WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011
Vikings Head Coach Leslie Frazier
Hope you guys enjoy the new studio we set up for you. It’s a pretty good set up. It’s a little different walking down that path now which is nice. We’re excited about this ball game. NFC North opponent on the road in what can be a tough environment and our guys want to string some wins together. It would be great to get to 2-0 in this second quarter and they are anxious to get going. You could feel the enthusiasm in our meetings this morning, just being able to get their hands on their game plan on special teams, offense, and defense. Lot of excitement with our team and looking forward to today’s practice.
Q: What did you see from Chicago in their Monday Night game against Detroit?
A: It was a hard fought game through that first half, both teams going back and forth and Detroit made some plays in the second half and got it done, but Chicago battled right to the end. Detroit made a few more plays. We know it’s going to be a tough ball game for our football team on the road and we’ve really got to do a good job in our preparation this week. They’ve got some things that could really affect your ball club in a negative way if you don’t take care of what you have to take care of.
Q: Julius Peppers has a strained MCL. If he plays or not, how much of a difference does it make for that defense?
A: He’s a very good football player. Had a major impact on their season a year ago in a positive way and I don’t know what his status will actually be on Sunday but his absence you would think would have not a positive effect. He’s one of those guys you have to account for every single play on defense if you’re an offensive player.
Q: How do you focus on that, do you just prepare for him and then feel better about the matchup there if he doesn’t play?
A: I think you have to plan as if he is going to play until you find out for sure that he’s out. You don’t want to be surprised if he is lining up on Sunday and not have a plan for him. He can change games. He’s done it so you have to plan as if he is going to be there until you hear otherwise.
Q: How important is it in the Tampa 2 to have two good pass rushers you know can apply pressure?
A: Extremely important. One of the reasons a lot of teams don’t run that system is they don’t have those types of pass rushers and that system is predicated on being able to get a good pass rush because there are some holes in that defense if you don’t have pass rushers and fortunately for us, we do have some quality guys on the end who do a great job for us and it’s one of the reasons we can stay with our scheme.
Q: Is there one trait that all good pass rushers have?
A: You’re right, I did play with one who is in the Hall of Fame now, Richard Dent, and it seems to be that one quality when I look at Dwight Freeney, look at Jared (Allen), Richard, those guys have such a passion for rushing the passer along with being great athletes but they’re all smart guys. They have the football instincts and intelligence that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with a defensive end. They’re almost like a linebacker who is calling the defense. I can remember Richard telling me at times, ‘Hey, I’m going to use this move’ and this is in between plays, ‘Watch this guy, he’s going to take this fake and I’m going to be on the quarterback.’ The same thing with Jared. He’ll say at times, ‘I’m going to do this’ and ‘This is going to happen.’ They’ve already thought through what they’re going to do, mimic plays before they actually happen and make it happen. It’s not just being fast or strong. These guys are thinking on their feet and they are tremendous athletes.
Q: With their offensive line struggles and the strength of your defensive line, how much of an advantage will that be?
A: We’ve gone against teams in the past that have struggled prior to us playing them and they’ve changed their blocking schemes and we’ve got to be ready to adjust to that. They’re going to do everything possible to fix some of the problems they had on Monday night and that they’ve had during the season and we’ve got to be prepared to adjust to whatever changes, if any, they make but we need our pass rush to be working for us. I say that, and they are doing a good job of running the football. Number 22 for their offense, Matt Forte, is doing a great job and if they are running the football that takes some of the pressure off of their line. We’ve got to be good against the run in order to be able to rush the passer.
Q: When looking at the offenses Mike Martz has been a part of, does it seem like he puts pressure on his offensive linemen to be able to take on anything without much help?
A: Just in looking at their offense and seeing how many weapons they have in (Matt) Forte and (Devin) Hester, and number 13 (Johnny Knox) as well, they have some good players that are making plays for them and you would think from an offensive standpoint they are going to try to find ways to put the football in their hands. Mike Martz is one of the top offensive coordinators in our game and he does a good job of finding ways to get the football in his playmakers’ hands and he has a variety of ways of doing it. We’ve got to figure out ways come Sunday to eliminate some of those playmakers.
Q: What are your thoughts on Jay Cutler?
A: He had an outstanding game on Monday. They came up short but Monday night, he played well in that ball game under duress a lot, but to see him make some of the plays that he made, it let you know that he’s more than capable of taking a game over and we’re well aware of what he’s done in his past and that success that he’s had and we’re really going to have to be on our Ps and Qs and play our best football game in the secondary. I think what happened on Sunday should give us some confidence as we’re preparing for this football game but he’s a guy who can make all of the throws and showed it on Monday night.
Q: What specifically impressed you about the secondary in Sunday’s game?
A: Just the fact that they were able to mentally rise to the challenge that was given to them during the week about handling #11, Larry Fitzgerald, and getting those turnovers that we needed. We really thought that our defensive line rushed the quarterback well. Now that we handled things and didn’t give up explosive plays when the opportunity was there to make plays, that they bought into that and then were able to go out and do it on the field, that was impressive. It just gives you hope that it’s there and we can consistently do that and we’re going to need it this weekend. Not giving up explosive plays and then coming up with big turnovers. But it was really encouraging to see them execute the game plays.
Q: How has Chris Cook
grown as a player this last month? Is it mainly confidence?
A: I think that’s part of it. Just being certain that he can match up with some of these top receivers. I think the game against Detroit really helped him from a confidence standpoint. But every week he’s playing against some outstanding receivers and he’ll be challenged again this week. His confidence has really grown; he’s a big, fast, physical guy who has become a much better tackler as well, which is a compliment to his cover skills. We knew he could cover, but he’s tackling better, and that’s what we need in our scheme.
Q: How confident are you that Donovan can improve on his accuracy?
A: The big thing for Donovan and our team, when people are stacking the box so much to stop Adrian, there are going to be some plays out there in the passing game that we have to make. We need our receivers running precise routes and holding onto the football, our quarterback getting the football to those receivers at the right time. He understands how important it is to compliment our running game and we’re looking forward to him having a big game on Sunday because we’re going to need it Sunday night. He’s going to work as hard as he can in practice to make sure that happens and so will our receivers. We want to get our run game on track.
Q: It seems like Donovan’s had some success rolling out and completed a lot of passes that way, is that something you’re trying to do more of?
A: A lot of it depends on what the defense allows. If they’re doing things to take away the edges then you have to do some other things. It kind of goes from game plan to game plan, week to week as to whether or not you feel like you have some of those plays that can get the quarterback on the perimeter.
Q: What is it regarding his footwork or mechanics does Donovan need to clean up?
A: I think with Donovan it’s just important to make those throws that have to be made, whether it’s a speed out or slant or post and he’s going to do the same things he’s done for the last 13 years with his work in practice. Whether its staying after practice, whether it’s going through technique drills during practice, during individual time. He’s going to continue doing those things, those aren’t going to change. We’ll continue to hone in on those areas, but he knows what he has to get done in order for our offense to take off in the passing game.
Q: You obviously want to avoid turnovers, but are there times when Donovan is just a little too cautious?
A: The play with Shiancoe is a possibility, because he did see the stumble and we did talk about that and he pulled up a little bit. But he’s done a great job in not turning the football over which is a big deal because of the way we play. It’s hard when your -5, -3 in the turnover ratio. It’s a plus for us. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve been in these games the way we have so late in the games. But you can’t play this game cautious. He knows that, he’s had a ton of success in our League and sometimes you just have to let it go. And he will, and he has. But that was one incident where Shiancoe got jammed at the line of scrimmage, stumbled out, wasn’t quite sure if he was going to get his head around fast enough, and it wasn’t the kind of throw that he wanted to make.
Q: It seems like the Bears struggle with pass protection; do you think that’s where you can attack them?
A: I would imagine they’re going to do some things a little bit differently than they did against Detroit. At least that’s what we anticipate. We have to be able to find a way to get to the passer, whatever they do. It’s important their quarterback is not comfortable; otherwise it’s hard for our defense to function. We have to find a way to make their quarterback uncomfortable. Whatever adjustments they may make, we have to figure it out.
Q: What’s the plan for Winfield this week?
A: We’re going to have to go day-by-day. He still has some stiffness in his neck and I don’t think he’ll be able to do anything today but we’ll try to get him to do something tomorrow. Hopefully by Friday we’ll have him out there, moving around, hopefully.
Q: Are Brian Robison and Jared Allen both full practice today?
A: Yes, they’ll both go through practice. They’re trying to practice.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011
Vikings Quarterback Donovan McNabb
Q: It’s a homecoming for you this weekend, what was it like growing up and playing high school football in Chicago?
A: Being in Chicago was a great time; I learned a lot, I obviously still have roots there. My parents are still living there so I always look forward to going back home and playing.
Q: Did you dominate the high school league back then?
A: We won the city and state championship a couple times, yes. I wouldn’t say I dominated, no, it was high school football.
Q: What was it like hearing the boos?
A: Well again, like I said after the game, I don’t pay attention to it. My job is to focus in on what we are doing and get things corrected and the way they need to be. When you look up at the scoreboard and we are winning, you don’t expect to hear that, but things happen and you just stay the course.
Q: What has been the most frustrating part about the way things have gone so far this season?
A: Well I’m all about winning, I’m not about numbers. When you get in the game you want to be able to manage the game the right way. Obviously with what we have been able to do, averaging 20 points a game, and then you look at our record and it doesn’t show. Offensively we left some plays on the field in the previous weeks; fortunately we were able to connect on a lot of the plays that we needed to be effective, but we left some yards out on the field as well. As a quarterback, that is one of the things you look to correct and you try to find ways to correct that from your position first and everything else follows. It’s a game that we can feed off of. We can take bits and pieces out of it where we were able to be successful and possibly put it into the game plan this week.
Q: What are some of the things you think you need to clean up?
A: Every week you are critical of yourself, you have a critical eye on watching certain things in the course of the game. If you looked down field and you don’t see anything, check it down to the back, or you missed some opportunities down field that you could have taken advantage of. There were obviously some throws I wanted back, but those are things you do every week, it’s not just one week. You try to clean that stuff up for the up and coming weeks because you know some teams are going to try to duplicate what other teams have been able to do against you. You may have the same play, you may not, but it’s just different answers that you can have to some of the questions that you may face.
Q: Have you have been working on your mechanics or footwork to address your accuracy at this point?
A: You know what; this whole mechanics thing is getting out of hand. Everybody works on mechanics no matter what position you play. You watch the film and you try to work on some things. So this whole mechanics thing is really something that I haven’t changed or anything of that nature. In the grand scheme of things, if a play is there to be made, I just need to make it.
Q: What do you attribute it to, if it’s not mechanics?
A: Well, according to you all, I have been inaccurate for my whole career. It’s just making the plays when the plays are there to be made.
Q: How do you balance miscues on plays and not commit turnovers?
A: Well, you move on. You understand what happened and you move on to the next play. With the Shiancoe play, it could have been big yards. He kind of stumbled and I tried to pull it back; instead of losing the ball. I tried to gather it back, but it came out. Obviously with the Percy screen maybe I could have gotten it a little deeper, but again its things like that you watch in the film, but its plays like that that make watching the film positive for us.
Q: Can you talk about Devin Aromashodu’s strengths and weaknesses now that you have had 5 weeks to play with him?
A: Devin has great top-end speed; he is a guy we feel confident in, just like Bernard Berrian and the rest of the guys. It’s also an added weapon anytime you have guys stepping in and making plays for you. I’m sure we will try to do a lot of things with those different guys and try to get the ball in their hands.
Q: What do you think about Lorenzo Booker as a receiver, is it a new dimension?
A: I wouldn’t say it’s a new dimension; we used him a little bit in the preseason before he got hurt in Dallas. Obviously when you have a talent like that you try to find ways to get him involved. You try to find plays for him; you try to find packages for him.
Q: When a guy like Bernard, who has been a central part of the offense in the past, has only 2 catches, have you tried to clear the air or talk about ways to get him the ball?
A: I have always been a big believer in spreading the ball around and getting guys involved. It’s not that I have been avoiding him or trying to get the ball to him, we are going to connect on those, those are things that will continue to evolve as we move on. Michael Jenkins has played a part, Percy, our tight ends got involved in Kansas City. Each week it might be guys getting involved or having more catches, but it’s really the catches that help us get first downs or into the end zone that stand out. Bernard does have that ability.
Q: You guys have the fewest turnovers in the league, but are 1-4, does that make any sense?
A: It goes back to numbers, when you look at numbers, we have the fewest turnovers, averaging 20 points a game, there are a lot of questions you have. When you watch the film, individually, you see ways to find out what you are doing wrong and you try to find ways to correct it the next time around and get us back on track.
Q: Why do you get the feeling that this season could turn around?
A: Because we have the talent, we have the attitude. The guys are supporting one another; we’re working hard out here at practice. I don’t think we’ve, knock on wood, had a bad practice yet. And just the overall attitude and approach of these guys preparing each week; coming in on Monday, coming in on Tuesday. Guys are paying more attention to detail. I see things changing. From the very beginning when we started in Mankato I never would have thought that we’d be in this position but now that we are, the guys have continued to push each other and understand that things will change.
Q: Why are you confident things will change?
A: Same thing. When you look around the locker room, you come out here to practice; you see the ability that we have. And you know that with one win maybe comes another and another follows. But like I said before, in order to get 2 wins you have to get 1. So now it’s our opportunity to kind of feed off of that and do what we need to do to try and get another one.
Q: Do you think the huddle in the NFL has become obsolete?
A: You see a lot of the teams, at times, going no huddle, hurry-up offense. You see them huddle up, making changes at the line of scrimmage. Huddles are very important. They’re very important, at times, because it brings everybody together. Maybe it’s after a really long drive and now you’re communicating, looking into the eyes of each guy and knowing that someone has the opportunity to step up and make a big play for us. So, huddles are very important, but also, teams are starting to take advantage of going no huddle. But staying out of the huddle, calling from the line of scrimmage, making checks when they see things, that’s just working in favor of the offense.
Q: Are you more comfortable working out of the huddle rather than no huddle?
A: I love no huddle, but I don’t mind going into the huddle and looking into the guy’s eyes and understanding that it could be their play. A lot of times when you’re in the no-huddle, you’re going by what you’re seeing from the defensive standpoint. When you’re in the huddle, obviously, the coach is calling from the sideline, everybody feels like this is their play, and they go along with it.
Q: What’s the best pizza place to go to in Chicago?
A: Uno’s, Uno’s deep dish pizza. That is the staple in Chicago. You want to go there and get the deep dish sausage and cheese or maybe meat-lovers. Get the extra cheese added on. I know you guys will get hungry, that’s where you’ll want to go.
Q: Did you watch the game on Monday?
A: I did, and it was two teams battling it out. Detroit and Chicago really put it out on the line. Obviously Detroit came out on top, but it was two aggressive teams playing. Growing up in Chicago that was kind of always the game you watched. Barry Sanders and the running backs, it was a great game to watch.
Q: How do you feel about the booing from Vikings fans during Sunday’s game?
A: Everyone has their own opinion. For me to sit here and to try to feed anything into it, you know, there are going to be a lot of positive plays that we’re going to make throughout the year. There will be games where we’re up 28-0 again, whatever it may be. We’re going to continue to try to stay aggressive and put more points on the board if that’s what they’re looking for. But most importantly there are going to be a lot of positive plays out there.
Q: Have you tried to make cautious plays in order to avoid turnovers?
A: No. You stay aggressive but you have to be smart with the ball. At this position you have to manage the game. When you have a running back like Adrian and effective tight ends like we have, you have to manage the game and do the right things with the ball. If you have an opportunity for a touchdown, you take it. If it’s one that could, kind of, go either way, maybe it’s smart to sometimes check the ball down or give it to your second or third read and let those guys play.
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