November 19, 2020 • 21 mins
Listen in to the audio edition 'Xs and Os with Mike Zimmer,' which airs on KFAN and the Vikings Radio Network each Wednesday night, with this week featuring GM Rick Spielman filling in for Coach Zimmer to talk with PA about dealing with a short week to prepare, the job the coaching staff has done this season, how the young players have stepped up in recent weeks, Dalvin Cook becoming the leader of the team and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's time for X with Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer
on the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network now from the TCO
Studios in Egan. Here is the voice of the Vikings,
Paul Allen. XS and OS is underway on the KFA
in Minnesota Vikings Radio Network. As usual, it is sponsored
(00:23):
by US Bank, honoring the Vikings sixty greatest fans this season.
And we have a special guest this week. His name
is Rick Spielman, been the general manager for the Minnesota
Vikings and with this team for about a decade and
a half. And the Minnesota Vikings have won three consecutive games.
They beat the Bears on Monday Night football. So it's
(00:44):
a short week into the Dallas game. And first of all, Rick,
thank you very much for, let's say, pinch hitting for
head coach Mike Zimmer. And how are you? Oh good? Yeah? No,
I know Coach Zim and them guys are grinding right
now because we're on a short week, so they're already
in meetings and game planning meetings. So I feel honored
and privileged to sit in front of you here to
(01:06):
pinch hit for him on a short week. And Rick,
when when it comes to a short week and we'll
here Zimmer talk about it in his weekly press conference
or end of the week or whatever. What exactly for
coaches like changes when you have one last day and
lose that Monday. I know, the coaches like yesterday in
the hotel, a couple of coaches are working on you know,
(01:28):
Dallas since we had a full day before the game
last night, and the young guys, the equality control guys
always are working a week ahead along with our advanced scout.
So now Coach Zimmer and the rest of them will
get caught up and then you know, they got a
couple we got a couple hours asleep last night and
they'll they're grinding the way right now so we can
get ready for the Dallas Cowboys coming in. How has
(01:51):
your working relationship with Mike zimmer Ben through the totality
of his time here, It's been awesome. I mean, I
couldn't ask for a better relationship with Zim. And you know,
we meet on a lot of things. We meet almost
on a daily basis on personnel, on other things that
are going on that we you know. But the thing is,
I know the coach Zim knows we all have his back.
(02:13):
And we all know what kind of coach he is,
what a heck of a job he has done to
date this year, and hopefully we'll see that success continues
we go into the second half of the season. Rick Spielman,
general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, our featured guests this
week on x's and Oh's on KFA n M, the
Minnesota Vikings Radio Network. We're going to get to the
(02:33):
players momentarily, but as we go with the coaches, working
with Gary Kubiak, but not just Gary, the totality of
his offensive staff. Start with Gary and what impresses you
about this staff. They're just phenomenal, not only on developing players,
finding out what the players do well, how do we
(02:56):
utilize all the strengths of each individual player, how they
put it in their scheme, and then just the game
planning weekend and week out led by Gary and Rick
Dennison and their whole crew over there that just do
a phenomenal job getting this team ready to play on
Sundays and given us the best chance to win. And
you have a lot of Super Bowl rings over there
(03:17):
with Kubiak, Dennison, Pariana your tight ends coach, and that
obviously leads to a lot of equity and would you say,
no chemistry. Chemistry. Those guys have worked together so long
that they know they've been through it all, they've seen
it all. And to have that type of experience along
with what coach Zim is doing as a head coach
(03:38):
but also as a defensive coordinator filling both of those
roles out. You just see that when you have an
experienced staff like this that have been through as many
things as they have been through in their careers and
to see them get this team better each week and
to see them prepare this team to go out and
give them the best chance to win each week. We're
(04:00):
pretty fortunate the coach Zim and the staff that he
put together, including hiring Gary Kubiak as the offensive coordinator
and all that crew, and how well they work together.
Because I think when you have that continuity and those
guys working together, then that just trickles down and has
a trickle down effect to the players. You know, and
(04:21):
the players believe on Sunday that they have a chance
to win by how these coaches are putting him in
the best opportunities. Definitely out of the buy a very
confident bonch a Vikings team that has won three consecutive
Dallas here Sunday, and the game is shortly after three o'clock.
It's twenty twenty, So therefore my access are getting to
know Durante Jones or defensive backs coach as well as
(04:42):
I would like to. That hasn't happened, but from Afar,
I just I'm guessing he's doing a wonderful, wonderful job
with all this youth back there. Yeah, I know Coade
Zim is very high on him as a football coach
when he hired him this offseason. I know when code
Zim interviewed him how impressed he was not only with
(05:03):
his knowledge but also with his ability to communicate with players.
And I think that's such a big part of the
game right now, not only knowing what to do and scheming,
but you also have to be able to communicate. And
with everything that he's been dealt with from all the
injuries back there, from all the youth that we have,
(05:23):
especially at the corner position, and to see him take
those young corners and spend extra time in the meeting room,
and you see when we get off the practice field
if they're screwing something up to pull them over the
side after practice and continue to walk through And I
think you're starting to see that payoff right now from
the mistakes. And I think coach Zim has mentioned it
(05:44):
a few times in his press conferences. It's not always
about the physical ability, it's about the awareness, and it's
talking about the splits if the receiver's inside the number
and you got to stay outside leverage, just little nuances
like that. But I know how extremely hard there work working,
and I think these players are finally starting to click
a little bit here, especially the young guys where they
(06:05):
don't have to think too much while they're on the field.
Now you're starting to see them just go out and
play and play to their ability without having to oh,
I gotta do this this Now it's starting to smooth
out and just starting to be able to react and
use their own natural instincts without making too many mental errors.
Fantastic answer. And this is such a youthful team that
(06:27):
and I know how hard you take losing And the
team starts one and five and loses the home opener
to Green Bay. So with that said, were you able
to pull back a little bit and recognize obviously with
no preseason and the way the offseason went. I mean,
a lot of these kids around the league, they just
were behind the ape all before the thing even started. Well,
(06:49):
you kind of anticipated. I think we went into this.
We knew we were going to be young, and we're
going to be young in a lot of positions, and
they were going to have to grow and we were
going to have to have some growing things early in
the season. But I do know how well coached Zim
and how well this staff develops young talent. And you're
not only seeing it from the corners and the way
(07:10):
Glad and He's playing, and justin Jefferson I think has
a chance to be a pretty good player, but DJ
want him. All of a sudden, Hercules Matafaih, he starting
to get his opportunity in. He's been like the next
last two years developing and then all of a sudden
you see him out there and now all of a sudden,
it's clicking for him. They all click at different times.
(07:31):
They all just don't sprinkle magic dust on them and
then they're instant players. Each of them have their own
developmental period. But you're starting to see that these guys
are good because of the coaches that we have. Yeah,
it's further record like that, Pa, I loved it. It's
good and bad from the record. It's Hercules mata off
off and the way you hit me with the mata
(07:53):
OFFI it took me back to oh nine and a
certain fullback. And I like the numbers eleven not twelve.
But Rich Fieldman, general general manager for the Minnesota Vikings,
is on xs and os speaking of a player where
maybe metaphorical magic dust was spread on him, justin Jefferson.
First two games didn't see much maybe to be expected
(08:16):
after that, Holy cow, four games of at least one
hundred receiving yards, tying Moss's rookie record from ninety eight.
Not putting him on a Randy Moss comparison here, but
what a great start. Yeah. No, he's been phenomenal and
he's showing that the day when he walked in here.
Now it's getting the use to the playbook, understanding the
(08:36):
schemes that we're trying to do. I think it's the
chemistry between him and Kirk Cousins, and you seeing that
develop over time, and you know a lot of even
the critical passing in the passes last night, there are
a lot of critical situations on third downs where it's
not just Steel and now we have a justin Jefferson,
we have a couple of tight ends that are pretty
(08:57):
good as well. So you're starting to see him filter
into what we're doing offensively, but becoming a main part
of it now. And that's not only the confidence that
we have him and as a player, but I think
with coach Kubiak has in him making sure he's getting
his touches during the game, and even our quarterback in
the chemistry they're working together. Well. He was a big
timer in college, obviously against quality schools like George Alabama
(09:20):
and the sec from LSU. But so I'm not disrespecting
what he did there, But with what he's doing here,
is there anything different from what you saw when you
took him where you took him. No, He's a good
route runner, he catches the ball, he's physical after the catch,
and he can make big plays. Those are the same
things that we evaluated when he came out. Now you're
(09:40):
just seeing that it's carried over into this next level.
As ra Cleveland four starts starts with Grady Jarrett, goes
into Kenny Clark, then gets the Lions and a team
Hicks in that group last night. That's baptism by fire right. Yeah,
we're very excited about him and he was almost on
the same path as we talk developed as Brian O'Neill
(10:01):
was when we drafted him and Brian O'Neil right around
the same time, got in and started at right tackle
his rookie year due to some injuries and when he
got his opportunity, he didn't let that go and you're
seeing the same thing happening with Ezra. The biggest difference
for him was that he's never played at guard. He's
always played left tackle. Why was it Boise and to
(10:24):
shift inside to guard where things happened so much faster
because you don't have as much space on the outside
when you're blocking the edges. And how he's developed and
how it's really came to him because he's a smart, tough,
competitive kid that loves to play the game and he's
just going to get better and better as we go
and it's really helped our run game along with our
pass protection. When XS and O's continues this week with
(10:47):
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, we will get into Dalvin
Cook and some of the youthful exuberance on the defense,
but first Innovative Office Solutions and the Vikings of team
to put spotlight on nonprofit organization is doing great things
in the community that surrounds us SO nominate a deserving
organization by going to community dot Innovative os dot com.
(11:09):
Innovative Office Solutions is the hometown provider of office essentials
and furniture to the Minnesota Vikings. More with General Manager
Rick Spielman coming up shortly via Exes and OS on
the kfa N Minnesota Vikings or Radio NAT. Welcome back
(11:30):
to Lexes and OS. It's Paul Allen with Vikings general
manager Rick Spielman filling in for Mike Zimmer this week.
Rick and Mike and everybody else's Vikings have won three
in a row and I have Dallas this weekend. Dalvin Cook,
you trade it up for him in twenty seventeen. What
a wonderful player, but what a wonderful person Dalvin Cook is. Yeah, No,
(11:53):
he's I know when we drafted him and there were
some questions about him coming out of Florida State. There
is no question about his talent, but it was there
some things off the field that you were concerned with.
And I never forget calling him on right before the
draft on the next day and having a nice conversation
with him, and how he responded to that conversation. And
(12:16):
I don't think any of us in this organization had
any doubt or what type of character this kid was.
But now you see him not only evolving and he's
a great player on the field and he does a
great job off the field, but he's really developed into
our team leader right now. And you see him before
the games when we gather in the huddle, he's the
one getting everybody going. He's truly become our leader and
(12:39):
our spark for this football team. I'm really glad you
said that, because whether it's at home or watching the
road games, you can see it on the sideline, jol
And it's not like everything's going bad, but he's very
comfortable in having certain conversations with people about becoming better.
And the only way to do that is to be
kind and have the past performances like he has. Right Yeah, no,
(13:01):
when you go out there and play like he does
and put everything on the line, and you know, I
think he had ninety plus yards rushing and they were
some tough yards last night. And it's like getting in
a car wreck almost every time he touches the ball.
But for him to go out there and line up
and go down in and down out and keep running
and running and pounding, it's just that carries over to
(13:22):
our entire football team. Not only does the offensive lineman
really take to that, but also it carries over into
our defense and how well we're playing right now. Yeah,
and your quarterback the last three has been has been
mostly terrific, specifically on third down moving forward, beginning with Dallas.
What do you need from Kirk Cousins to continue to
(13:43):
win games? You know, we've built this football team on
running the football. Always coaches them are always once a
physical style offense, defense setting up the play action and
then that's what Kirk does best. And when we have
success running the ball, and even last night, even it
was slow warning, but we still tried to grind it
on the ground and get didn't give up on the
(14:03):
running game. And then Kirk's decision making last night, and
how quickly the ball came out and some of the
catches that these guys made, the great one head catch
on Adam Feeling on his first touchdown, but what a
great placement that the Cousins put where that ballways where
only a feeling can get it. So there's no question
even in the earlier games like out in Seattle, he
brought us back in the fourth quarter. Although we didn't
(14:25):
end up winning that game. Tennessee game, he could brought
us back in the fourth quarter. So I think as
long as we don't turn the ball over, which is critical,
then we got it. Then he's been playing extremely well
to the defense moment genially with general manager Rick Spielman.
First purchased any twenty ounce Pepsi branded product from Quick
Trip with your rewards card and enter the Vikings Opening
(14:48):
Drive Sweepstakes, No purchase necessary, c store forward to Jails.
Jeff Gladding Weird offseason, had an injury with which to deal.
It's virtual. No preseason games, nine snaps against the Packers,
but Booms, it has clicked with him, hasn't him? Yeah,
And I think he's starting to settle down in that
nick position he can play. What's unique about him is
(15:09):
not only he can play outside what you've seen in college,
but the nick position in coaches zim defense is something
that is very difficult to learn, as just from getting
more comfortable on all the things and all the reads
that are going on in there. But you can see
him and his maturity as a player is he's not
thinking anymore now, he's just reacting. He's seeing things. He's
(15:31):
seeing when it pass things off the other thing, it's
it's he does a great job timing up when Zim
sends him on blitzes so and he's a physical kid,
and he's a competitive kid, and you just see him,
like a lot of these young guys, especially over the
last three or four weeks, really just starting to click
with him. Now, you know, with Chris Bloyd's second year
from Texas two starts and um, I remember late last
(15:55):
year when he was working scout team and you you
were raving about him Jimmy about his work on Steam
and now he gets an opportunity. How much do you
think leading the team in special teams tackles last year
helped Chris do what he's doing this year. I think
a lot of these young guys, when you evaluate him,
if they're becoming players on special teams and they're not
(16:15):
it's not their turn to play yet on defense, but
they're making plays on special teams, you have to be
pretty athletic, and you have to be a good football player,
especially to show up on special teams. And then you
see him finally get his opportunity to start due to
some injuries. You looked at the Green Bay Green Bay
game where he struggled a little bit, that game not
as comfortable, but the way he's came on in the
(16:37):
confidence level he's playing with over the last two weeks.
I think it was the first snap of the ball
game last night, they try to throw a quick bubble
screen and he came up and attacked the receiver, got
rid of the receiver and had a tackle for loss
right there. That just got his confidence going. And like
a lot of these young guys, these guys are starting
to play with some swagger and some energy. And that's
(16:58):
the reflection of how coach Zim's these guys. Boy, I
just love your defensive line and it just shows I mean, seriously,
you lost to Neil Hunter, maybe the best pass rushing
four three defensive end in the NFL. It just shows
that you don't have to have the biggest name or
like have the most speed to do it the right way.
Taught by Andre Patterson. Because a lot of people around
the league don't know the names of a lot of
(17:20):
your guys, but they're coming through. No, we have to
look at the roster sometimes too, because we had so
many guys through This shares like who's twenty six, Oh yeah,
Chris Jones, he's been here two weeks. Oh yeah, that's
a kid from Nebraska, Jati Playlan. But it is it's
these guys. The one thing that these guys have they
may not have the name recognition out there, but they
(17:41):
all love to play the game. They're all taking to
the coaching they're getting and when you watch them play,
they play with a lot of energy and a lot
of effort, and a lot of times these guys are
getting to the quarterback based off of not only schematically
how the coaches are freeing them up and some of
the blitch packages and some the games that they're running,
but also the energy and effort that they're playing with.
(18:04):
A couple of quickies to close for Rick Spield and
general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, Eric Kendricks just continues
to get better season by season. I mean, talk about Eric,
he's phenomenal. There's not much I mean, if you want
to sit there and try to poke holes and somebody.
It's hard to do. It's kind of like upa if
we're sitting there trying to poke holes in your performance.
You can't do it. You're almost perfection. Say that, but
(18:27):
now he's devout. It's amazing how he's gotten better and
better every year, and I think he's going to continue
to get better. But it's hard pressed for me to
say any middle linebacker in the NFL has played better
than he is right now. Well, what about Eric Wilson?
I mean, if fantasy football goes to defense, holy cal
I mean, is he fillings the statue with the splashy stuff.
Eric Wilson specifically is pass coverage. I remember that Oakland
(18:49):
game last year. It seemed like he got a little
lost on a Darren Waller long play. So from there
to where he is now with the pass coverage, how
much has it improved. There's an example of a guy
that came in as a college free agent that made
it as a rookie because he was a great special
teams player and was one of our tour Specialist team
(19:10):
player over two years. You get an injury, this guy
gets an opportunity to step in and just has been
phenomenal stepping in for Anthony Barr, who's a big loss,
but how he's playing right now and the critical the
key interception that he's made in the Seattle game that
got us back in the game, in the place he's
making week in and week out, really pop out on
(19:32):
tape to tell you what type of football player he is.
Last one, we have a minute in your business. You
don't smell the roses frequently, even if you've won three
in a row. You're worried about the proverbial boogeyman around
the corner may be known as Dallas. But seriously, what
a blessing for a decade and a half with the
Will family to do what you do as well as
(19:52):
you've done it and to be as respected by them
as you are. I mean, that's a blessing. Riff, No,
I can't be in a better place, and to be
here for as long as I have been, and to
be with this ownership group, and then understanding and learning
the ups and downs of NFL season and how emotional
everybody is week in and week out, and how hard
(20:14):
the losses are to take, but how great the victories
are to celebrate. To have that emotion, you can't get
that in any other business, in my opinion, and to
have the ownership group we have that are backing us
every day rather it's the hide when we're there or
when we're here. They know we're trying to do our
best to try to win a championship here. And they
have been enough but supportive through this whole uh, this
(20:37):
whole process with the pinch hitting effort for Mike Zimmery
hit a home run. Thank you very much. Is he
Wally Pippen? Yeah, we got a tren green for water
in there. I mean name your reference, you know, I direct.
Thanks Pa rich Billman, general manager for the Minnesota Vikings. Excellent,
excellent work on exces and ohs. And by the way,
(20:57):
it's game day any day to play the new Viking
scratch game from the Minnesota Lottery with the top prize
of one hundred thousand dollars. Are you game? Just say
I'm in get to tails at MN lottery dot com.
Thank you very much for listening for all of us
here at the Vikings Entertainment Network and the flagship kfa N.
I'm Paul Allen. That's x's and o's on the kfa
(21:18):
N Minnesota Vikings or Radio Network.
It's time for X with Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer
on the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network now from the TCO
Studios in Egan. Here is the voice of the Vikings,
Paul Allen. XS and OS is underway on the KFA
in Minnesota Vikings Radio Network. As usual, it is sponsored
(00:23):
by US Bank, honoring the Vikings sixty greatest fans this season.
And we have a special guest this week. His name
is Rick Spielman, been the general manager for the Minnesota
Vikings and with this team for about a decade and
a half. And the Minnesota Vikings have won three consecutive games.
They beat the Bears on Monday Night football. So it's
(00:44):
a short week into the Dallas game. And first of all, Rick,
thank you very much for, let's say, pinch hitting for
head coach Mike Zimmer. And how are you? Oh good? Yeah? No,
I know Coach Zim and them guys are grinding right
now because we're on a short week, so they're already
in meetings and game planning meetings. So I feel honored
and privileged to sit in front of you here to
(01:06):
pinch hit for him on a short week. And Rick,
when when it comes to a short week and we'll
here Zimmer talk about it in his weekly press conference
or end of the week or whatever. What exactly for
coaches like changes when you have one last day and
lose that Monday. I know, the coaches like yesterday in
the hotel, a couple of coaches are working on you know,
(01:28):
Dallas since we had a full day before the game
last night, and the young guys, the equality control guys
always are working a week ahead along with our advanced scout.
So now Coach Zimmer and the rest of them will
get caught up and then you know, they got a
couple we got a couple hours asleep last night and
they'll they're grinding the way right now so we can
get ready for the Dallas Cowboys coming in. How has
(01:51):
your working relationship with Mike zimmer Ben through the totality
of his time here, It's been awesome. I mean, I
couldn't ask for a better relationship with Zim. And you know,
we meet on a lot of things. We meet almost
on a daily basis on personnel, on other things that
are going on that we you know. But the thing is,
I know the coach Zim knows we all have his back.
(02:13):
And we all know what kind of coach he is,
what a heck of a job he has done to
date this year, and hopefully we'll see that success continues
we go into the second half of the season. Rick Spielman,
general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, our featured guests this
week on x's and Oh's on KFA n M, the
Minnesota Vikings Radio Network. We're going to get to the
(02:33):
players momentarily, but as we go with the coaches, working
with Gary Kubiak, but not just Gary, the totality of
his offensive staff. Start with Gary and what impresses you
about this staff. They're just phenomenal, not only on developing players,
finding out what the players do well, how do we
(02:56):
utilize all the strengths of each individual player, how they
put it in their scheme, and then just the game
planning weekend and week out led by Gary and Rick
Dennison and their whole crew over there that just do
a phenomenal job getting this team ready to play on
Sundays and given us the best chance to win. And
you have a lot of Super Bowl rings over there
(03:17):
with Kubiak, Dennison, Pariana your tight ends coach, and that
obviously leads to a lot of equity and would you say,
no chemistry. Chemistry. Those guys have worked together so long
that they know they've been through it all, they've seen
it all. And to have that type of experience along
with what coach Zim is doing as a head coach
(03:38):
but also as a defensive coordinator filling both of those
roles out. You just see that when you have an
experienced staff like this that have been through as many
things as they have been through in their careers and
to see them get this team better each week and
to see them prepare this team to go out and
give them the best chance to win each week. We're
(04:00):
pretty fortunate the coach Zim and the staff that he
put together, including hiring Gary Kubiak as the offensive coordinator
and all that crew, and how well they work together.
Because I think when you have that continuity and those
guys working together, then that just trickles down and has
a trickle down effect to the players. You know, and
(04:21):
the players believe on Sunday that they have a chance
to win by how these coaches are putting him in
the best opportunities. Definitely out of the buy a very
confident bonch a Vikings team that has won three consecutive
Dallas here Sunday, and the game is shortly after three o'clock.
It's twenty twenty, So therefore my access are getting to
know Durante Jones or defensive backs coach as well as
(04:42):
I would like to. That hasn't happened, but from Afar,
I just I'm guessing he's doing a wonderful, wonderful job
with all this youth back there. Yeah, I know Coade
Zim is very high on him as a football coach
when he hired him this offseason. I know when code
Zim interviewed him how impressed he was not only with
(05:03):
his knowledge but also with his ability to communicate with players.
And I think that's such a big part of the
game right now, not only knowing what to do and scheming,
but you also have to be able to communicate. And
with everything that he's been dealt with from all the
injuries back there, from all the youth that we have,
(05:23):
especially at the corner position, and to see him take
those young corners and spend extra time in the meeting room,
and you see when we get off the practice field
if they're screwing something up to pull them over the
side after practice and continue to walk through And I
think you're starting to see that payoff right now from
the mistakes. And I think coach Zim has mentioned it
(05:44):
a few times in his press conferences. It's not always
about the physical ability, it's about the awareness, and it's
talking about the splits if the receiver's inside the number
and you got to stay outside leverage, just little nuances
like that. But I know how extremely hard there work working,
and I think these players are finally starting to click
a little bit here, especially the young guys where they
(06:05):
don't have to think too much while they're on the field.
Now you're starting to see them just go out and
play and play to their ability without having to oh,
I gotta do this this Now it's starting to smooth
out and just starting to be able to react and
use their own natural instincts without making too many mental errors.
Fantastic answer. And this is such a youthful team that
(06:27):
and I know how hard you take losing And the
team starts one and five and loses the home opener
to Green Bay. So with that said, were you able
to pull back a little bit and recognize obviously with
no preseason and the way the offseason went. I mean,
a lot of these kids around the league, they just
were behind the ape all before the thing even started. Well,
(06:49):
you kind of anticipated. I think we went into this.
We knew we were going to be young, and we're
going to be young in a lot of positions, and
they were going to have to grow and we were
going to have to have some growing things early in
the season. But I do know how well coached Zim
and how well this staff develops young talent. And you're
not only seeing it from the corners and the way
(07:10):
Glad and He's playing, and justin Jefferson I think has
a chance to be a pretty good player, but DJ
want him. All of a sudden, Hercules Matafaih, he starting
to get his opportunity in. He's been like the next
last two years developing and then all of a sudden
you see him out there and now all of a sudden,
it's clicking for him. They all click at different times.
(07:31):
They all just don't sprinkle magic dust on them and
then they're instant players. Each of them have their own
developmental period. But you're starting to see that these guys
are good because of the coaches that we have. Yeah,
it's further record like that, Pa, I loved it. It's
good and bad from the record. It's Hercules mata off
off and the way you hit me with the mata
(07:53):
OFFI it took me back to oh nine and a
certain fullback. And I like the numbers eleven not twelve.
But Rich Fieldman, general general manager for the Minnesota Vikings,
is on xs and os speaking of a player where
maybe metaphorical magic dust was spread on him, justin Jefferson.
First two games didn't see much maybe to be expected
(08:16):
after that, Holy cow, four games of at least one
hundred receiving yards, tying Moss's rookie record from ninety eight.
Not putting him on a Randy Moss comparison here, but
what a great start. Yeah. No, he's been phenomenal and
he's showing that the day when he walked in here.
Now it's getting the use to the playbook, understanding the
(08:36):
schemes that we're trying to do. I think it's the
chemistry between him and Kirk Cousins, and you seeing that
develop over time, and you know a lot of even
the critical passing in the passes last night, there are
a lot of critical situations on third downs where it's
not just Steel and now we have a justin Jefferson,
we have a couple of tight ends that are pretty
(08:57):
good as well. So you're starting to see him filter
into what we're doing offensively, but becoming a main part
of it now. And that's not only the confidence that
we have him and as a player, but I think
with coach Kubiak has in him making sure he's getting
his touches during the game, and even our quarterback in
the chemistry they're working together. Well. He was a big
timer in college, obviously against quality schools like George Alabama
(09:20):
and the sec from LSU. But so I'm not disrespecting
what he did there, But with what he's doing here,
is there anything different from what you saw when you
took him where you took him. No, He's a good
route runner, he catches the ball, he's physical after the catch,
and he can make big plays. Those are the same
things that we evaluated when he came out. Now you're
(09:40):
just seeing that it's carried over into this next level.
As ra Cleveland four starts starts with Grady Jarrett, goes
into Kenny Clark, then gets the Lions and a team
Hicks in that group last night. That's baptism by fire right. Yeah,
we're very excited about him and he was almost on
the same path as we talk developed as Brian O'Neill
(10:01):
was when we drafted him and Brian O'Neil right around
the same time, got in and started at right tackle
his rookie year due to some injuries and when he
got his opportunity, he didn't let that go and you're
seeing the same thing happening with Ezra. The biggest difference
for him was that he's never played at guard. He's
always played left tackle. Why was it Boise and to
(10:24):
shift inside to guard where things happened so much faster
because you don't have as much space on the outside
when you're blocking the edges. And how he's developed and
how it's really came to him because he's a smart, tough,
competitive kid that loves to play the game and he's
just going to get better and better as we go
and it's really helped our run game along with our
pass protection. When XS and O's continues this week with
(10:47):
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, we will get into Dalvin
Cook and some of the youthful exuberance on the defense,
but first Innovative Office Solutions and the Vikings of team
to put spotlight on nonprofit organization is doing great things
in the community that surrounds us SO nominate a deserving
organization by going to community dot Innovative os dot com.
(11:09):
Innovative Office Solutions is the hometown provider of office essentials
and furniture to the Minnesota Vikings. More with General Manager
Rick Spielman coming up shortly via Exes and OS on
the kfa N Minnesota Vikings or Radio NAT. Welcome back
(11:30):
to Lexes and OS. It's Paul Allen with Vikings general
manager Rick Spielman filling in for Mike Zimmer this week.
Rick and Mike and everybody else's Vikings have won three
in a row and I have Dallas this weekend. Dalvin Cook,
you trade it up for him in twenty seventeen. What
a wonderful player, but what a wonderful person Dalvin Cook is. Yeah, No,
(11:53):
he's I know when we drafted him and there were
some questions about him coming out of Florida State. There
is no question about his talent, but it was there
some things off the field that you were concerned with.
And I never forget calling him on right before the
draft on the next day and having a nice conversation
with him, and how he responded to that conversation. And
(12:16):
I don't think any of us in this organization had
any doubt or what type of character this kid was.
But now you see him not only evolving and he's
a great player on the field and he does a
great job off the field, but he's really developed into
our team leader right now. And you see him before
the games when we gather in the huddle, he's the
one getting everybody going. He's truly become our leader and
(12:39):
our spark for this football team. I'm really glad you
said that, because whether it's at home or watching the
road games, you can see it on the sideline, jol
And it's not like everything's going bad, but he's very
comfortable in having certain conversations with people about becoming better.
And the only way to do that is to be
kind and have the past performances like he has. Right Yeah, no,
(13:01):
when you go out there and play like he does
and put everything on the line, and you know, I
think he had ninety plus yards rushing and they were
some tough yards last night. And it's like getting in
a car wreck almost every time he touches the ball.
But for him to go out there and line up
and go down in and down out and keep running
and running and pounding, it's just that carries over to
(13:22):
our entire football team. Not only does the offensive lineman
really take to that, but also it carries over into
our defense and how well we're playing right now. Yeah,
and your quarterback the last three has been has been
mostly terrific, specifically on third down moving forward, beginning with Dallas.
What do you need from Kirk Cousins to continue to
(13:43):
win games? You know, we've built this football team on
running the football. Always coaches them are always once a
physical style offense, defense setting up the play action and
then that's what Kirk does best. And when we have
success running the ball, and even last night, even it
was slow warning, but we still tried to grind it
on the ground and get didn't give up on the
(14:03):
running game. And then Kirk's decision making last night, and
how quickly the ball came out and some of the
catches that these guys made, the great one head catch
on Adam Feeling on his first touchdown, but what a
great placement that the Cousins put where that ballways where
only a feeling can get it. So there's no question
even in the earlier games like out in Seattle, he
brought us back in the fourth quarter. Although we didn't
(14:25):
end up winning that game. Tennessee game, he could brought
us back in the fourth quarter. So I think as
long as we don't turn the ball over, which is critical,
then we got it. Then he's been playing extremely well
to the defense moment genially with general manager Rick Spielman.
First purchased any twenty ounce Pepsi branded product from Quick
Trip with your rewards card and enter the Vikings Opening
(14:48):
Drive Sweepstakes, No purchase necessary, c store forward to Jails.
Jeff Gladding Weird offseason, had an injury with which to deal.
It's virtual. No preseason games, nine snaps against the Packers,
but Booms, it has clicked with him, hasn't him? Yeah,
And I think he's starting to settle down in that
nick position he can play. What's unique about him is
(15:09):
not only he can play outside what you've seen in college,
but the nick position in coaches zim defense is something
that is very difficult to learn, as just from getting
more comfortable on all the things and all the reads
that are going on in there. But you can see
him and his maturity as a player is he's not
thinking anymore now, he's just reacting. He's seeing things. He's
(15:31):
seeing when it pass things off the other thing, it's
it's he does a great job timing up when Zim
sends him on blitzes so and he's a physical kid,
and he's a competitive kid, and you just see him,
like a lot of these young guys, especially over the
last three or four weeks, really just starting to click
with him. Now, you know, with Chris Bloyd's second year
from Texas two starts and um, I remember late last
(15:55):
year when he was working scout team and you you
were raving about him Jimmy about his work on Steam
and now he gets an opportunity. How much do you
think leading the team in special teams tackles last year
helped Chris do what he's doing this year. I think
a lot of these young guys, when you evaluate him,
if they're becoming players on special teams and they're not
(16:15):
it's not their turn to play yet on defense, but
they're making plays on special teams, you have to be
pretty athletic, and you have to be a good football player,
especially to show up on special teams. And then you
see him finally get his opportunity to start due to
some injuries. You looked at the Green Bay Green Bay
game where he struggled a little bit, that game not
as comfortable, but the way he's came on in the
(16:37):
confidence level he's playing with over the last two weeks.
I think it was the first snap of the ball
game last night, they try to throw a quick bubble
screen and he came up and attacked the receiver, got
rid of the receiver and had a tackle for loss
right there. That just got his confidence going. And like
a lot of these young guys, these guys are starting
to play with some swagger and some energy. And that's
(16:58):
the reflection of how coach Zim's these guys. Boy, I
just love your defensive line and it just shows I mean, seriously,
you lost to Neil Hunter, maybe the best pass rushing
four three defensive end in the NFL. It just shows
that you don't have to have the biggest name or
like have the most speed to do it the right way.
Taught by Andre Patterson. Because a lot of people around
the league don't know the names of a lot of
(17:20):
your guys, but they're coming through. No, we have to
look at the roster sometimes too, because we had so
many guys through This shares like who's twenty six, Oh yeah,
Chris Jones, he's been here two weeks. Oh yeah, that's
a kid from Nebraska, Jati Playlan. But it is it's
these guys. The one thing that these guys have they
may not have the name recognition out there, but they
(17:41):
all love to play the game. They're all taking to
the coaching they're getting and when you watch them play,
they play with a lot of energy and a lot
of effort, and a lot of times these guys are
getting to the quarterback based off of not only schematically
how the coaches are freeing them up and some of
the blitch packages and some the games that they're running,
but also the energy and effort that they're playing with.
(18:04):
A couple of quickies to close for Rick Spield and
general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, Eric Kendricks just continues
to get better season by season. I mean, talk about Eric,
he's phenomenal. There's not much I mean, if you want
to sit there and try to poke holes and somebody.
It's hard to do. It's kind of like upa if
we're sitting there trying to poke holes in your performance.
You can't do it. You're almost perfection. Say that, but
(18:27):
now he's devout. It's amazing how he's gotten better and
better every year, and I think he's going to continue
to get better. But it's hard pressed for me to
say any middle linebacker in the NFL has played better
than he is right now. Well, what about Eric Wilson?
I mean, if fantasy football goes to defense, holy cal
I mean, is he fillings the statue with the splashy stuff.
Eric Wilson specifically is pass coverage. I remember that Oakland
(18:49):
game last year. It seemed like he got a little
lost on a Darren Waller long play. So from there
to where he is now with the pass coverage, how
much has it improved. There's an example of a guy
that came in as a college free agent that made
it as a rookie because he was a great special
teams player and was one of our tour Specialist team
(19:10):
player over two years. You get an injury, this guy
gets an opportunity to step in and just has been
phenomenal stepping in for Anthony Barr, who's a big loss,
but how he's playing right now and the critical the
key interception that he's made in the Seattle game that
got us back in the game, in the place he's
making week in and week out, really pop out on
(19:32):
tape to tell you what type of football player he is.
Last one, we have a minute in your business. You
don't smell the roses frequently, even if you've won three
in a row. You're worried about the proverbial boogeyman around
the corner may be known as Dallas. But seriously, what
a blessing for a decade and a half with the
Will family to do what you do as well as
(19:52):
you've done it and to be as respected by them
as you are. I mean, that's a blessing. Riff, No,
I can't be in a better place, and to be
here for as long as I have been, and to
be with this ownership group, and then understanding and learning
the ups and downs of NFL season and how emotional
everybody is week in and week out, and how hard
(20:14):
the losses are to take, but how great the victories
are to celebrate. To have that emotion, you can't get
that in any other business, in my opinion, and to
have the ownership group we have that are backing us
every day rather it's the hide when we're there or
when we're here. They know we're trying to do our
best to try to win a championship here. And they
have been enough but supportive through this whole uh, this
(20:37):
whole process with the pinch hitting effort for Mike Zimmery
hit a home run. Thank you very much. Is he
Wally Pippen? Yeah, we got a tren green for water
in there. I mean name your reference, you know, I direct.
Thanks Pa rich Billman, general manager for the Minnesota Vikings. Excellent,
excellent work on exces and ohs. And by the way,
(20:57):
it's game day any day to play the new Viking
scratch game from the Minnesota Lottery with the top prize
of one hundred thousand dollars. Are you game? Just say
I'm in get to tails at MN lottery dot com.
Thank you very much for listening for all of us
here at the Vikings Entertainment Network and the flagship kfa N.
I'm Paul Allen. That's x's and o's on the kfa
(21:18):
N Minnesota Vikings or Radio Network.
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