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Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer –Call – Sept 3, 2014
(On how excited he is about coaching his first regular season game)
“It’s very exciting. I’m excited to watch this football team go out and perform and see where we’re at. We’ve worked real hard this off season. I know everybody’s making this about me, but it’s really more about us and how we’ve gone about our business this offseason.”
(On Viking’s training camp and his expectations for Sunday’s game)
“We had a great camp. We stayed fairly healthy. Our guys worked extremely hard, we were down at Mankato State and it was great facilities. These guys worked real hard since the day we walked in. I know the preseason isn’t really a great indicator of what goes on, but I feel like our team will continue to do the things we did in the preseason. We played smart football. We played hard, and aggressive, and tough, and didn’t make a lot of mistakes, so I’m anticipating those kind of things.”
(On being undefeated in the preseason and if that momentum can carry over into the regular season)
“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s so much about the record, per se, but I think the way we performed can help us carry over. We played some good teams, obviously, and in those games not everybody’s playing their starters, but neither were we. We performed like we knew what we were doing, especially with the new systems on both sides of the ball. I was impressed with the way they went about their business.”
(On working with RB Adrian Peterson)
“Adrian’s been great. He comes to work every day. When he gets one of the runs, he runs all the way to the goal line almost every single time. He makes great cuts. He’s been upbeat about everything. I think he feels good about what we’re doing offensively with (Vikings Offensive Coordinator) Norv Turner and he seems to be a pretty happy camper right now.”
(On his decision not to play Peterson in the preseason)
“He hasn’t played in the preseason the last few years. With him being 29 years old I just felt like he’s going to get plenty of hits during the season and so let’s not beat him up during the preseason. He’ll be fine. He’s been getting lots and lots and lots of reps at practice and so he’ll be fine that way.”
(On if Peterson will have fresh legs for the Rams because he didn’t play in the preseason)
“I hope so.”
(On what makes Peterson special and what attributes make him stand out as a running back)
“He’s got great power, and great acceleration, and great vision, so those three things really make him really unique and really special. Some of the runs I’ve seen him do out here in practice are like, ‘Wow.’ It’s exciting to watch. Finally for once, I’m glad that he’s on my team and not trying to defend him.”
(On if Peterson has had big games against him over the years)
“I believe he caught a screen pass or something, swing screen a long time ago, maybe his rookie year and he went for about 59 (yards). We played him last year and he was a little bit nicked up, and I don’t remember exactly how he did. I think he’s had great games against everyone.”
(On his decision to name Matt Cassel the starting quarterback and what he sees in him and the other quarterbacks)
“Matt had a great preseason. He didn’t do anything to lose the job. (QB) Teddy (Bridgewater) played very, very well too and I just felt like at this particular time it was best for us to continue on. I think the team has real good report and confidence with Matt. He did everything right in the preseason and the reason why I didn’t name him earlier was because I wanted to have competition and I wanted everybody to really go out and prove themselves. I think it was the right decision and I expect Matt to have a good year.”
(On what he’s seen from the Rams’ defense and his expectations for Sunday)
“Gregg Williams has always been a great defensive coordinator and he gives you a lot of looks. Obviously, their defensive line is excellent. He puts a lot of pressure on the offensive side of the football and I assume that he’ll continue to do that. He’s always made every team that he’s played work for a lot of yards and that’s what I see on tape. I see a fast football team, I see an aggressive team, and I see a multiple defensive football team.”
(On never facing QB Shaun Hill and if he has a good grasp of what he sees from him on tape)
“I think Shaun is an excellent quarterback. I thought he was one of the better backups going into the season as far as guys that we’re going...But my philosophy has always been every one of these quarterbacks are in the NFL because they’ve won a lot of games in their careers. I think he does a good job of getting the ball out in the right place. He sees the coverages well and I think he’s accurate as far as going where he needs to go. I don’t know if it makes it any more difficult or any more harder either way just because you play some different guys all the time. Sure it’d be better if we played him a couple times, but the offense is different in St. Louis than it was in San Francisco or Detroit anyways.”
(On what the other challenges he sees from the Rams set skill including running backs and wide receivers)
“I think (Cory) Harkey does a great job blocking. I think he’s a very physical fullback. Obviously, the two running backs are good, hard running players. (Jared) Cook, the tight end, has got great speed. I’ve played against him when he was at Tennessee. The receivers on the outside, they’ve all got great size and then with (Tavon) Austin inside he does a great job on the screens and getting him in space. Anytime you can run the football like they can run the ball, and then you have the size outside, and the athletic tight end, it always creates multiple problems for you.”
(On if there’s uncertainty going into an opener because teams don’t show much on tape in preseason despite his familiarity with Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams)
“I think there always is a little bit of uncertainty because you don’t know what they’ve changed in the offseason or what they’re doing differently now. Both those two guys have played against me over my career, too, I’m sure it’s the same for them as it is for us. I think the first football game of the year is always a little bit more nerve racking in the fact that you don’t know exactly what to expect from the team you’re playing. But that’s why I think teams that have good fundamentals and they teach good techniques that, those kind of things hold over because they end up aligning in the right places, they end up adjusting to the different formations or the different defensive blitzes that you see.”
(On what Vikings Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner can bring to his team)
“Norv’s great. The players love, not only his personality… he coaches very, very hard, but he has a fun side about him as well. He’s very demanding. He’s been in so many different situations throughout the course of his career. It’s great for me because I go in and talk to him about head coaching responsibilities all the time and during the course of football games we talk quite a bit about situations going on. It’s been very, very fortunate for me to be able to hire a guy like him and really I feel very fortunate about the whole staff that we were able to hire.”
(On if there’s been a couple things about being a head coach that has impacted his transition)
“Theres so many differet things, but the football part is football. It’s the administrative duties that you have to do-the schedules, the discipline, and all those things that you have to deal with…The football part has been pretty easy to be honest with you.”
(On feedback he’s recieved from the fans)
“The fans here have been great. They’ve opened their arms to us. They’ve been very nice to me when I do see people out. We’re undefeated, so that’s pretty standard issue I think.”
(On his time at Mizzou and how that impacted his career)
“Mizzou was great. I was fortunate enough to be around some great coaches, Warren Powers was there when I was there and we had guys like Clay Cooper and Bull Reese. We had so many good coaches at that time. I was just very, very fortunate to be able to come up with Brent Beecher and learn from all these different guys. It’s always been a place that’s been near and dear to my heart. I’ve had some great friends there and had some great football players- Phil Bradley, James Wilder, Eric Wright, Johnnie Poe, Howard Richards, there’s so many, Brad Edelman. There’s so many guys that were great players there. I was just lucky at that time I think.”
(On having to release Mike Zimmer, a player that shared his name)
“Well I’ve said it before, I don’t think it’ll be hard if we don’t win for people to cut me. Mike was a good kid. It was a little bit of an unusual situation to have somebody on the same team I’m yelling at him and I’m using my name to yell at him, so there was some things that were different. We’d sit in the meeting room and the coaches would say, ‘That damn Zimmer,’ or something like that. It was a very unique situation, but he’s a good kid and he worked real hard for us when he was here.”
Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson Conference Call (9/3/14)
(On if he has fresh legs since he did not participate in the preseason)
“I guess you can say that, I’ve been doing a lot of conditioning and stuff too. The guys always kind of picking at me about that, but yeah it’s a lot different than being out there running away from guys.”
(On if he has earned a break during preseason because of his performance throughout his career)
“Somewhat (laughs). Those young guys don’t understand but once they put some time in, maybe they can get a little time off during the preseason as well.”
(On the amount of sunflower seeds he goes through during each game)
“Two bags. I try to not have a dip in, so I constantly have to have some seeds in my mouth or something.”
(On what type of flavor of sunflower seeds he likes)
“Ranch.”
(On his excitement to get the regular season underway this weekend)
“I’m extremely excited. It’s a long time coming for me since I wasn’t able to participate in the preseason and just kind of watching the guys in the new system, offensively, defensively. So it’s going to be great to take the field with the guys and kick off this season. We are expecting great things and it all starts this week, Game 1. So, I’m trying not to get to wrapped up, but it’s hard. I’m looking forward to it.”
(On the new system that Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner has installed)
“It’s a blessing. I kind of look over my career and I’ve been blessed with players and coaches to be around some notable guys (QB) Brett Favre, (WR) Randy Moss, (QB Donovan) McNabb, and then you come in and Coach Turner-those are legends. This system is pretty much what we need and what we’ve been needing for a long time now. You all pretty much know how his offense is ran but, it’s versatile. So, not only for the backs being able to be presented and have the ball on the outside, handing the ball out on the perimeter. It gets a lot of players the ball as well. I was able to kind of see that and Vikings fans were able to see that too during the preseason. So I’m just excited and blessed to have him as an offensive coordinator and (Head) Coach (Mike) Zimmer as well running things.”
(On if he has looked at the game film of the game against the Rams from 2012)
“I actually haven’t looked at it all. What I do remember about that game is that it’s first time in eight years, I’ve ever talked off to players. Those guys had me so hot, like I haven’t ever been that mad playing football but those guys were just running to the ball I love it too but that were just yapping at the mouth. I’m talking about from the defensive front to the second level to the secondary. Those guys were just yapping and they were doing pretty good initially. Kind of getting a couple tackles for loss, a couple of three and outs, and then when I gunned at them one time, it got real quiet. I don’t know, I’m not going to give you my hint. I hope they come in talking a lot of noise this time too. I’m excited to play these guys. I love playing against a good defense. I love playing against guys that are aggressive, and know how to play defense. I grew up watching Pittsburgh and the Cowboys when those guys had good defense, guys come in and hit you and run up to the ball, that’s what I’m used to. Every time I play a team like that I’m ever more excited and ramped up to play against them.”
(On his long run against the Rams in 2012)
“I remember getting the hand-off, my fullback was lead blocking. I almost pretty much put him in a jam. He had a good block on the MIKE backer and I remember going to the right side and he had inside leverage on him. I remember, I don’t know if I had squeezed around, I got back inside of him and made one guy miss and it was off to the races.”
(On if anybody caught up to him)
“Unfortunately, I got tackled on the 1-yard line (laughs). It was good hustle.”
(On if after that run did the defense stop talking)
“It got a little quiet then.”
(On his excitement about the players around him on offense)
“I’m extremely excited. That’s one of the things I take away from the preseason, the ability to distribute the ball all around. (WR) Greg (Jennings), (WR Cordarelle) Patterson has come around, he’s even better than he was last year at the receiver position. We’ve got some young guys too, that I’m sure are going to be able to make a name for themselves this season as well. Anytime you have an offense that’s versatile and that can pass the ball and run the ball that’s a defensive coordinator’s worst nightmare, so we have that. We’ll be able to distribute the ball around.”
(On what he sees from the Rams defense as he prepares for this match-up)
“A team that’s aggressive, good at gang tackling, extremely well at getting the ball out, creating turnovers, I noticed. So, with some of those key things as an offense we just have to know who we’re playing against and know what type of defense they are. A good group, (No.) 94 (Rams DE Robert Quinn) I can’t think of his name but that guy he’s a heck of a player, 21(19.5) sacks last season I didn’t know that until I’ve seen it on paper, that’s pretty impressive. They have some guys that can get to the ball, to the passer and they run to the ball well, I know Coach Zimmer would love that type of defense. I’m excited to play those guys.”
(On what QB Matt Cassel will bring to the offense)
“Just that leader that we need in the huddle, the Commode in chief that’s running things. A guy who’s confident in what he’s able to do. That’s pretty much it and that right there outside of what he’s able to do as far as performing but that’s all you can ask for. A great leader, a guy that’s going to command the huddle and make sure things are on the straight and narrow and make sure the plays are being executed.”
(On how the new coaching staff has changed the mentality in the locker room)
“Night and day. Just coming in with a more fiery staff overall, so that’s something that you adjust to rather quickly and I felt like we did that. Guys were able to kind of adjust to that mindset and we were just able to see throughout OTAs and training camp and leading us to this week. It’s been a good change.”
(On if he has changed his training regimen at all throughout his career)
“Yeah, I’m always trying to find ways to improve. Each year I’m always working harder than the year before. So that’s really the only way I change anything. You always get a little wiser, when it comes to taking care of your body, making sure you get enough time to recover and things like that. You always wrap up. As far as me, you always wrap up the things you are doing to push your body to that next level.”
(On at this stage of his career what motivates him)
“What’s been what’s motivating me since I stepped into this league, winning a Super Bowl. That’s what I need, I need it in my life.”
(On if this Vikings team is capable of winning a Super Bowl)
“I think we have what it takes to go all the way. It’s going to be all about developing each week, continuing to improve, but we have talent. I know every team in the league has talent, but there are things that we know personally we have to do to be able to put ourselves in that position and to actually accomplish that.”
(On how excited he is about coaching his first regular season game)
“It’s very exciting. I’m excited to watch this football team go out and perform and see where we’re at. We’ve worked real hard this off season. I know everybody’s making this about me, but it’s really more about us and how we’ve gone about our business this offseason.”
(On Viking’s training camp and his expectations for Sunday’s game)
“We had a great camp. We stayed fairly healthy. Our guys worked extremely hard, we were down at Mankato State and it was great facilities. These guys worked real hard since the day we walked in. I know the preseason isn’t really a great indicator of what goes on, but I feel like our team will continue to do the things we did in the preseason. We played smart football. We played hard, and aggressive, and tough, and didn’t make a lot of mistakes, so I’m anticipating those kind of things.”
(On being undefeated in the preseason and if that momentum can carry over into the regular season)
“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s so much about the record, per se, but I think the way we performed can help us carry over. We played some good teams, obviously, and in those games not everybody’s playing their starters, but neither were we. We performed like we knew what we were doing, especially with the new systems on both sides of the ball. I was impressed with the way they went about their business.”
(On working with RB Adrian Peterson)
“Adrian’s been great. He comes to work every day. When he gets one of the runs, he runs all the way to the goal line almost every single time. He makes great cuts. He’s been upbeat about everything. I think he feels good about what we’re doing offensively with (Vikings Offensive Coordinator) Norv Turner and he seems to be a pretty happy camper right now.”
(On his decision not to play Peterson in the preseason)
“He hasn’t played in the preseason the last few years. With him being 29 years old I just felt like he’s going to get plenty of hits during the season and so let’s not beat him up during the preseason. He’ll be fine. He’s been getting lots and lots and lots of reps at practice and so he’ll be fine that way.”
(On if Peterson will have fresh legs for the Rams because he didn’t play in the preseason)
“I hope so.”
(On what makes Peterson special and what attributes make him stand out as a running back)
“He’s got great power, and great acceleration, and great vision, so those three things really make him really unique and really special. Some of the runs I’ve seen him do out here in practice are like, ‘Wow.’ It’s exciting to watch. Finally for once, I’m glad that he’s on my team and not trying to defend him.”
(On if Peterson has had big games against him over the years)
“I believe he caught a screen pass or something, swing screen a long time ago, maybe his rookie year and he went for about 59 (yards). We played him last year and he was a little bit nicked up, and I don’t remember exactly how he did. I think he’s had great games against everyone.”
(On his decision to name Matt Cassel the starting quarterback and what he sees in him and the other quarterbacks)
“Matt had a great preseason. He didn’t do anything to lose the job. (QB) Teddy (Bridgewater) played very, very well too and I just felt like at this particular time it was best for us to continue on. I think the team has real good report and confidence with Matt. He did everything right in the preseason and the reason why I didn’t name him earlier was because I wanted to have competition and I wanted everybody to really go out and prove themselves. I think it was the right decision and I expect Matt to have a good year.”
(On what he’s seen from the Rams’ defense and his expectations for Sunday)
“Gregg Williams has always been a great defensive coordinator and he gives you a lot of looks. Obviously, their defensive line is excellent. He puts a lot of pressure on the offensive side of the football and I assume that he’ll continue to do that. He’s always made every team that he’s played work for a lot of yards and that’s what I see on tape. I see a fast football team, I see an aggressive team, and I see a multiple defensive football team.”
(On never facing QB Shaun Hill and if he has a good grasp of what he sees from him on tape)
“I think Shaun is an excellent quarterback. I thought he was one of the better backups going into the season as far as guys that we’re going...But my philosophy has always been every one of these quarterbacks are in the NFL because they’ve won a lot of games in their careers. I think he does a good job of getting the ball out in the right place. He sees the coverages well and I think he’s accurate as far as going where he needs to go. I don’t know if it makes it any more difficult or any more harder either way just because you play some different guys all the time. Sure it’d be better if we played him a couple times, but the offense is different in St. Louis than it was in San Francisco or Detroit anyways.”
(On what the other challenges he sees from the Rams set skill including running backs and wide receivers)
“I think (Cory) Harkey does a great job blocking. I think he’s a very physical fullback. Obviously, the two running backs are good, hard running players. (Jared) Cook, the tight end, has got great speed. I’ve played against him when he was at Tennessee. The receivers on the outside, they’ve all got great size and then with (Tavon) Austin inside he does a great job on the screens and getting him in space. Anytime you can run the football like they can run the ball, and then you have the size outside, and the athletic tight end, it always creates multiple problems for you.”
(On if there’s uncertainty going into an opener because teams don’t show much on tape in preseason despite his familiarity with Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams)
“I think there always is a little bit of uncertainty because you don’t know what they’ve changed in the offseason or what they’re doing differently now. Both those two guys have played against me over my career, too, I’m sure it’s the same for them as it is for us. I think the first football game of the year is always a little bit more nerve racking in the fact that you don’t know exactly what to expect from the team you’re playing. But that’s why I think teams that have good fundamentals and they teach good techniques that, those kind of things hold over because they end up aligning in the right places, they end up adjusting to the different formations or the different defensive blitzes that you see.”
(On what Vikings Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner can bring to his team)
“Norv’s great. The players love, not only his personality… he coaches very, very hard, but he has a fun side about him as well. He’s very demanding. He’s been in so many different situations throughout the course of his career. It’s great for me because I go in and talk to him about head coaching responsibilities all the time and during the course of football games we talk quite a bit about situations going on. It’s been very, very fortunate for me to be able to hire a guy like him and really I feel very fortunate about the whole staff that we were able to hire.”
(On if there’s been a couple things about being a head coach that has impacted his transition)
“Theres so many differet things, but the football part is football. It’s the administrative duties that you have to do-the schedules, the discipline, and all those things that you have to deal with…The football part has been pretty easy to be honest with you.”
(On feedback he’s recieved from the fans)
“The fans here have been great. They’ve opened their arms to us. They’ve been very nice to me when I do see people out. We’re undefeated, so that’s pretty standard issue I think.”
(On his time at Mizzou and how that impacted his career)
“Mizzou was great. I was fortunate enough to be around some great coaches, Warren Powers was there when I was there and we had guys like Clay Cooper and Bull Reese. We had so many good coaches at that time. I was just very, very fortunate to be able to come up with Brent Beecher and learn from all these different guys. It’s always been a place that’s been near and dear to my heart. I’ve had some great friends there and had some great football players- Phil Bradley, James Wilder, Eric Wright, Johnnie Poe, Howard Richards, there’s so many, Brad Edelman. There’s so many guys that were great players there. I was just lucky at that time I think.”
(On having to release Mike Zimmer, a player that shared his name)
“Well I’ve said it before, I don’t think it’ll be hard if we don’t win for people to cut me. Mike was a good kid. It was a little bit of an unusual situation to have somebody on the same team I’m yelling at him and I’m using my name to yell at him, so there was some things that were different. We’d sit in the meeting room and the coaches would say, ‘That damn Zimmer,’ or something like that. It was a very unique situation, but he’s a good kid and he worked real hard for us when he was here.”
Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson Conference Call (9/3/14)
(On if he has fresh legs since he did not participate in the preseason)
“I guess you can say that, I’ve been doing a lot of conditioning and stuff too. The guys always kind of picking at me about that, but yeah it’s a lot different than being out there running away from guys.”
(On if he has earned a break during preseason because of his performance throughout his career)
“Somewhat (laughs). Those young guys don’t understand but once they put some time in, maybe they can get a little time off during the preseason as well.”
(On the amount of sunflower seeds he goes through during each game)
“Two bags. I try to not have a dip in, so I constantly have to have some seeds in my mouth or something.”
(On what type of flavor of sunflower seeds he likes)
“Ranch.”
(On his excitement to get the regular season underway this weekend)
“I’m extremely excited. It’s a long time coming for me since I wasn’t able to participate in the preseason and just kind of watching the guys in the new system, offensively, defensively. So it’s going to be great to take the field with the guys and kick off this season. We are expecting great things and it all starts this week, Game 1. So, I’m trying not to get to wrapped up, but it’s hard. I’m looking forward to it.”
(On the new system that Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner has installed)
“It’s a blessing. I kind of look over my career and I’ve been blessed with players and coaches to be around some notable guys (QB) Brett Favre, (WR) Randy Moss, (QB Donovan) McNabb, and then you come in and Coach Turner-those are legends. This system is pretty much what we need and what we’ve been needing for a long time now. You all pretty much know how his offense is ran but, it’s versatile. So, not only for the backs being able to be presented and have the ball on the outside, handing the ball out on the perimeter. It gets a lot of players the ball as well. I was able to kind of see that and Vikings fans were able to see that too during the preseason. So I’m just excited and blessed to have him as an offensive coordinator and (Head) Coach (Mike) Zimmer as well running things.”
(On if he has looked at the game film of the game against the Rams from 2012)
“I actually haven’t looked at it all. What I do remember about that game is that it’s first time in eight years, I’ve ever talked off to players. Those guys had me so hot, like I haven’t ever been that mad playing football but those guys were just running to the ball I love it too but that were just yapping at the mouth. I’m talking about from the defensive front to the second level to the secondary. Those guys were just yapping and they were doing pretty good initially. Kind of getting a couple tackles for loss, a couple of three and outs, and then when I gunned at them one time, it got real quiet. I don’t know, I’m not going to give you my hint. I hope they come in talking a lot of noise this time too. I’m excited to play these guys. I love playing against a good defense. I love playing against guys that are aggressive, and know how to play defense. I grew up watching Pittsburgh and the Cowboys when those guys had good defense, guys come in and hit you and run up to the ball, that’s what I’m used to. Every time I play a team like that I’m ever more excited and ramped up to play against them.”
(On his long run against the Rams in 2012)
“I remember getting the hand-off, my fullback was lead blocking. I almost pretty much put him in a jam. He had a good block on the MIKE backer and I remember going to the right side and he had inside leverage on him. I remember, I don’t know if I had squeezed around, I got back inside of him and made one guy miss and it was off to the races.”
(On if anybody caught up to him)
“Unfortunately, I got tackled on the 1-yard line (laughs). It was good hustle.”
(On if after that run did the defense stop talking)
“It got a little quiet then.”
(On his excitement about the players around him on offense)
“I’m extremely excited. That’s one of the things I take away from the preseason, the ability to distribute the ball all around. (WR) Greg (Jennings), (WR Cordarelle) Patterson has come around, he’s even better than he was last year at the receiver position. We’ve got some young guys too, that I’m sure are going to be able to make a name for themselves this season as well. Anytime you have an offense that’s versatile and that can pass the ball and run the ball that’s a defensive coordinator’s worst nightmare, so we have that. We’ll be able to distribute the ball around.”
(On what he sees from the Rams defense as he prepares for this match-up)
“A team that’s aggressive, good at gang tackling, extremely well at getting the ball out, creating turnovers, I noticed. So, with some of those key things as an offense we just have to know who we’re playing against and know what type of defense they are. A good group, (No.) 94 (Rams DE Robert Quinn) I can’t think of his name but that guy he’s a heck of a player, 21(19.5) sacks last season I didn’t know that until I’ve seen it on paper, that’s pretty impressive. They have some guys that can get to the ball, to the passer and they run to the ball well, I know Coach Zimmer would love that type of defense. I’m excited to play those guys.”
(On what QB Matt Cassel will bring to the offense)
“Just that leader that we need in the huddle, the Commode in chief that’s running things. A guy who’s confident in what he’s able to do. That’s pretty much it and that right there outside of what he’s able to do as far as performing but that’s all you can ask for. A great leader, a guy that’s going to command the huddle and make sure things are on the straight and narrow and make sure the plays are being executed.”
(On how the new coaching staff has changed the mentality in the locker room)
“Night and day. Just coming in with a more fiery staff overall, so that’s something that you adjust to rather quickly and I felt like we did that. Guys were able to kind of adjust to that mindset and we were just able to see throughout OTAs and training camp and leading us to this week. It’s been a good change.”
(On if he has changed his training regimen at all throughout his career)
“Yeah, I’m always trying to find ways to improve. Each year I’m always working harder than the year before. So that’s really the only way I change anything. You always get a little wiser, when it comes to taking care of your body, making sure you get enough time to recover and things like that. You always wrap up. As far as me, you always wrap up the things you are doing to push your body to that next level.”
(On at this stage of his career what motivates him)
“What’s been what’s motivating me since I stepped into this league, winning a Super Bowl. That’s what I need, I need it in my life.”
(On if this Vikings team is capable of winning a Super Bowl)
“I think we have what it takes to go all the way. It’s going to be all about developing each week, continuing to improve, but we have talent. I know every team in the league has talent, but there are things that we know personally we have to do to be able to put ourselves in that position and to actually accomplish that.”
