LT Matt Kalil stonewalled RE Jared Allen in consecutive one-on-one turns. That elicited a loud curse from Allen, who fared better against the rookie in team drills.
The defense dominated a day focused on short-yardage and goal-line work.
It was a particularly rough afternoon for starting quarterback Christian Ponder, who came up short on several passes, seemed uncomfortable amidst protection breakdowns and finished just 3-for-8 passing in team (11-on-11) drills.
Ponder also had an uneven performance in pads on Monday -- but that was on the heels of two efficient efforts in shells last week.
"You put stuff on tape, let him keeping learning from it," Frazier said. "We are so early in the camp. You don't panic about those moments. You want to go through some of the adversity in training camp so we can smooth some of those things out a little bit later on. Too early, definitely too early to panic."
Joe Webb was 3-for-6 with an interception, Sage Rosenfels 10-for-14 and McLeod Bethel-Thompson 0-for-3.
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
The only memory I have of Randle as a Seahawk was when Hasselbeck said his "We want the ball and we're going to score" line in the 2003 playoffs. JR was out there during the coin toss and ran back to the sideline like a kid. I think that was the end for him...
– Frazier spoke in glowing terms about rookie TE Rhett Ellison. The Vikings selected Ellison in the 5th round and based on early observations it looks like Rick Spielman and Co. found a good deal. Ellison will likely fulfill multiple roles in the Vikings offense and is the kind of player that will remind Vikings fans of Jim Kleinsasser. Frazier said Ellison’s maturity is notable, and he also said that the rookie has great preparation habits, attention to detail and a work ethic you don’t typically see from a first-year player.
Good news for the likes of Everson Griffen here. I also think it'll help at least Robison, who seemed to wear down a bit down the stretch.
– On Tuesday Vikings Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams spoke about his philosophy of wanting a “hockey lineup” along the defensive line, drawing an analogy to one of Minnesota’s past times in order to illustrate the point that he wants to rotate the defensive line as much as possible to keep players fresh throughout games and the season. Frazier said that he subscribes to his new coordinator’s theory and is pleased with the depth they have along the line.
– Everson Griffen has made the switch from DE to LB in camp, but Frazier noted that there may be certain situations where they ask Griffen to move back to DE. The focus is still on getting Griffen rote at outside LB to improve that position, but the goal is to make the entire defense better and the team can do that by getting Griffen on the field more frequently.
Thanks for the info. That's good stuff and I appreciate the updates you've been posting.
It sounds like Carlson's injury could be an opportunity for Ellison, although I imagine Musgrave is looking for them to fill somewhat different roles in the offense.
If Griffen can adapt and excel at LB, that could really help galvanize a turnaround for the Vikes defense, especially if a few of their young safeties really show something.
Josh Robinson (hamstring) back in uniform at #Vikings practice. Fielding punts now.
I wonder if this is smart. Seems like a quick turnaround after tweaking a hammy. Maybe he's just catching and won't do a lot of running. Of course, the med staff knows more than I do.
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
This Griffen thing is eerily similar to 2011's failed crafty attempt at getting another "athlete" on the field more. Defensive Webb? We'll draft you at this position, keep you there, then later change our minds, swap you to a new position, vastly underutilize you, put you back where you started
except he is going from DE to OLB...a common switch for tweener athletes and not such a great assignment difference as QB to WR... I would hope that Webb's failed transition (albeit not a serious one) is not the standard for switching positions for players in the league lol.
