Kevin O’Connell Reflects on Vikings Preseason Game and Week of Joint Practices vs. Patriots

Kevin O’Connell Reflects on Vikings Preseason Game and Week of Joint Practices vs. Patriots

All right. So, uh, you know, clearly want to, uh, compliment the Patriots. What a week we had with them coming in. So much great work, uh, for for our starters and and guys that were trying to get prepared to play in the right kind of setting. And we got that Wednesday and Thursday. Want to credit Mike uh, and the whole or Patriots organization for coming in here and getting great work. Two complete days in pads, very limited uh, extracurricular stuff that we had to deal with. So, it was really, really positive. And then, uh, obviously coming into today, still a important opportunity. Anytime we get a chance to play and compete, especially here at home at US Bank Stadium, I want to try to find a way to win a football game. And, um, we did a lot of things, uh, that we didn’t do last week when we were able to win. We, you know, had 10 penalties. We lost the turnover battle. We weren’t very good on, you know, the weighty downs and and across the board. I just thought um I know we had a much smaller roster uh than than those guys today, but uh you know it it kind of wore on us a little bit, but no excuses. We still had a chance to win the game by scoring and maybe tying it up and and and maybe even tying the football game, but uh um proud of our guys for battling, just not proud of kind of uh the detail and the execution and and some of the things that um starts with me. We got to make sure our entire roster uh all 91 guys are uh are ready to go and and we’ll have another opportunity on the road this next week uh at Tennessee on on Friday night. Just injury-wise, uh Tyler Baddy had a little bit of a wrist hand thing, but kind of checked out and it was about time for him to come out of the game anyway. And then Henry Bird had a little ankle there that uh got rolled up on a little bit. We’ll evaluate him as we go, but right back to work this next week and it’s going to be an important week for us. Kevin, the way you divvied up staffs at quarterback, was your plan there to make the switch at the beginning of the second quarter or you decided based on way the way Sam had played in the first that it was time to make the move there? Yeah, I just I I it was it was really not a matter of anything Sam did or didn’t do. was kind of going into it my I envisioned Max having the whole second half but I wanted to make sure uh that Rip wasn’t the victim of the clock there where all of a sudden his time goes and I felt like you know obviously you know Sam going up against you know basically for a lot of his chunk of time and there went up against their starting unit um you know we we sat a lot of guys today so it was going to be tough but at the same time I never really look at that I’m looking at guys just going out there and playing physical and executing and you know playing with details and throwing and catching in the pass game. Um, so obviously didn’t get off to the fast start we wanted, but uh but no, I didn’t uh that decision had nothing to do with uh you know any kind of performance-based decision. It was more about a plan to try to get all three guys in a game and now we can obviously assess with four quarters next week the best way to handle it. What do you think of Max in the the two quarters of work he gets in the second half? Yeah, I think that uh you know if if you know couple opportunities there, one explosive taken back by a penalty to start a drive and then we end up third and a million and um and then you know obviously we had a chance on another go ball that was right there uh that you get one of those explosives maybe it kind of changes that second half a little bit but what I loved about Max is um you know the the there were some breakdowns up front and and maybe he couldn’t progress and read you know through concepts but he plays with very fast eyes and very rarely, you know, puts the ball at harm’s way when he’s doing it, which is a which is a unique trait. I think it was a that fourth down, you know, dagger throw uh to Jan. I mean, the that’s about as stacked against you as it can be and uh you know, he throws that well well before, you know, that pattern had declared. Just things like that that he’s done and shows consistently is why he’s getting the reps that he is. Um, but I thought Brett Ripen did some good things and and then obviously Sam had some tough circumstances and we’re, you know, a couple couple plays here here and there in that early group from maybe sustaining drives a little bit more. But across the board, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of things we can correct as a whole across our whole team. But, uh, you know, the quarterback tends to be the one that when mistakes are made around them have the greatest impact on your job. So, we got to take a look at it and really assess it considering all that information. Are you viewing that number two job as a competitive situation right now? I just view it right now as we’ve got to we’ve got to learn about these guys. We’ve got to, you know, try to see um, you know, who’s who’s able to go in there and function and execute the offense when, look, I I’m well aware sometimes the circumstances aren’t perfect. You know, they’re they’re not throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and TJ or, you know, playing behind our first offensive line. Um, so you you take that into account, but you’re looking for just the traits out of those three guys. And I think, you know, Sam had a really good uh week of practice and uh you know, I think Brett Ripen had a a good week stepping in there and Max made some throws uh that were really impressive as well. So, there’s a reason why we’re playing all three of them. Um, as far as like what that means and, you know, the overall competition, I think I would just say it’s, you know, it’s it’s still open and we’re trying to figure out what that room is going to look like for the season. But I do like all the players a lot. Sam’s on Sam’s pick. Is that a ball he has to eat? I mean, it looked like he tried. Yeah, I think he was trying to throw it away and just, you know, you know, just because I think, you know, those situations, you know, you’ve got, you know, where your eligibles are. You can’t quite maybe get all the way out of the pocket. So, you’re trying to find a way to get it at least towards somebody, but get it to the chalk if you can. Um, and it just didn’t get there. Maybe somebody he thought, you know, you never know. I got to watch it. looked looked like he did a great job at least evading and eluding what was uh immediate there it felt like and then just tried to get it to the boundary and and and didn’t get it all the way there. So, uh, learning lesson for sure, you know, especially when your defense is kind of fighting like crazy, you know, to to keep that a seven-point game for a while and then they only obviously got the two field goals in the second half to kind of give us a chance on a day where, you know, I rattled off a few things earlier that normally when you do those things, you do not give yourself a chance to win and we still had a chance, you know, to win. And and just want to credit Bryson even on the last play. I mean, he was in the entire drive and and just the finish to even attempt to go with the ball right there was um you know, it’s it’s a heady play for a young player to do when he’s that gassed and tired at the end of a long drive. So, impressive by him. Talked about seeing Max pro day. Um is the fast eyes that something you can evaluate or do you have to see him in the building to be able to kind of see that? Yeah, I think it’s just as guys are absorbing the offense, you have to you kind of see, you know, the normal rhythm and timing of a play. So, when things get sped up in a good way, uh, I always take note of that just because I know what we’re coaching and I know what we’re asking guys to do with their eyes, with their feet, uh, location of the football. Um, so that those are the things that I think pretty consistently um once he had enough of the offense kind of under his belt, you’ve you’ve you’ve started to see and we’ve seen Sam do it as well. I mean, the same dagger throw we threw in the game that Max threw, if you remember the two-minute drive on Thursday practice, you know, Sam threw it basically almost the same situation. Um, and was able to hit it and move the team and eventually, you know, uh, you know, hit Price against the zero pressure for the the touchdown, you know, to finish the drill. really we we ended up finishing it out from there to get more plays. But um so you’ve seen examples of it. Rip probably has the most understanding and comfort in the system and that shows up too. So u there’s a lot of things that are that are really positive from an evaluation standpoint where maybe sometimes it’s got to go beyond the box score especially today. Your uh your impression of Miles Price so far? Yeah. Um it it for for a guy that u you know is is learning the receiver position first and foremost. Uh I love how hard he plays. I love his play strength. Um and and then uh I you just get the feeling that it’s not too big for him just by how he’s able to um do a lot of things at a pretty good level. So uh there’s we’re we’re going to continue to see him amongst many others in that receiver room get some opportunities here especially this week. um and just want to continue to see it play out. But yeah, he’s um he’s a guy with a ton of energy, you know, never has a bad day, always has a smile on his face, but he’s tough. He’s got, you know, a lot of traits physically that that uh tend to, you know, with our rules and and kind of how things tighten up a little bit in the NFL. It it bodess well for him having a skill set to do that. Max talked about learning to learn in a new way in the NFL. Yeah. How much has he impressed you with his knowledge and command of the offense without getting all of the reps? Yeah, I think it’s it’s one of those things where you can get a feel for that. Um, you know, over actually got to go to two of his pro days cuz he got to throw, you know, when he first arrived here, um, you know, uh, from New Hampshire and we took the staff over there and got to see him throw. That’s part of the new rules that I like with those pro days. can see a guy like that throw the ball, but you still you get a chance to spend some time with him when the other groups are kind of working out on those days and you just immediately walk away saying the guy loves football and he’s a pretty high capacity thinker and analyzer of things and then you you throw in some work ethic and he’s a guy that you know wears out uh you know between him and JJ. I don’t know how I don’t know how uh you know um Josh and Jordan are sleeping at all right now with how much those guys are late text early text. You know they’re first and last guys to leave the building. So get to the building, leave the building. So it’s you like having guys like that in the room especially when they’re young players and I think they’re feeding off of each other a little bit with that as well. Getting the big return and giving up a couple and then a couple penalties. What did you make of the special teams day as a whole? Yeah, I told them, you know, uh I told them last night and then uh told them again today when I knew that we’d be playing some starters on the other side. I thought the kicking game would have to be a determining factor. And you know, I think the you know, I I told him last night I envisioned a big return would change the game or maybe help us give give us a chance to win a game. And we got that big return. We just we gave up a few as well and and we’ll have to take a look at that. But I thought as a whole, we had a couple kind of silly penalties running out of bounds, kind of on your own doing that we can get cleaned up. But I thought as a whole between Will Riker making, you know, some big time kicks and and then some physicality there in the in the kicking game units and then the return game was there were some positives that I think we’ll be able to take out of this. In your mind, are the are the kickoff and punt return guys on this team or is that TBD right now? Um, yeah, I think it’s I think I feel really good about where Tai Felton’s at from a skill set standpoint. Now, we’re just trying to get him as much as much work, you know, coinciding right now with a lot of re receiver work as well um back there. But he, you know, that’s one of the reasons why he’s here is he I believe he has that skill set and especially what uh that kickoff play is turning into this year. Um, so we want to try to get him as much work. I still think Tai and Zay have done some good things back there as well. Um, and as far as the punt return, you know, situation, we’re trying to give as many guys opportunities to go back there and first and foremost catch it. You know, after making a good decision on, you know, in play, fair catch or, you know, stay away from it. You know, it’s a decision making and then catch standpoint. And then what we are looking for is somebody who can, you know, try to make that first guy miss because I feel really good about our ability of our roster to block a lot of those plays with some of the depth we have. Uh, and then it’s just a matter of, you know, can you make one miss and maybe run through an arm tackle and, um, I think we saw a little bit of that today, especially out of Miles ahead a little bit. Um, but do you expect Justin to be back in practice this week? Uh, he’s definitely going to hopefully, you know, start doing more and more. I can’t say what that looks like from a pra p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p practice standpoint yet, but uh you know Justin, I’ve been really proud of Justin both his engagement in the meeting rooms and I mean you guys see him every day on the practice field and what he’s doing, you know, that people aren’t seeing working to get back. Um I think he’s also making himself stronger and and and ready to sustain what very few players do in this league, which is almost essentially play every single snap for uh for the better part of the whole season. So, we’re I think he’s in a good spot. I hope to get him, you know, back getting reps with that that first unit um as soon as possible and and that’s kind of the plan right now. Is he signed to come back? No. Is he trying to come back like to bug you you guys and the staff to come back or or is this sort of all hands on deck on the fact he hasn’t practiced since late July? Um I guess the best way to answer it is he wants to get back as fast as possible. Um but at the same time, Justin’s going to make our football team. So, you know, there’s not necessarily a reason to rush him back other than having your best player, you know, working in with your offensive unit as we get CD taking a little bit of more and more and and obviously get uh you know, our our new line functioning together and and uh you know, JP at the running back spot, Jordan Mason, and just the full unit as much as we can. But I will say, you know, I don’t know, and I know you guys are doing a great job highlighting it, but the camp Jordan Addison has had been spectacular and he he had two great days against some pretty good cover players, you know, one of which Carlton Davis we know well, and that was competitive and and uh JA is taking the next step on the grass for sure, and it’s been great to see. Last two. What did you make of your experience with the virtual measurement system? Yeah, they’re uh they’re I know they they’re going into it to try to test it out. Same as last week. Um, I think my biggest my, you know, I’m just trying to find out the the fundamentals of it as much as anything and and I think the officials are getting great work at it and and uh it seems to be functioning at a at a good level and and we’ll we’ll take it on into the season. But yeah, anything to get it right, whatever it was, let’s just get it right and that’s where I really want to compliment the league on that. Update on on Jaylen, who I think went out on Thursday with the jam finger. How’s he doing? Yeah, it’s it’s more of a hand and and uh you know, we’re kind of completing the evaluation process of that. Um and I’ll keep you guys posted. Kind of you know, wanted to make sure we we let uh you know, any swelling there go down and see really what exactly it’s going to be. Um but he’s he’s in a good spot. You know, I I definitely don’t feel um overly concerned about a long-term thing. Um but at the same time, we want to make sure that uh you know, he can he can hit the ground running and be healthy. Uh, and and that’s where we’ll make sure we know exactly what it is. Get get I get uh get him rehabbed and ready to roll.

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media following Saturday’s preseason game against the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 16, 2025.

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