When training camp begins, it's pretty normal for the defense to be better than the offense right away. That's exactly what we are getting at Minnesota Vikings training camp, as the defense continues to dominate the offense.
That happened again on Wednesday afternoon when the defense completely disrupted the 11-on-11 drills for the second consecutive padded practice.
This came after Jonathan Greenard absolutely obliterated the 11-on-11 two-minute drill simulation they ran at Monday's practice. It's not much of a surprise to see Brian Flores' defense thriving during training camp, especially with how improved the defensive front is.
Ahead of practice, starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy was asked about the defense throwing the "kitchen sink" at him, and his answer translated not just to practice on Monday, but also Wednesday when the defense had a tremendous afternoon.
"What I learned from that is in those situations, they're so impeccable to get early on, especially in this camp like setting, because there's no consequences to it. There's so much learning involved. And with those front seven guys and that rush, it's tremendous to feel that early on and be able to make quicker decisions, get to my back, maybe find an escape lane here or there when they're playing man on the back end. But, yeah, it was just another great example for me to see and, you know, experience.
"I mean, the rush and being able to not sit in the pocket and hold the ball. You've got to make quick, decisive decisions, and you really have to a plan and a process going up to each and every play. And once that ball hits your fingertips, you know they're gonna be firing off."
It's been a continuous theme at the beginning of training camp, but it's also something that will help McCarthy grow as the starting quarterback. Facing Flores' defense during training camp could be the toughest unit that he faces all season long. That in itself could be the one thing that takes his development and shoots it to the moon.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell elaborated on the defense's performance during Tuesday's press conference and how it impacted McCarthy.
"First play of the drill, you're always trying to get the drill off to a good start in that two-minute setting. But end of half, we capture the momentum of the drill by making a play on the first play and then, being able to play it out from there on our terms. Not just hope for a field goal, but maybe we go down and try to score," said O'Connell when talking about the two-minute drill. "We’ve had some success over the last three years in that middle-eight, end-of-half phase. That was not always against the likes of [Jonathan] Greenard, [Andrew Van] Ginkel, [Javon] Hargrave, [Jonathan] Allen. I think Cash [Blake Cashman] or IP [Ivan Pace Jr.] might have been in there as well. Flo [ Brian Flores] brought a simple pressure, playing man coverage, real tight, sticky coverage on the outside. They were able to run a game up front and get home almost at the top of JJ McCarthy’s drop on the first one. . ."
"I think another time where there was a chance to change the whole drill down the field with a with our secondary or primary, however you look at a progression, and JG [Jonathan Greenard], that's why he's here. We call him the closer. How many times have we seen him win a one-on-one, or even help from the back or the tight end, and he just wins and ends the drill? We're not at full capacity with that O-line group right now, but there is zero excuse from a standpoint of not being able to have the time to throw and compete That's what that drill is, known passing. I thought the O-line showed some great physicality throughout the day in the run game, play action, pass protections, our different phases of our offense. Some games, as you guys know, many of ours, coincidentally or not, come down to those one-score games. We're going to have to be great as a team, situationally. But the defense clearly won that two minute [drill], ones and twos, yesterday.
The Vikings' offense needs to figure it out, but they have plenty of time to do so.
