio Network and others, you know, a Fadio,
Denibo two and a half, Eric Wilson too, I'm like,
I hope that they they all have fifteen. I'll take
dj Wantam as the long shot in this equation. Is
(05:26):
it a bad take? No, I don't think it's a
bad take. Um, you know he's got one right now.
I believe that was pretty much a free runner though,
So you know, we'll just see. I don't I don't know.
I'm a racetrack guy, you know, I'm looking for the
long shot. Mike Zimmer Rex as and ohs, how is
new DB's coach Toronte Jones handling up handling or holding
(05:51):
up with all of the youth and everything in the secondary. Yeah,
you know, quite honestly, Dorante is doing a terrific job.
He's coaching these guys very hard. Uh, he's very detailed
in his work. Um, you know this. It is a
tough job when you when you have as many young
rookies playing at one time in the back end, because
that's coaching a beck ends a hard deal. But I
(06:13):
think he's doing an outstanding job. These young guys will
keeping getting better or keep improving. I think you've seen
that with uh with Gladney in the slot. You know,
he's playing double duty, playing inside and outside. So, um,
it just keeps improving. And you know, obviously we don't
have a lot of time to keep improving, but we
got to keep getting better. Jeff, Jeff's a really tough guy,
(06:35):
isn't he just like mentally tough, like he wants to
win a fight. Yeah, Jeff's a good competitive kid, and uh,
you know he has all the tools. He makes some
mistakes like like uh, you know, all these guys do,
but uh, he's got a good future. Where do you
feel if Audio Dnibo is most comfortable like for the
most plays in a game. Well, I think he's probably
(06:57):
most comfortable at end. Um, but you know, we move
inside because he gives us a little bit of push
in the middle there and um, but I think you
know he's he's a guy that's going to fight and
pressure and push and keep competing until he can get
to the quarterback. We're gonna have do that this week now.
Dalvin clearly is one of the best overall running backs
(07:17):
in the NFL. That's obvious. Where in non obvious fashion, Mike,
where is Dalvin most important to this offense? I think everywhere? Um,
you know, he's he's great on screens, he's great on uh,
you know, the zone plays, He's he's good in protection,
you know. But him him being out there is important
(07:40):
to the structure of the defense as well, because you know,
you can get a lot more single high He looks
um than you normally would when he's out there, and
with the threat of him running the football Rogers this Sunday,
he really is embracing the no fans concept, isn't he?
I don't know. I haven't paid much attention to that.
(08:03):
He's uh, you know, some of the things I've seen
him do is just you know, he's playing New Orleans,
He's running a bootleg to his left and it's fallen backwards.
It throws a fifty yard or on the money. Um,
you know some of these throws that he makes and
thinks he sees in the way he um manipulates the
defense and not only the hard count, but seeing the
(08:24):
pressures and getting protection turned and knowing where to go
to the football. Uh, this guy's amazing. Um, you know,
it's it's like this every time we have to play him. Well,
he's all of famer and I'm not disrespecting him, but
what I mean by embracing the no fans concept US
Bank Stadium, no fans, Superdome, no fans, no distractions, And
I've just never ever seen him this dialed in with
(08:48):
without these distractions. You know. Yeah, Well, you know, he's
he's very very smart. He hears a lot of things
that the defense says, um, you know, and and so
I think he picks up on a lot of that
as well. So this guy, um, you know, he's as
good as there is, uh, maybe the best of all time.
So hey, what what do you think of Jamal Williams
(09:10):
overall game? You know, I think he's a really good
good I think he's improved a lot in the last
I think it's three years now, but you know, he
runs the ball very physically, he's got good feet, He's
been good in protection as well, and so I think
I think he's improved quite a bit. Last one time
for one more, when um, when getting ready for Green
(09:31):
Bay's defense, does it start with Kenny Clark and you
go out or do you start with the Smiths and
like come into Like I know it all compliments each other,
but like where do you start with those three? Well,
you know, it's a little bit like like it is.
On offense, you got to start with Rogers, Adams and
Aaron Jones, and on defense you got to do with
the Smiths and Kenny Clark. So you know, they've got
(09:53):
three big time playmakers on both sides of the ball
along with you know, guys like Alexander and the two
safeties are good players as well, But as far as
the front guys, it's those three guys that you have
to do a really good job against. And just when
you get squared away on fifty five outside. Then he's
inside doing your a gap mugging right right, he does
all those. Hey, best to luck this weekend. Thanks for
(10:15):
the time, Thanks Paul. Yeah, Sir Mike Zimmer, head coach
of the Minnesota Vikings on XS and OS and in
celebration of sixty seasons, the Vikings are selecting fans for
our sixty Greatest Fans Team, presented by US Bank. We
want to honor the most impassioned of Vikings fans throughout
the history of the Minnesota Vikings. Nominate yourself or somebody
(10:38):
else today at Vikings dot Com. Slash six zero Fans.
XES and OS continues around the corner on the KFA
n Minnesota Vikings Radio Network driven by the XES and
OS continues on the KFA in Minnesota Vikings Radio Network.
(11:00):
Very happy to be joined by Vikings co defensive coordinator
and defensive line coach Andre Patterson. But first play the
new Vikings scratch game from the Minnesota Lottery top prize
one hundred thousand dollars. Just say I'm in. Get details
at M and Lottery dot com. Andre Paul Allen, how
you been I'm doing good Man. Just miss you. I
(11:21):
missed talking to you before practice every day. Well, why
you gotta go there? I mean, now you're getting into
my heart. I missed that every single day. Kidding me.
That's how I feel too, man. I mean, I feel
like off the Lions conversations, I'm squared away on Rick Wagner.
But we can talk about that some other time. You
loved defensive end DJ Wanum into the draft, big chance
(11:44):
for him. Now, how do you think he's going to do?
I think the thing that's that's been very encouraging is
DJ's gotten better every week. He's a hard working kid,
very conscientious. You know, being a good football player is
very poor to him. And those are the things, the
qualities that he showed me before the draft that made
(12:05):
me really like him a lot. And uh now I
just expect him to continue to improve. And I think
he's got a lot left in his game and we
haven't gotten close to seeing the best of his. Shamar Stepan,
is he one of the great team players you've ever had.
I mean I'm not saying like Elvis Dumerville, Denil Hunter
(12:25):
or whatever. I'm saying team guy who will do whatever
it takes to make things work. So there's no question,
you know, Jamar is like having a coach on the field,
and you know, the intangible things that he does. It's
it's hard for you know, people to see with the
naked eye. He's a tremendous leader in my room, you
(12:47):
a tremendous leader on the whole defense by you know,
the team also, you know, but he does things the
way you're coach him to be done. H He's smart.
He studied hard. I mean, you know, I wish I
could have all the players that I coach that have
the intangibles that Shamar has. And you know, as as
a coach, you know, he gives you a great deal
(13:08):
of comfort and um, you know, so for me, it's
it's very rare and unique, you know, as a coach
to have a guy like that that, uh that understands
the value of x's and os and techniques and and
uh being aware of formations and those kind of things.
And that's the kind of guy that he is. Now,
for far, we know, Eric Kendricks seems to be having
(13:30):
a fantastic season. Andre But from from your viewpoint and
the non obvious things Kendricks does, so well, what are
some of those things? Well, you know, I think this
year he's doing a much better job of getting on
and off the box um and so so what that
(13:51):
has afforded us to do is to kind of, you know,
move to those sometimes off the center, and Kendricks has
done a great job this year of engaging the center
and being able to get off of him and still
get to the ball and make and make a play.
You know, there's no doubt in my mind he's the
best coverage linebacker in the NFL when it comes to
covering tight ends, running backs, receivers. He can cover so
(14:14):
much ground and he has a great awareness of where
he needs to be based on the route competitions. And
to me, that's one of the things that makes him
very unique. Andre one of the many great traits I
feel and many around the league feel, you display in
going into what you do as patience and you know,
not necessarily with the defensive line now that you're co
(14:37):
defensive coordinator, but these kids on the back end, I mean,
you're raising kids. You have to be patient, right, There's
no question. You know, Hey, we all want them to
be what they're going to become, you know, down the road.
But there's a process that you have to go to
through in order for that to happen, and you got
to keep coaching them every day. You got to show
(14:58):
them the things that they do well and not just
spend the time on the mistakes that they make. You know, Okay,
you made a mistake. This is what you do to
correct it, all right, and then you move on and
you keep letting them see if they're doing some good
things too, and over time they continue to grow and
grow and grow, and the complete player starts to come out.
(15:19):
You know, people forget you know, Everson Griffin hadn't started
a game before we got here, you know, and everybody
knows who Everson became, who Denil became, who Limbo became. Okay,
but that was a process too, and they continued to
grind and continue to work hard. You know, Eric Henderson
is not the player that he was when he first
(15:39):
walked in here out of UCLA. Same thing with Anthony Barr.
So you know, these things take time, and we just
got to continue to work at it, continue to give
these kids confidence, continued for them to see that they
are doing some good things and that they have to
continue to become more consistent. Andre Patterson, code defensive coordinator
for the Minnesota Vikings, and defense of Lying Coach. By
(16:01):
the way, purchase any twenty ouns Pepsi branded product from
Quick Trip with your rewards card and enter the Vikings
Opening Drive Sweet Stakes. No purchase necessary see store forward details.
With Aaron Rodgers, I feel like I've asked you this
question a million times, but you have different personnel. So
the importance of keeping number twelve in the pocket, No,
(16:23):
it's it's highly important. You know, he makes great plays
when he gets out of the pocket, and you know, Pa,
it's it's it's it's a very hard and difficult to do.
It's not easy to do. And uh, you know, the
the D line has to be precise in their rush angles,
you know, and a lot of times if he wants
to get out, it's almost impossible for you you keep
(16:44):
it from getting out because there's four of us, but
there's six gaps, you know, so uh, you know, so
that's what makes it difficult. And you know, that's what
makes it difficult to rushing and to get him on
the ground because you know, you're trying to do a
great job of of of letting the escape angles get
wide and give him room to get out of there.
So you have to be consistent throughout the course of
(17:07):
the game, and the guys have to do a great
job of executing the rush plan together. Now, speaking of
that rush plan, do you feel if you had had
Unique in Goquay for a season and then maybe longer,
that refining his overall game may have been challenging because
he you know, he's so good at what he does
that one thing. But I mean, would that have been
(17:28):
a big challenge for you? Um? Yeah, you know it's
always hard, you know, Pa, when you get a guy
and he shows up, you know, seven days before the
first game, and he's played in the league at one
place for a long time, and they did things differently.
And the one thing that Yan did is he tried
to do the things that I was trying to teach
him and that we asked him to do within the structure,
(17:50):
you know, of of of our defense. And uh, you know,
he got better at it week the week. But you know,
when you when you have okay, it's like I said,
if the other guys, the longer they're here and the
lower they're they're they're practicing every day and getting better
at it every day, the better they get at it. Well,
the perfect current example in my opinion, Andrea is the Fodiodenibo.
(18:11):
I mean, you know, like like back in the day,
Tom Johnson comes here from the from the Saints, he
learns your plan. Man, he had like six and a
half sacks from the from the defensive tackle slash three
technique spot and Fotio Dentibo. Isn't he that perfect example
off patience and the way you laid that out? Oh,
no question, you know, no question. You know. Uh, you know,
(18:33):
Fotty came in here from Northwestern and we had to
refine his game and it took some time, and he
kept working and kept working and kept working and gotten
better and better and better, and you know now he's
the player he is today. And I know he understands
that he still has to keep grinding because he still
has a lot left, you know, out in front of him.
So uh, you know that that's the way that this
business work, you know, you know, Pa, every year in
(18:56):
the draft, everybody gets so excited about all these d
tackles and all these is that come into this guy
is going to be a perennial pro bowler and all
this and all that. But if you go back and
you look just from that, this year's draft. Look and
see how many of them are playing. Look how many
and see them are getting, how many reps they're getting
through the course of the game, and are they putting
up those kind of numbers. Because the NFL is hard
(19:18):
and you have to learn how to become an NFL player.
It is so much different than college football. And that's
the thing that you know, as coaches and people have
to keep in mind that you have to be in
the developmental business if you're going to if you're going
to build a program that's able to stay good for
a long time, you have to be a part of
developmental business that you're going to develop players. And it's
(19:39):
not about trying to go get somebody else's guys, Andre
last one, because you know, you've taught me this and
I've seen it the importance of domination and pass rush
from your three technique spots. So how important how imperative
is it getting better thrust from your three techniques being forward? Oh,
(20:01):
it's you know, whenever you have a three technique that
has the ability to win, that changes everything because he
has the quickest route to the quarterback. And you know,
pe anything that tells you how difficult it is Okay,
I want you to If you can count five great
ones in today's league right now, okay, then you are
(20:21):
a big time winner. It's hard to come up with
five names of three that are big time pass rushers
in the National Football League. That's how hard it is
to find that guy. It's difficult to do and it's
a hard task to do. And so you know, every
year we're out trying to find that guy. I'm trying
to develop that guy. No, but they're hard to find.
(20:43):
You know. I was lucky in my league and my
early part of my career I had John Randall, and
then from from John Randall, I went to le Roy Glover,
you know, and then after that it started to become
I'm trying to find him or trying to find him
on trying to find it. It's hard to find that guy.
Hey man, you're the best. Missing you every single day,
and we'll talk soon. Okay, Oh, appreciate you, bud, see
(21:05):
you later. Andre Patterson the co defensive coordinator and defensive
line coach for the Minnesota Vikings. And that wraps up
x'es and os with Mike Zimmer and Andre Patterson. We
want to thank Brett Blakemore and Blake Brett Moore for
their assistance at KFA N. Likewise, for Eric Nordquist and
Jesse Marquette from the Vikings Entertainment Network, I'm Paul Allen.
(21:30):
Thanks for listening to XES and OS. I'm the KFA
and Minnesota Vikings Radio network driven by Chaeularis.
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