December 17, 2020 • 21 mins
Listen in to this week's audio edition of X's and Os' with Head Coach Mike Zimmer and Voice of the Vikings Paul Allen as they preview the matchup on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The fan. It's fine for X and O with Vikings
head coach Mike Zimmer on the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network
now from the TCO Studios in Egan. Here is though
voice of the Vikings, Paul Ellen. Hey, it's exs nos
on the KFA in Minnesota Vikings Radio Network and I'm
(00:20):
Paul Allen. You're play by Way Boys. Happy to be
joined weekly by Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and
this is courtesy of US Bank. Man. I mean, you
guys have had some gutbusters this year. I mean, whether
you're winning games or losing games just part of the business, right, Yeah,
it seems like they've all been close games or down
(00:42):
at larks in the fourth quarter, and you know, I
guess that's good. We're trying to get, you know, understanding
how we have to finish these games in the fourth quarter.
We've had a lot of them this year, and hopefully
these young guys are growing up, you know, Mike, I know,
from that Atlanta game into the buy out of the
Bye Lambo Dalvin Break Spirit to where you are now,
(01:05):
undoubtedly you've seen progress, But do you feel that sometimes
they hit a point where it's like one step up,
one step back? Is is that accurate and tough to
push through? I think the biggest thing, Paul is we
don't have a lot of room for error, you know, um,
you know, especially with some of these young guys, and
so we have to make sure that you know, they're
(01:27):
on point for for four quarters or sixty minutes and
uh you know, uh them have to understand when to
make a play to win the football game and so
on and so forth. You know, last week, Um, you know,
we moved the ball great all day long, and uh
you know, we end up with sixteen points or whatever
it was. We don't you know, we don't we don't
(01:49):
score touchdowns in the red zone last week, and so
you know that'll be a big emphas for us this
week going forward and the Bears noon US Bank Stadium
home finale. Not due to the kickers struggles of late,
but how often do you guys talk about going for
two more frequently? I mean, the Viking's two point game
(02:10):
is fantastic. Yeah, we've done good in that area. Unfortunately
we've needed some of them, and uh, you know, I
think the biggest thing though, Paul, is, you know you
don't want to chase points early in the ballgame. You know,
you want to wait until a situation is right and uh,
you know, I think, uh, you know, with their defense,
points points could be hard to come with. Come by
(02:31):
this this week now, with a couple of those awful
calls in the end zone in the Jampa Bay game.
I mean, I would imagine nothing you can do about it.
Does does sending in plays? Does that even help? Doesn't
help the outcome, that's for sure, but you know it
kind of makes you feel a little bit better that
you were you were correct in what you thought that. Um,
(02:54):
you know, you really want the officials to be held
accountable the best, the best that you can and trying
to get them to understand that when they make a
call that is incorrect, you know, obviously they're not doing
it on purpose, but it affects a whole bunch of
people's livelihood. Now, you've talked a lot about the kicker
this week. I'm just going to ask you this. I mean,
(03:16):
Dan's one of the most reliable in history of the NFL.
You've said that a million times. Any idea what happened
or like what's happening? You know, not really Uh, you know,
I've talked to him and visit with him about it,
and you know he he came out after halftime and
kicked great. He you know, he kicked in pregame and
kicked great. You know, I think it's just one of
(03:38):
those days. So he'll continue to do better, Tyler Conklin.
He he has a chance, doesn't he. I mean he
jumped up nicely for you at Jampa Bay. Yeah, he
continues to get better. Uh. You know, you could tell
this year he was more comfortable understanding the system. And
he's really an all around player. He does a nice
(03:58):
job in pass protection, does a good job and the
run blocking, and he runs good routes and catches the ball.
Well do you tape the top of your mask so
your glasses don't fog and does it work? Well? I
did this last week because there was steamy. My glasses
were fogging up, the mask was sticking to my face.
(04:21):
It was it was really miserable the whole time. I
took that tape off at halftime. But every time I breathe,
every time I breathed, my glasses would fall down. So
now you got the mask sticking to your face, You
got your glasses falling down. You got a couple of
awful calls, a bunch of miss kicks other than that,
Miss Lincoln. How was the play? Yeah, that wasn't very good.
(04:43):
Um well, I mean you got the tape atop your mask,
you know, but you still if you're gonna yell at
the refs or I mean, if you're going to talk
to somebody, you still got to pull it down, right. Yeah,
And I was sweating underneath it, so it wasn't sticking good.
It was, but that's what they told us, you know.
And they came out with this mask protocol stuff. Oh
if you just take it, that's what the doctor saying.
(05:06):
Operating room, right, But the operating rooms. The operating rooms
about sixty degrees, it's not nine degrees, brilliantly, stated Mike
zimmer Head, coach of the Minnesota Vikings x's and knows, um,
what what was it like at Raymond James with fans?
Did did they sixteen thousand or whatever? Did did they
impact the game? I'm not sure they impacted the game.
(05:27):
You know. You did hear some some mess talking by
some of the fans, uh, and you could hear a
little bit. You could hear some noise. Um, you know,
during some of their their big plays and things like that.
But it was it was you know, I told their
sugarman our training before the game, I said, is this
(05:47):
weird here? He said, yeah, you know, it's like, you know,
there's kind of fans here, but there's not really And
you know, I don't know, I just pregame. Seemed strange
to me, And I don't know, if you watch Monday
Night football, you know, your former offensive coordinator Kevin Stevanski
came down to the wire with Harbaugh. Very exciting game.
I mean, that place looked like it was three quarters fall.
(06:09):
You know whatever. The name of that stadium is the
Dog Pound or whatever. It's just weird. You know. Yeah,
it's different in every place and every every state and
every stadium. But uh, you know, we wish our we
had our fans there. You know, they would they would
be a big factor in the ball game this week
like they always have been. And uh, you know, we'll
just have to go in there and play our hearts
(06:30):
out for them. What what has gotten into running back
David Montgomery of late for the Bears? Just so he
came up that injury bit and he looks pretty good.
Yeah he does. He had a like a ninety eighty
yard run first play of the game last week against Houston. Uh.
He's always been a physical runner. Um. You know, he
likes his own runs where he can get in the
(06:53):
gut in the gun area and then come back across
the formation. They do a good job with that, and
our our po is off of it. Now this fifty
eight Roquan Smith played out of his He played out
of his mind against the Texans and even had a
couple of sacks. Is Roquon's running maybe his best attribute? Yeah,
but he's he can really run. But he's physical and
(07:16):
he's instinctive. Um, you know, he's a sideline the sideline guy,
good blitzer, a good pressure guy. Um. You know, They've
got a lot of good players on their defense. And
speaking of running, this Cousins running facet to his game.
I mean it seems to be helping. It's like when
he takes off he ran for forty one yards career
high at Tampa Bay. That that has to help, right,
(07:38):
It has to help it. You know, typically it's going
to slow down the pass rush. It's gonna change some
of the coverages that they run. Um, you know, anytime
you have a quarterback that will scramble. It changes your
mentality a little bit defensively. Now, what what if anything
Mike did Tampa Bay do to limit the deep game
to feeling and Jefferson or was it there and you
(07:59):
just couldn't get to it? Well, a lot of it, Paul.
They had. They were playing a lot of swipe two
man coverage where they would um take the safe and
put him down in the box for the running game,
and it was a pass and he'd run out to
the ex receiver and the corner would actually play the
safety and then on the front side they'd roll over
to the front side and play play two man over there.
(08:21):
So you know, they had safeties up over the top
of our receivers and and uh you know that's why
the tight ends became such a big factor, right the
rob running by court and by cut by Kirk. Yeah,
them with justin Jefferson. You know what what his progress
at this stage of the season into the final three?
How how impressed are you with his overall progress? Extremely impressed.
(08:46):
He's he's a really good player. Um has a chance
to keep as sending. Uh. You know the thing I
love about him, He competes, loves loves uh to go
get to football. He's getting better than he's blocking, which
is important for Dalvin. You know, these guys understand it.
Dalvin has a chance to go all the way. Uh.
If the receivers from tight, you know, the guys outside
(09:07):
will block form as well. And uh, but he catches
the ball so well. He's got great, unbelievable hands and
uh starting to really understand the program better and better.
You while you were in Cincinnati with Aj Green, any
any similarities. Um, yeah, I think there are some similarities.
You know. Uh, when Aj was a rookie, I can
(09:29):
remember his first year. You know, just how well he
caught the ball, how strong his hands were, and that
you know, Um, JJ will be a little bit thicker,
I think when it's all said and done. And AJ
is a little bit taller, but um, they both have
outstanding hands, and they both have outstanding speed, and UM,
(09:50):
you know, I really like I really like justin a lot.
So UM, lastly, are you guys I would assume you
guys are going to work Sunday night after the Bears
game because you come back five days later against New Orleans.
Is that accurate? Yeah, we'll treat it like it's a
Thursday night, a Thursday game with one extra day, so
we're more than like we take Monday to game plan
(10:12):
and then Tuesday and would be a Wednesday, and Thursday
would be a Thursday, Friday, whatever it is, Friday, Saturday, whatever.
That's the verbal version of your taped mask on your
face at Tampa Bay. What just happened there? Isn't it?
It's it's hard to put this Wednesday as a Tuesday
and Tuesday as a Wednesday. Now, now it turns out
(10:36):
we have forty five seconds left. I mean, any final
comments on the officiating at Tampa Bay? What about what
about the fans situation a US Bank Stadium? Would you
care to elaborate? Yeah, I'd better not on that either.
I hope you win three in a row, get to
the playoffs and uh well Chicago first. I hope you
win one in a row, and then we'll deal with
(10:57):
New Orleans later. Thank you, Mike, Thank you Mike zimmer
head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, and I'm Paul Allen
Xes and OS comes to a conclusion reminding you innovative
office solutions and the Vikings have teamed to spotlight organizations
doing good in the Community. So congratulations to Project Success
(11:17):
for receiving the in the Community Award. Project Success connects
students to their purpose by motivating and inspiring thousands of
Minneapolis six to twelfth grade students to dream and plan
for their futures. On behalf of Innovative Office Solutions and
the Vikings, we say thank you. We say thank you
(11:38):
to Vikings tight end or Smith Junior. He joins us
next on XES and OS on the KFA n Minnesota
Vikings Radio Network driven by our radio app. XES and
OS continues on the KFA and Minnesota Vikings Radio Network.
A very special guest joining us shortly. But first, it's
(12:00):
Game Day any day play the new King Scratch game
from the Minnesota Lottery top prize one hundred thousand dollars.
Just say I'm in Get details at m N lottery
dot com. It is IRV Smith Junior joining us on
x'es and o's second year tight End from Alabama called
(12:23):
a touchdown at Tampa Bay his third this season and
uh after missing three of the last four games, two
in a row, how great did it feel to be back?
And did that Tampa Bay heat help you with your
growing and like loosen up. Oh yeah, you know, it
felt great to be back out there. Um. You know,
I missed being out there with my brothers, you know,
going to battle and you know, just just going out
(12:45):
there and doing what I love to do. Um, and
definitely just being in that heat for sure. You know,
I'm I'm from the Wetherns, so you know, I'm pretty
accustomed to, you know, playing in the heat and also
playing at Bama. So um, you know, it was nice
to feel you know, a little a little more a
little more heat because you know, it's definitely been caught
out here in Minnesota. We we mentioned herb come hails
(13:08):
from Alabama now having played at Alabama with Dolphins starting
quarterback Tuah Tonguaviloa and now Eagles starting quarterback Jail and Hurts.
I mean, that's fantastic. Do you think both have a
chance to maybe find stardom in the NFL? Most definitely. Um.
You know, both guys are are great competitors, great leaders, um,
(13:32):
and you know, most importantly great people. So UM, I
definitely believe that, you know, both of them have a
bright future and you know we'll be able to see that, um,
you know, in the future coming forward. When you have
teammates playing in National Football League games and you're not playing,
do you go out of your way to watch them? Definitely? Um,
(13:52):
you know, I just I just try to, you know,
support my guys as much as possible. Um. You know,
every everybody has, you know a lot of things that
uh that they're good at, and you know, playing Atabama
is awesome, you know, just having so many guys that
are in the league and being able to watch them.
You you mentioned you're from New Orleans. We'll get into
that more a little later, but given you're from New
(14:15):
Orleans and you played at Alabama, do you have any
family members that just won't break you? Just they just
won't quit With LSU, I feel like kind of my
first year a little bit because I didn't really play
too much. And then you know, kind of once I
started playing and then I scored my sophomore year and
junior against LSU. So you know, it was it was
(14:38):
definitely definitely a fun moment. So they they had to
join the they had to join the wagon. You know,
it's it's it's hard not to love Alabama. You know,
we won a lot of football. Uh. Now for you
with the final home game Sunday taking on the Chicago Bears.
Is there any advantage to playing at home when they're
(14:59):
in no fans? Um? I mean I feel like I see,
you know, playing at home is a blessing and you know,
it's it's awesome, you know, being in that environment. Um,
playing at US Bank Stadium, I mean, it's nothing like it, um,
But you know what I mean for us, it's it's
definitely it's definitely a welcoming just you know, being able
to play in that stadium and know, you know how
(15:21):
important it is to our fans and how important it is,
you know, to us as a team. But you know,
we definitely missed the fans out there. It's it's definitely
not the same. Hervie. You scored two touchdowns at US
Bank Stadium against Detroit and then you looked up and
and it was like, whoa, hey do I rule the football?
Do I? What do I do? I mean? How weird
(15:42):
was that? It's definitely it's definitely weird. Um. You know
obviously from last year scoring in the at US Banks,
you know, the energy and the crowd, it just it
just brings so much out of you. And you know,
but I know, I know everybody at home is watching,
and you know they're showing a lot of love at homes.
You know you said you still got to bring that
fun and enjoy me. Irv, you mentioned that energy. I
(16:04):
mean from the Detroit two touchdowns go back a year,
the first touchdown of the second half against Denver, then
your fellow tight end Kyle Rudolph catches one to win
the game. I mean the building that day, Are you
kidding me? It was unbelievably loud, rocking, rocking. I mean,
the energy in that stadium is unmatched. Honestly, you know,
(16:27):
I played a lot of a lot of great environments,
and you know, I feel like at US Banks we
have one of the best of not the best. IRV
Smith Junior tight end for the Minnesota Vikings, our guest
on x'es and O's featuring Mike Zimmer who joined us
a little earlier. And by the way, purchase any twenty
ounce Pepsi branded product from Quick Trip with your rewards
(16:50):
card and enter the Vikings Opening Drive sweepstakes. No purchase necessary.
See store for details. We mentioned Kyle Rudolph with Kyle
a least hard to ninety eight consecutive games man before
he had to scratch a Champa Bay And you know,
I know, and you know that he worked really hard
to get up to that game to help you guys.
Disappointed he couldn't play at least he wasn't himself. How
(17:13):
has Kyle helped you? And like when when you think
Kyle on and off the field, what impresses you? Um,
you know, just the way he carries himself. Uh, you know,
he's he's definitely a vet. He's been in the league, um,
but this is his tenth year now, so um, you
know he's very familiar, um, and you know he helps
me a lot, just you know, whether it's things on
(17:34):
the field, whether you know different things within the run game,
you know, foot placement and you know in the past game,
well you know this coverage, just reading different things. I mean,
he's he's done it for so long and has had
success for so long. It's only it's only right to
you know, take advantage of the opportunity. You know. Then
we then we have Tyler Conklin five catches of Champa Bay.
(17:56):
I love when things go well for Tyler, such a
wonderful young man. And it's time for a Tyler TD.
I mean, you know, it's it's he's starting to jump
up and you know he's Tyler has zero touchdowns in
forty four games. It's time for a Tyler TD. Do
you agree? Oh? Yeah, we got we gotta get him
(18:16):
in in, gotta get him in there. We gotta we
gotta get him a little dance too. I don't know
what he's gonna do and he gets in there, but uh,
we gotta make sure he's prepared once he once he does. Uh.
Now we mentioned New Orleans earlier. Earth a week from
Friday is uh, that's a big day for young IRV
Smith Junior. Not only is it Christmas, but the Vikings
(18:37):
have Christmas afternoon football at New Orleans, your hometown. What's
that going to be like? You know, it's definitely gonna
be amazing. Um, you know, growing up, you know, my
dad played for the Saints and kind of you know,
I know how important um or how awesome it is,
you know, to play in the Superdome and you know,
(18:58):
I know the whole city will be watching. Um, it'll
just be really cool just going home. My family will
be there, um, and they'll just get to see me
play at a at on a bright stage. Really Christmas
Christmas Day. I mean, I'm sure everybody will be watching
and uh, and you never have lost to New Orleans
at the Superdome your your very first game preseason twenty nineteen.
(19:19):
Boom feels like we scored a million in the playoffs
last year. Roodolph wins it at the end after feeling
gets behind Patrick Robinson and Dian Cousins with a beautiful pass.
I mean, does that you've never lost it Superdome? Does
that lead to trash talking with family members? Most definitely?
Most definitely. And we're not We're not about to start
(19:40):
now is We're gonna keep the tradition going. And you know,
I'm excited for that for sure. I would assume that
big Christmas Eve dinner with your family probably out due
to COVID protocol. Right, Yeah, I don't really know how
too much how that's gonna work, but I mean I
definitely need some gum uh whatever somehow or some way
(20:03):
if I can get it. Yeah, to think about that,
I mean, to get gumbo to your team hotel, Think
about how many people you have to run that through,
you know, and then they got to like check the
top of the bowls and then pull the meat out
now they touch the meat. I mean, yeah, right, yeah, yeah,
I mean it definitely sucks, um, but you know it's
(20:24):
it's just part of it. Um. You know, you've kind
of been dealing with this all year, and you know,
as a country, we've all been dealing with it. Um.
So you know, it's definitely definitely sucks. But at the
end of the day, Um, we're gonna find a way
to get something. My man, good luck against the Bears,
great luck against New Orleans. Then the Lions go ahead
and win the rest of the games, get into the playoffs,
(20:44):
see what happens. Rights definitely look definite. Thank you are appreciation.
Herb Smith, junior tight end for the Minnesota Vikings, finalizing
x's and ohs as we head up to a home
game against these Chicago Bears and the boom is at
noon the Sunday KFA n N the KFA in Minnesota
Vikings Radio Network. We want to thank Brett Blakemore and
(21:08):
everybody with the Vikings Entertainment Network for assisting us. Likewise,
for her Smith Junior and Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer,
I'm Paul Allen, thank you for listening to XS and os.
I'm the KFA in Minnesota. Vikings Radio Network driven by
Hilaris
The fan. It's fine for X and O with Vikings
head coach Mike Zimmer on the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network
now from the TCO Studios in Egan. Here is though
voice of the Vikings, Paul Ellen. Hey, it's exs nos
on the KFA in Minnesota Vikings Radio Network and I'm
(00:20):
Paul Allen. You're play by Way Boys. Happy to be
joined weekly by Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and
this is courtesy of US Bank. Man. I mean, you
guys have had some gutbusters this year. I mean, whether
you're winning games or losing games just part of the business, right, Yeah,
it seems like they've all been close games or down
(00:42):
at larks in the fourth quarter, and you know, I
guess that's good. We're trying to get, you know, understanding
how we have to finish these games in the fourth quarter.
We've had a lot of them this year, and hopefully
these young guys are growing up, you know, Mike, I know,
from that Atlanta game into the buy out of the
Bye Lambo Dalvin Break Spirit to where you are now,
(01:05):
undoubtedly you've seen progress, But do you feel that sometimes
they hit a point where it's like one step up,
one step back? Is is that accurate and tough to
push through? I think the biggest thing, Paul is we
don't have a lot of room for error, you know, um,
you know, especially with some of these young guys, and
so we have to make sure that you know, they're
(01:27):
on point for for four quarters or sixty minutes and
uh you know, uh them have to understand when to
make a play to win the football game and so
on and so forth. You know, last week, Um, you know,
we moved the ball great all day long, and uh
you know, we end up with sixteen points or whatever
it was. We don't you know, we don't we don't
(01:49):
score touchdowns in the red zone last week, and so
you know that'll be a big emphas for us this
week going forward and the Bears noon US Bank Stadium
home finale. Not due to the kickers struggles of late,
but how often do you guys talk about going for
two more frequently? I mean, the Viking's two point game
(02:10):
is fantastic. Yeah, we've done good in that area. Unfortunately
we've needed some of them, and uh, you know, I
think the biggest thing though, Paul, is, you know you
don't want to chase points early in the ballgame. You know,
you want to wait until a situation is right and uh,
you know, I think, uh, you know, with their defense,
points points could be hard to come with. Come by
(02:31):
this this week now, with a couple of those awful
calls in the end zone in the Jampa Bay game.
I mean, I would imagine nothing you can do about it.
Does does sending in plays? Does that even help? Doesn't
help the outcome, that's for sure, but you know it
kind of makes you feel a little bit better that
you were you were correct in what you thought that. Um,
(02:54):
you know, you really want the officials to be held
accountable the best, the best that you can and trying
to get them to understand that when they make a
call that is incorrect, you know, obviously they're not doing
it on purpose, but it affects a whole bunch of
people's livelihood. Now, you've talked a lot about the kicker
this week. I'm just going to ask you this. I mean,
(03:16):
Dan's one of the most reliable in history of the NFL.
You've said that a million times. Any idea what happened
or like what's happening? You know, not really Uh, you know,
I've talked to him and visit with him about it,
and you know he he came out after halftime and
kicked great. He you know, he kicked in pregame and
kicked great. You know, I think it's just one of
(03:38):
those days. So he'll continue to do better, Tyler Conklin.
He he has a chance, doesn't he. I mean he
jumped up nicely for you at Jampa Bay. Yeah, he
continues to get better. Uh. You know, you could tell
this year he was more comfortable understanding the system. And
he's really an all around player. He does a nice
(03:58):
job in pass protection, does a good job and the
run blocking, and he runs good routes and catches the ball.
Well do you tape the top of your mask so
your glasses don't fog and does it work? Well? I
did this last week because there was steamy. My glasses
were fogging up, the mask was sticking to my face.
(04:21):
It was it was really miserable the whole time. I
took that tape off at halftime. But every time I breathe,
every time I breathed, my glasses would fall down. So
now you got the mask sticking to your face, You
got your glasses falling down. You got a couple of
awful calls, a bunch of miss kicks other than that,
Miss Lincoln. How was the play? Yeah, that wasn't very good.
(04:43):
Um well, I mean you got the tape atop your mask,
you know, but you still if you're gonna yell at
the refs or I mean, if you're going to talk
to somebody, you still got to pull it down, right. Yeah,
And I was sweating underneath it, so it wasn't sticking good.
It was, but that's what they told us, you know.
And they came out with this mask protocol stuff. Oh
if you just take it, that's what the doctor saying.
(05:06):
Operating room, right, But the operating rooms. The operating rooms
about sixty degrees, it's not nine degrees, brilliantly, stated Mike
zimmer Head, coach of the Minnesota Vikings x's and knows, um,
what what was it like at Raymond James with fans?
Did did they sixteen thousand or whatever? Did did they
impact the game? I'm not sure they impacted the game.
(05:27):
You know. You did hear some some mess talking by
some of the fans, uh, and you could hear a
little bit. You could hear some noise. Um, you know,
during some of their their big plays and things like that.
But it was it was you know, I told their
sugarman our training before the game, I said, is this
(05:47):
weird here? He said, yeah, you know, it's like, you know,
there's kind of fans here, but there's not really And
you know, I don't know, I just pregame. Seemed strange
to me, And I don't know, if you watch Monday
Night football, you know, your former offensive coordinator Kevin Stevanski
came down to the wire with Harbaugh. Very exciting game.
I mean, that place looked like it was three quarters fall.
(06:09):
You know whatever. The name of that stadium is the
Dog Pound or whatever. It's just weird. You know. Yeah,
it's different in every place and every every state and
every stadium. But uh, you know, we wish our we
had our fans there. You know, they would they would
be a big factor in the ball game this week
like they always have been. And uh, you know, we'll
just have to go in there and play our hearts
(06:30):
out for them. What what has gotten into running back
David Montgomery of late for the Bears? Just so he
came up that injury bit and he looks pretty good.
Yeah he does. He had a like a ninety eighty
yard run first play of the game last week against Houston. Uh.
He's always been a physical runner. Um. You know, he
likes his own runs where he can get in the
(06:53):
gut in the gun area and then come back across
the formation. They do a good job with that, and
our our po is off of it. Now this fifty
eight Roquan Smith played out of his He played out
of his mind against the Texans and even had a
couple of sacks. Is Roquon's running maybe his best attribute? Yeah,
but he's he can really run. But he's physical and
(07:16):
he's instinctive. Um, you know, he's a sideline the sideline guy,
good blitzer, a good pressure guy. Um. You know, They've
got a lot of good players on their defense. And
speaking of running, this Cousins running facet to his game.
I mean it seems to be helping. It's like when
he takes off he ran for forty one yards career
high at Tampa Bay. That that has to help, right,
(07:38):
It has to help it. You know, typically it's going
to slow down the pass rush. It's gonna change some
of the coverages that they run. Um, you know, anytime
you have a quarterback that will scramble. It changes your
mentality a little bit defensively. Now, what what if anything
Mike did Tampa Bay do to limit the deep game
to feeling and Jefferson or was it there and you
(07:59):
just couldn't get to it? Well, a lot of it, Paul.
They had. They were playing a lot of swipe two
man coverage where they would um take the safe and
put him down in the box for the running game,
and it was a pass and he'd run out to
the ex receiver and the corner would actually play the
safety and then on the front side they'd roll over
to the front side and play play two man over there.
(08:21):
So you know, they had safeties up over the top
of our receivers and and uh you know that's why
the tight ends became such a big factor, right the
rob running by court and by cut by Kirk. Yeah,
them with justin Jefferson. You know what what his progress
at this stage of the season into the final three?
How how impressed are you with his overall progress? Extremely impressed.
(08:46):
He's he's a really good player. Um has a chance
to keep as sending. Uh. You know the thing I
love about him, He competes, loves loves uh to go
get to football. He's getting better than he's blocking, which
is important for Dalvin. You know, these guys understand it.
Dalvin has a chance to go all the way. Uh.
If the receivers from tight, you know, the guys outside
(09:07):
will block form as well. And uh, but he catches
the ball so well. He's got great, unbelievable hands and
uh starting to really understand the program better and better.
You while you were in Cincinnati with Aj Green, any
any similarities. Um, yeah, I think there are some similarities.
You know. Uh, when Aj was a rookie, I can
(09:29):
remember his first year. You know, just how well he
caught the ball, how strong his hands were, and that
you know, Um, JJ will be a little bit thicker,
I think when it's all said and done. And AJ
is a little bit taller, but um, they both have
outstanding hands, and they both have outstanding speed, and UM,
(09:50):
you know, I really like I really like justin a lot.
So UM, lastly, are you guys I would assume you
guys are going to work Sunday night after the Bears
game because you come back five days later against New Orleans.
Is that accurate? Yeah, we'll treat it like it's a
Thursday night, a Thursday game with one extra day, so
we're more than like we take Monday to game plan
(10:12):
and then Tuesday and would be a Wednesday, and Thursday
would be a Thursday, Friday, whatever it is, Friday, Saturday, whatever.
That's the verbal version of your taped mask on your
face at Tampa Bay. What just happened there? Isn't it?
It's it's hard to put this Wednesday as a Tuesday
and Tuesday as a Wednesday. Now, now it turns out
(10:36):
we have forty five seconds left. I mean, any final
comments on the officiating at Tampa Bay? What about what
about the fans situation a US Bank Stadium? Would you
care to elaborate? Yeah, I'd better not on that either.
I hope you win three in a row, get to
the playoffs and uh well Chicago first. I hope you
win one in a row, and then we'll deal with
(10:57):
New Orleans later. Thank you, Mike, Thank you Mike zimmer
head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, and I'm Paul Allen
Xes and OS comes to a conclusion reminding you innovative
office solutions and the Vikings have teamed to spotlight organizations
doing good in the Community. So congratulations to Project Success
(11:17):
for receiving the in the Community Award. Project Success connects
students to their purpose by motivating and inspiring thousands of
Minneapolis six to twelfth grade students to dream and plan
for their futures. On behalf of Innovative Office Solutions and
the Vikings, we say thank you. We say thank you
(11:38):
to Vikings tight end or Smith Junior. He joins us
next on XES and OS on the KFA n Minnesota
Vikings Radio Network driven by our radio app. XES and
OS continues on the KFA and Minnesota Vikings Radio Network.
A very special guest joining us shortly. But first, it's
(12:00):
Game Day any day play the new King Scratch game
from the Minnesota Lottery top prize one hundred thousand dollars.
Just say I'm in Get details at m N lottery
dot com. It is IRV Smith Junior joining us on
x'es and o's second year tight End from Alabama called
(12:23):
a touchdown at Tampa Bay his third this season and
uh after missing three of the last four games, two
in a row, how great did it feel to be back?
And did that Tampa Bay heat help you with your
growing and like loosen up. Oh yeah, you know, it
felt great to be back out there. Um. You know,
I missed being out there with my brothers, you know,
going to battle and you know, just just going out
(12:45):
there and doing what I love to do. Um, and
definitely just being in that heat for sure. You know,
I'm I'm from the Wetherns, so you know, I'm pretty
accustomed to, you know, playing in the heat and also
playing at Bama. So um, you know, it was nice
to feel you know, a little a little more a
little more heat because you know, it's definitely been caught
out here in Minnesota. We we mentioned herb come hails
(13:08):
from Alabama now having played at Alabama with Dolphins starting
quarterback Tuah Tonguaviloa and now Eagles starting quarterback Jail and Hurts.
I mean, that's fantastic. Do you think both have a
chance to maybe find stardom in the NFL? Most definitely. Um.
You know, both guys are are great competitors, great leaders, um,
(13:32):
and you know, most importantly great people. So UM, I
definitely believe that, you know, both of them have a
bright future and you know we'll be able to see that, um,
you know, in the future coming forward. When you have
teammates playing in National Football League games and you're not playing,
do you go out of your way to watch them? Definitely? Um,
(13:52):
you know, I just I just try to, you know,
support my guys as much as possible. Um. You know,
every everybody has, you know a lot of things that
uh that they're good at, and you know, playing Atabama
is awesome, you know, just having so many guys that
are in the league and being able to watch them.
You you mentioned you're from New Orleans. We'll get into
that more a little later, but given you're from New
(14:15):
Orleans and you played at Alabama, do you have any
family members that just won't break you? Just they just
won't quit With LSU, I feel like kind of my
first year a little bit because I didn't really play
too much. And then you know, kind of once I
started playing and then I scored my sophomore year and
junior against LSU. So you know, it was it was
(14:38):
definitely definitely a fun moment. So they they had to
join the they had to join the wagon. You know,
it's it's it's hard not to love Alabama. You know,
we won a lot of football. Uh. Now for you
with the final home game Sunday taking on the Chicago Bears.
Is there any advantage to playing at home when they're
(14:59):
in no fans? Um? I mean I feel like I see,
you know, playing at home is a blessing and you know,
it's it's awesome, you know, being in that environment. Um,
playing at US Bank Stadium, I mean, it's nothing like it, um,
But you know what I mean for us, it's it's
definitely it's definitely a welcoming just you know, being able
to play in that stadium and know, you know how
(15:21):
important it is to our fans and how important it is,
you know, to us as a team. But you know,
we definitely missed the fans out there. It's it's definitely
not the same. Hervie. You scored two touchdowns at US
Bank Stadium against Detroit and then you looked up and
and it was like, whoa, hey do I rule the football?
Do I? What do I do? I mean? How weird
(15:42):
was that? It's definitely it's definitely weird. Um. You know
obviously from last year scoring in the at US Banks,
you know, the energy and the crowd, it just it
just brings so much out of you. And you know,
but I know, I know everybody at home is watching,
and you know they're showing a lot of love at homes.
You know you said you still got to bring that
fun and enjoy me. Irv, you mentioned that energy. I
(16:04):
mean from the Detroit two touchdowns go back a year,
the first touchdown of the second half against Denver, then
your fellow tight end Kyle Rudolph catches one to win
the game. I mean the building that day, Are you
kidding me? It was unbelievably loud, rocking, rocking. I mean,
the energy in that stadium is unmatched. Honestly, you know,
(16:27):
I played a lot of a lot of great environments,
and you know, I feel like at US Banks we
have one of the best of not the best. IRV
Smith Junior tight end for the Minnesota Vikings, our guest
on x'es and O's featuring Mike Zimmer who joined us
a little earlier. And by the way, purchase any twenty
ounce Pepsi branded product from Quick Trip with your rewards
(16:50):
card and enter the Vikings Opening Drive sweepstakes. No purchase necessary.
See store for details. We mentioned Kyle Rudolph with Kyle
a least hard to ninety eight consecutive games man before
he had to scratch a Champa Bay And you know,
I know, and you know that he worked really hard
to get up to that game to help you guys.
Disappointed he couldn't play at least he wasn't himself. How
(17:13):
has Kyle helped you? And like when when you think
Kyle on and off the field, what impresses you? Um,
you know, just the way he carries himself. Uh, you know,
he's he's definitely a vet. He's been in the league, um,
but this is his tenth year now, so um, you
know he's very familiar, um, and you know he helps
me a lot, just you know, whether it's things on
(17:34):
the field, whether you know different things within the run game,
you know, foot placement and you know in the past game,
well you know this coverage, just reading different things. I mean,
he's he's done it for so long and has had
success for so long. It's only it's only right to
you know, take advantage of the opportunity. You know. Then
we then we have Tyler Conklin five catches of Champa Bay.
(17:56):
I love when things go well for Tyler, such a
wonderful young man. And it's time for a Tyler TD.
I mean, you know, it's it's he's starting to jump
up and you know he's Tyler has zero touchdowns in
forty four games. It's time for a Tyler TD. Do
you agree? Oh? Yeah, we got we gotta get him
(18:16):
in in, gotta get him in there. We gotta we
gotta get him a little dance too. I don't know
what he's gonna do and he gets in there, but uh,
we gotta make sure he's prepared once he once he does. Uh.
Now we mentioned New Orleans earlier. Earth a week from
Friday is uh, that's a big day for young IRV
Smith Junior. Not only is it Christmas, but the Vikings
(18:37):
have Christmas afternoon football at New Orleans, your hometown. What's
that going to be like? You know, it's definitely gonna
be amazing. Um, you know, growing up, you know, my
dad played for the Saints and kind of you know,
I know how important um or how awesome it is,
you know, to play in the Superdome and you know,
(18:58):
I know the whole city will be watching. Um, it'll
just be really cool just going home. My family will
be there, um, and they'll just get to see me
play at a at on a bright stage. Really Christmas
Christmas Day. I mean, I'm sure everybody will be watching
and uh, and you never have lost to New Orleans
at the Superdome your your very first game preseason twenty nineteen.
(19:19):
Boom feels like we scored a million in the playoffs
last year. Roodolph wins it at the end after feeling
gets behind Patrick Robinson and Dian Cousins with a beautiful pass.
I mean, does that you've never lost it Superdome? Does
that lead to trash talking with family members? Most definitely?
Most definitely. And we're not We're not about to start
(19:40):
now is We're gonna keep the tradition going. And you know,
I'm excited for that for sure. I would assume that
big Christmas Eve dinner with your family probably out due
to COVID protocol. Right, Yeah, I don't really know how
too much how that's gonna work, but I mean I
definitely need some gum uh whatever somehow or some way
(20:03):
if I can get it. Yeah, to think about that,
I mean, to get gumbo to your team hotel, Think
about how many people you have to run that through,
you know, and then they got to like check the
top of the bowls and then pull the meat out
now they touch the meat. I mean, yeah, right, yeah, yeah,
I mean it definitely sucks, um, but you know it's
(20:24):
it's just part of it. Um. You know, you've kind
of been dealing with this all year, and you know,
as a country, we've all been dealing with it. Um.
So you know, it's definitely definitely sucks. But at the
end of the day, Um, we're gonna find a way
to get something. My man, good luck against the Bears,
great luck against New Orleans. Then the Lions go ahead
and win the rest of the games, get into the playoffs,
(20:44):
see what happens. Rights definitely look definite. Thank you are appreciation.
Herb Smith, junior tight end for the Minnesota Vikings, finalizing
x's and ohs as we head up to a home
game against these Chicago Bears and the boom is at
noon the Sunday KFA n N the KFA in Minnesota
Vikings Radio Network. We want to thank Brett Blakemore and
(21:08):
everybody with the Vikings Entertainment Network for assisting us. Likewise,
for her Smith Junior and Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer,
I'm Paul Allen, thank you for listening to XS and os.
I'm the KFA in Minnesota. Vikings Radio Network driven by
Hilaris
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