“It’s all good. I’ll get better,” came the running commentary from Minnesota Vikings DE Everson Griffin. He was “mic’d up” for the preseason opener against the Titans and captured the spirit of this year’s team, “I’m comin’ out! Let’s go! They gonna know who I am! They gonna feel me today!”
Griffin will have another chance to make an impression Saturday when the Vikings travel to Seattle. Many of the players deep in the depth chart will play Saturday for two reasons. First, a flurry of minor injuries has put the likes of Percy Harvin, Visanthe Shiancoe, Anthony Herrera, Asher Allen, Greg Camarillo, Matt Asiata, and Heath Farwell on the bench. Second, the coaches are still determining roster spots and the depth chart and want to see the newbies play.
There’s not much that’s not new on the Viking’s offense this year. Players are learning a brand new offense from new OC Bill Musgrave. Donovan McNabb is new, as are LT Charlie Johnson, WR Michael Jenkins, and TE Kyle Rudolph. With this rebirth comes the chance for improvement, and that is what Head Coach Leslie Frazier is looking for, “I’m believing based on the way we practice, we will improve, and that’s the goal.
One player Frazier talks about seeing improvement in is Rookie Kyle Rudolph, “I knew he had great hands and he was going to be able to have the ability to run after the catch, but he has shown a toughness that you really couldn’t see his last year at Notre Dame because of his injury and his lack of playing time…we always knew that [the blocking] part was going to be there, but that has really been eye opening for us.”
Vikings fans are hoping for a few more eye openers in Saturdays game, in the form of the team’s two best CB’s Cedric Griffin and Antoine Winfield, as well as Rookie Safety Mistral Raymond, none of whom played last week. The next four games for the Vikings will continue to be interesting as they work out the kinks of a lockout induced “hurry up and figure out your offense” preseason. When the regular season starts, Coach Frazier hopes to have all his Vikings in a row.
