Kevin O’Connell Talks Improving as a Team, J.J. McCarthy’s Recovery, Preparing for Browns in London

Kevin O’Connell Talks Improving as a Team, J.J. McCarthy’s Recovery, Preparing for Browns in London

Good afternoon everybody. It’s good to see uh it’s good to see you guys. I wanted to start out today and just make sure I mention the first time of probably many um you know the Hanberry Manor staff here just how much they’re taking great care of us and and feels like a very much normal week of preparation for us. Um great field, great setup, great meeting rooms and then obviously to have everybody under one roof and and uh and and enjoying this time together. has been first class all the way around. Um this will be our third time playing at Tottenham Stadium. Very much excited about that. Uh it’s a very very unique special venue and and we’ve enjoyed uh both of our previous opportunities and and very much looking forward to uh seeing all of the great fans in the stadium as well as the many who will have traveled um you know from Minnesota and from from the United States to watch us play over here. It’s special for everybody uh to get to come to the United Kingdom and and and see uh hopefully a very competitive football game with two uh two great teams. So excited about it and uh with that I’ll turn it over to you guys. Yeah, it’s good to see you this week about JJ. Any update on the plan? Yeah, so we uh yeah, we had a little bit of a hybrid day. We got some full speed work. We we we got some uh extra volume of reps and slowed the tempo down a little bit. Um yeah, JJ’s working his way back. He uh you know is kind of entering the next phase of of his rehab where he can get a little bit more active and uh looking forward to getting him back on the field practicing with the team as soon as we can. But at the same time, we want to be really smart and make sure we let that high ankle fully heal and and then he can really start attacking it and working his technique and fundamentals and and get reaclimated, you know, which I think he’ll do pretty quickly. Andy must see he’s also from Cleveland this morning that changing there back. Yep. How does that affect your game plan this weekend? Well, I think you know obviously you know Joe’s a veteran quarterback and and he’s seen just about everything in the NFL. that doesn’t mean that uh you know they’ve got a great staff and a great group there. So they’ll have Dylan prepared uh to to play against our defense and and the challenge that that could be. Um you know did a lot of work, you know, just throughout the draft process getting to know learn about the player and and obviously uh had a tremendous tremendous college career. And I think the big thing when I think about uh Dylan is just he can make all the throws. He’s got really unique athleticism, quickness in the pocket to evade the rush and um has always been able to make plays on schedule and also be a weapon off schedule. So, we’re going to have to make sure we can adapt to that athleticism and still find a way to contain him uh well defending one of the better run games in the league and some really talented skilled players as well. So, it’s going to be a challenge for Flo and his group and our players and um you know, they’ve off to a great start with their preparation. We had a really good day today and we’ll just keep working towards Sunday. Coach, despite the result of the weekend, looking back, maybe the way Steve has played might disguise how well Vans did play and when you look back there were openings that you maybe click on, taking advantage of and really taking that game right down to why we have to win. Did you did you feel good about the way you played you created result? Yeah, what what I didn’t feel good about is, you know, not being able to sustain some of the positive, you know, momentum we we could have had early on in the game. And what I mean by that is, you know, we’re we’re moving the ball. Defense gets a stop. We’re moving the ball pretty well uh to start the game. And then we have a kind of a a self-inflicted penalty as we got down into the red zone, forced a second and long, and then into a third and longer than it should have been. um and they get us off the field and and we end up settling for three points right there. I think the big thing is sustaining momentum, you know, when you can get off to a good start in a game is big for our team. And then really as we tried to navigate, you know, offensively some of the injuries as they popped up, you know, Brian O’Neal was hurt on that first field goal uh attempt and and then we’re we’re kind of uh started the the the day of kind of making adjustments and things on the fly. What I did like was, you know, I did think we we had some opportunities. Some we hit, some we didn’t. They were able to get some pressure on us as well, but I did like the way our guys just kept playing. Um there were some big stops there late by our defense to give us an opportunity and we were able to manufacture a way to really when you look at it, we’re first and 10 at our own 40 yardd line, down three points. You know, you would sign up with that or sign up for that many, many times against a really good team like that. I thought the Steelers played well. I thought they had a great plan. Um, and they they got the better they got the better of us. And that’s what happens when you don’t play at your best against any NFL team. Um, it’s going to be a very difficult road to find a way to win. You still might be able to do it. We had our chances. We just didn’t get it done. But I think there’s a lot on that tape that we can uh pull out of, you know, what is now an an adverse situation coming off of a loss. We’re away from home. Uh, but I think our guys are are attacking this the right way, trying to pull that positive out while understanding we’ve got to continue to improve as a team. Yeah, I, you know, I I think we’ve, you know, I don’t want to speak for everybody, but I know me personally, I’ve really enjoyed it. Um, I thought we, you know, handled the first trip the right way. I thought our guys had energy. Uh, the atmosphere, um, at Croak Park was was a special one. uh despite being the road team and but you could feel the energy in the building and the excitement and and we kind of uh although we didn’t execute as well as maybe we wanted to for four quarters I I thought our guys handled that first phase of the trip well and we’re already into uh significantly into the second phase of that now where we get a normal week of preparation on site here and then going to a place that we’ve played two games at. So, uh, between the routine of the week and then the familiarity of Tottenham and and, uh, you know, the great venue that that is in front of some awesome fans, I think we’re very much looking forward to continuing and then finishing off this week the right way. How have you and the coach So, how have you, coaching spent the last couple days? Say that again. How have you spent the last few days here? What have you been able to? Uh, I would not be the most fun person to uh to follow around. We uh we have been as a staff we’re normally Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are pretty much uh you know before the sun comes up to to well after it goes down. We put a lot of work in to you know obviously make sure we you know handle ourselves coming out of the game the right way where we truly absorb all the things we need to continue to work on, continue to do better. What are things we’re doing well that maybe we can continue to do and find different ways to do? Um, and then as we get a chance to, you know, start working with our players and and have a full day today, tomorrow, and Friday, um, we’ll have our hands full. But, uh, I would say I’m very thankful for the the, uh, first class treatment we’re getting here at Hanberry cuz this is this is where I’ll I’ll be. So, coach, taking you away from the game on Sunday, you’re known as the QB whisperer in particular because you like to give a chance and spoken about that. Now whilst I understand what you mean, could you just expand on that? Perhaps the new fans who don’t quite get that philosophy that you talked about. Yeah. Well, first of all, I appreciate the question. I have not referred to myself as that. Um, but what I would say is I do take a lot of enjoyment and pride and confidence really in trying to build something here uh that can be quarterback friendly regardless of um whether we’ve, you know, had our starter in there or we’ve we’ve now played, I believe, eight guys at the position during my three years and and coming up on our fifth game um of my fourth season. So, we’ve played a lot of guys at the position and we’ve, you know, tried to navigate those times by, you know, being at our best for that player, the guys around him in the huddle. And then just I think the unique nature of having played the position and and really not excelled to the level that I wanted to, just the reflection of that. What are the things that were in my control that I could have been a lot better at? How do we build a a world where those things are naturally part of the quarterback program here? And then ultimately whether it’s play calling on game day, my communication with the quarterback on game day throughout the week, uh the clarity and the confidence we can give those guys, you know, with the plan and then ultimately try to do the things that they’re most comfortable with and that can be different when you think about um Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold to JJ McCarthy to now Carson Wentz and there’s been others that have played at a really high level and and helped us win some games along the way as well. So, I think it’s I think it’s just uh you know, it’s it’s not leaving any stone unturned and and making sure the communication and the and the ability to make that player as comfortable as possible with really, you know, I know it’s probably debatable um in this part of the world, but I do think it’s the hardest position in sports. Um and uh I’m willing to have that debate anytime. Last off the back of that, you mentioned Cinder being a Colts fan. What is it you see in custom moments that deal benefits the team? How you grind the team? Yeah, I think he’s got um you know, he’s had a really unique journey of I mean at one point in time in Philadelphia, he was one of the best players in the league at the position. Um high draft pick. He’s very talented, big, strong, smart. He’s got so many things that there was a reason why he was picked second in the draft. Um and then you look at his time in Indianapolis and there there was a lot of real positives there. Um, and then just kind of how he’s been able to make the most of his most recent stops, whether it was in LA with Shawn McVey in a similar system to what we have here or with, you know, one of the best in our league and Andy Reid coaching him. Um, I think he’s been able to kind of uh have a unique perspective at this point that makes it fun to coach him. the dialogue, how we come how these plans come to life with uh him having some input and involvement, which leads to your first question of just his comfort level when we when we get to the game and and then ultimately how we call the game, how we try to, you know, best execute, you know, with uh with Carson playing quarterback for us. And uh I’ve been really happy with them. you know, if you if you really peel back the layers on it, he’s two tip ball, you know, interceptions away from, you know, playing having a pretty clean sheet and running our offense, uh, helping us score some points. So, uh, consistency amongst all 11 guys on our offense, regardless of who’s in is what we’re looking for, cuz we feel like when we do those things, the little things, uh, that maybe the defense, although, you know, we’re facing one of the best in the NFL this Sunday, you know, we feel pretty strong about, you know, if we do the little things right and and the details snap in and snap out and can create some momentum in the game, uh, we can have a good day on offense. It’s going to be a real challenge though against this group very very talented, explosive, physical. Um, and they’ve got a phenomenal coordinator in Jim Schwarz. So, um, going to be a challenge, but it’s still in so many ways about us and and our ability to, uh, go out there and play and execute the way we need to. On the backto back thing, you know, you’re the first team to play back to back games away from the US. Do you view it as an honor that you kind of making history or does it kind of hinge on Sunday’s result and leaving here with 100? No, I’ve always looked at it as a pretty special opportunity. Um, and that’s what it is. I mean, we the first opportunity did not go our way. Um, and and that doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re going to do things the right way. We’re going to, you know, make it the best possible um situation for our players and the best plan of attack for the week. And now that we’re, you know, we’ve been pretty much been, you know, on the ground, you know, you know, in this time zone since last Friday morning, um, I think guys have adjusted. I think guys feel pretty strongly about where they’re at and then where they hopefully will be by Sunday when we head to Tottenham. But, um, I think, uh, no, I I’ve always looked at it as a genuine great opportunity and a unique way for team building and team bonding and, um, kind of a a second training camp in a lot of ways. And if you know anything about uh coaches, we love our training camp. So, uh it’s been uh we’ve we’ve we’ve had a good time, but at the same time, it’s been a work trip. It’s been about uh making sure we’re continuously chasing what we may become this year as a team. Thanks everybody. We’ll have Carson wins up shortly. Awesome. Thank you.

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media from London, England ahead of the Week 5 game against the Cleveland Browns.

#MinnesotaVikings #Vikings #NFL #MN #Football #Skol

Subscribe to the Minnesota Vikings YT Channel: https://goo.gl/VTGqAS
For more Vikings videos: https://goo.gl/f9Ppj3

For more Vikings action: http://www.vikings.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/minnesotavikings
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vikings
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vikings/
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vikings
Get the App: https://apple.co/2uPFQkP
Subscribe to our podcasts: https://apple.co/36BX1on