Kevin O’Connell on Donovan Jackson’s Injury, Darrisaw & Smith’s Returns & J.J. McCarthy’s Recovery

Kevin O’Connell on Donovan Jackson’s Injury, Darrisaw & Smith’s Returns & J.J. McCarthy’s Recovery

Good afternoon, guys. Um, you know, just a uh quick recap of of the game. A lot of uh things on tape. Very uh encouraging tape for our whole football team uh to watch. A lot of things we emphasized last week, what we thought it would take to win the game showed up. um in many ways, you know, times x of of just showing up. Um thought our leaders of our team would kind of drive uh where things would go for for the whole week and they did that from start of the week coming off of last week’s opportunity that we did not play well and and we didn’t coach well enough, play well enough. I thought our whole team kind of responded the right way. Uh and we saw what it could look like. Uh, still like I mentioned after the game, I think the penalties, you know, we got to continue to work to, uh, rectify that regardless of the moving parts of who’s in and and, you know, new center, new quarterback or, you know, CD getting his first opportunity. Um, still think we’ve got to, you know, find a way to limit eliminate those and and we’ll be able to have even more of a rhythm uh, on offense. But there was some great performance in the kicking game, both uh our punter and kicker and and also just some individual uh players in the in the coverage and blocking phase and then defensively was clearly a fast a fantastic effort all the way around. U just giving you guys an update. You know, don’t really have an update on Hargrave. He came out um you know, sore but but in a good spot. Uh should should be able to work through the week and be available. And then one just addition, Ben Yurosk, um came out with a knee contusion. Thought he did a great job battling through it um throughout the game, especially when we started pulling some guys there with quite a bit of the football game left. Um we’ll see how his week goes. Uh we do have Nick Vanette on the roster as well right now. So, we’ll we’ll we’ll be in good shape at that position. And then uh lastly, um wanted to update you guys on Donovan Jackson. Um he suffered a wrist injury against Atlanta um that uh was deemed to you know be something that would require surgery. Uh he did have that this morning in Los Angeles as part of a planned uh surgery. Uh it was determined last week that he could play in the football game and not do any further harm. Um and just want to first and foremost highlight a young player who played a fantastic football game. Um but to do it in those circumstances and be willing to without any hesitation uh be out there with his team. Uh we’re already down some guys in the interior uh who will return this week. But uh I thought Donovan was fantastic on the field and just what that means um with within the standing amongst the locker room and his teammates. Uh just uh fantastic. So uh he will be able to this is not a short-term IR thing. This is a procedure uh that uh like I said successfully took place this morning. Um and we’re hoping to be able to use the buy, you know, part of that timeline uh to to have Donovan back as soon as possible. But uh he’s he’s off to a great start in his career, everything we hoped he would be. Um, and yesterday was uh, you know, a big- time uh, day for so many layers for him as a young player, showing his toughness, showing his commitment, uh, and and being a huge part of our ability to not only run the football, but just be effective on offense uh, yesterday. So, moving forward to this week, uh, great opportunity for us over these next few days to have really good preparation before we leave Thursday evening. Um, we’ll handle this game very similar to how we’ve handled our international trips the last two times. We’ve went to uh London to play. We’ll just be going to Dublin for the first game and then we will be able to have a normal game week from there once we transition from Dublin uh to London. And so really looking at it as a two-part trip uh that all of us here, players, coaches, staff, um the great resources that we do have to help put together trips like this. Uh, I am looking at it as a phenomenal opportunity for a lot of reasons for our team to continue uh to gel together and bond. This is a close-knit group, but my expectation is you go on a little field trip for 10 days, uh, you got a great opportunity to keep growing together. And I think we’ve learned here, you know, dealing with some adversity either in-game uh versus Chicago and finding a way to win and then the demonstration of being able to come back and play like that uh the way we should play at home in front of our great fans. They were phenomenal. But uh the adversity of the week 2 disappointment and handling it the right way and coming back and playing well. So um the growth of this team early on in the season is evident to me and now we’ve got to start like we talked about postgame yesterday. And now it’s just about the consistency of understanding what it’s got to be like from the practice field uh to the game. Kevin, it sounds like you’re optimistic about Ryan Kelly. Optimistic about Ryan and school. Um both those guys are kind of in they were able to get some limited work on Friday which then allows them to clear any last few hurdles here uh medically you know before you know hopefully long before uh Wednesday’s practice rolls around and and they should have somewhat of a normal week of preparation and be available. Kevin, the numbers had Carson getting rid of the ball in about two and a half seconds. Just what do you think was working for him in terms of getting rid of the ball quickly? Yeah, I thought uh going back over the tape, it felt like it in the game, but I thought he was very sharp fundamentally. There was quite a few reps where uh the ground is the quarterback’s friend from a standpoint of keeping your foundation or your base uh balance and body position in the ground and so you can make quick decisions. I thought he progressed uh multiple times. I thought he threw with anticipation. Um, I thought he really got into once we got into the meat of the game, which can be hard sometimes, uh, which we’ll take when the defense is scoring points on the other side. Um, but the first drive was fantastic. Uh, then we had some kind of early, you know, third down, third and shorter where we had a penalty to push us back and they were able to get us off the field. And then, um, as the game went on, I just thought he did a really nice job of of playing point guard, throwing completions, allowing guys to win. And then, you know, when number one wasn’t there, he progressed and and found open players and uh I thought our run game clearly um was was effective uh a lot of the game and that was an all 11 approach. I thought the offensive line did a really nice job along the line of scrimmage with the tight ends being a major part of it as well. and can’t talk about uh Adam Thielen and and Jaylen Naylor and really Justin Jefferson as well showing up all over the tape uh from a play style standpoint just uh you know you started to lose count of the amount of times we got an efficient run with JP finishing forward and there were four or five six Vikings there finishing right around the ball to you know have Vikings picking up Vikings after efficient runs is only going to lead to really positive things throughout the course of the day. So, um, but yeah, I was I was really happy with the way Carson kind of, uh, maintained and continued and even grown or grew his his, you know, efficiency and how he’s looked on the practice field. It showed up in the game. That’s why I was not surprised in any way, shape, or form. What did you like best about Christian Darasaw’s performance in this? I just, you know, watching it, you can see his impact. Uh the the best part of the tape was seeing after we put the ball in the end zone running the ball from the four four yard line on the last one, five yardd line there late in the first half. Um really kind of right behind CD and some double teams inside Josh Oliver um and TJ. So, you know, I I think it was the that you could see the I mean, this is a guy that’s celebrating as if he had the ball in his hands and just the joy he had to be back on the field and and and the way he was able to cut it loose and and uh play at a really high level uh for his first time back, challenging opponent, clearly really good player that he was going against on the other side and and I think he’s now got um kind of that last bit of confidence needed. check that box and and now CD should be uh in a great position moving forward. I do want to just, you know, we’re going to have a plan for CD, you know, how the practice weeks go. Um, you know, that is structured, you know, in inc of what we think is best for him to to be at his best on Sundays moving forward. Uh, so I would not, you know, read too much into um any oneoff days where we maybe give them a day here or there and we’re going to start getting into the point in the season where that will be the case with some other players as well. But um both, you know, CD, excuse me, CD, uh, Gink, although eight snaps was obviously very effective um, in his eight snaps and then Harry immediately makes his presence felt getting a hand on a football that led to our first touchdown by Z. Kevin, when you have Harrison Smith back, how much does that change the defense in terms of disguises and sacks? Yeah, I mean, you guys probably felt it. The disguises, the timing of certain things, the the the the synced up feeling of our defense all day. I thought Flo called a great game as well and kind of, you know, Harry being out there probably led to some of that as well. But it was a combination of flow, the staff, and then um you know, between having Gink and Harry back for however limited it was, it just provided a sense of calm amongst the the chaos they’re trying to cause that that is kind of part of our secret sauce on defense and they made it come to life in a in an extraordinary way. Kevin, if uh if Donovan was cleared to play this past game, why had the surgery now? I think uh you know my interpretation of it it is an it is an injury where you do want to get it fixed in a timely manner uh to to enhance the ability for uh the success of it and there it was not really a three or four or five days as much as you know you don’t want to ask a young player to try to make a decision like that knowing you know specifically Blake will you know step in and you know he was he was able to seamlessly step in once CD’s day kind of wrapped wrapped up at tackle. Now Blake, you know, hopefully with RK coming back in the middle, um you’ve got a guy that started 17, you know, 18 games a year ago um at that left guard spot available to come in and had a great training camp and Blake’s shown his versatility and that impact, but we wanted to we want to make sure we get Donovan healthy uh and use the you know use the time that we have allotted to maximize as many games as we can get hopefully with him healthy coming off of this. So, when he comes off the field gushing blood out of his nose, are you thinking, you know, what else can go wrong up front here? It’s crazy to say this, uh, but I was actually very relieved when I got out there and quickly saw what it was. Um, but, uh, but yeah, it, you know, I like there’s some times up here where I’m sure uh, what I’m saying is being absorbed as coach speak, but me talking about Donovan this afternoon is not one of those times. um for him to do what he did was uh was huge for us and uh win because of type of performance coupled with mentally going through the process of the week. the layers to it with how how comprehensive and detailed we are with the medical staff both inhouse in-house here uh outside you know evaluations and things just making sure we were absolutely uh being smart about this and you know all along Donovan just had that feel where hey I’m I’m playing I can play I’m going to play and I’m sure he would you know possibly try to fight through it and worry about everything later but sometimes you have to do what’s in the best interest especially especially of a a really talented young player who we have uh really high aspirations on for not only the present but the future. Tracy Wilson on CBS yesterday said that their plan to get back on the field is after. Is that accurate? Uh I would not say that’s accurate. I would just say that uh that that probably stems off the conversation of him making the trip uh with us and and uh you know the I I think the what is accurate is the idea of um no matter how much uh you know I I believe JJ would go out there and tough it out you know today tomorrow if we if we uh asked him to uh to me at this point in in a very young career um his mobility is one of his his weapons that have has clearly already shown to be something that’s a positive for him. Um so we want to make sure he’s healthy and and allow this to be something that we can put put in the rear rearview mirror and and continue on with you know where he’s at um in his in his young career here. So um but yeah, we’re going to take it a day at a time. He responded well um to treatment early on. he’s out of the boot and and now it just becomes the the phase of high ankle kind of rehab that uh you know we’re going to hopefully be able to get him um you know get him back up to speed pretty quickly and I think he you know going on the trip and being around the team. We’ll only have two players, I believe, uh, not uh, make the trip, and that’ll be Gavin Bartholomew and and Ty Chandler, just with where they’re at kind of individually, but everybody else, including Donovan, um, after he returns later today or tomorrow morning from Los Angeles, he will go on the trip as well. So, when JJ is healthier, are you 100% committed that he’s gonna be back? Yeah, I think, you know, the the first and foremost, he’s got to get healthy. Um, and then throughout that process, it’s not just I don’t think it’s one of those things where it’s, hey, the day he’s healthy and if he’s healthy the night before a game, we’re going to just throw him out there and say, hey, you know, go figure it out, type of thing. Uh, I think we we saw, you know, as as phenomenal as he was getting prepared for the Atlanta game, he did miss practice that week. Again, when you’re in the phasing of building up the 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours of what it takes to play the position at a very high level, which we know JJ McCarthy is going to do, um, you can’t cut corners on that and that also doesn’t require an answer on that question today. Um, I think we’re our goal was to win a football game yesterday. We’re in the day after of that. We’ve had our players in. we’re preparing for um another, you know, top tier opponent and and I think we’ve got to have another really good week of preparation and then you add on the layers to travel and and making sure our players have the utmost confidence in how we’re handling the trip and and building it uh you know progressively throughout the week till we get another opportunity which we’re really excited about. Kevin, when you talk about Carson being able to progress quickly, how much of a quarterback’s ability to do that kind of goes into that 10,000 hours, that experience that he has to decipher things quickly? Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s what uh what’s it’s it’s what allows players to play with poise and conviction. And when you couple that with firm and and repeatable fundamentals, um, normally with within the lower half of the quarterback’s mechanics, you tie those things together, then you have a system, then you have rhythm, then you have the ability for it’s very difficult for a defense to take away all five eligibles. Uh, I thought our protection um because the way we were able to kind of have some body blows by running the ball, I thought our protection was was solid for the most part. we, you know, we got loose there on a couple internal games here and there, but um many of the times we stayed efficient with the chains and we stayed efficient in some cases not having many third downs in the course of some of our scoring drives. Um that equals rhythm, too. So, it’s it’s a combination of the individual player and all 11 individual players doing their job. maybe on that first and 10, maybe on that second and three, second and four. Um, in some cases second and 20 when you steal 15, 14, 15 yards back with Justin getting single covered. You know, sometimes it’s uh it’s the reactionary uh ability to still consistently play with the rhythm and the poise and the decision-m and all that becomes much easier when you’re uh, you know, taking the right footwork and you’re balanced throughout the drop and reading with your feet. uh that can be an incredible weapon for a quarterback whether they’ve played 20 years or they’ve played uh two games. That is an incredible weapon and I think there’s value in JJ seeing that. Uh we were we were talking late last night um texting and kind of just talking about um you know the the game and just kind of what he experienced because I thought you know Josh made this point multiple times how engaged JJ was. I mean, he was very, you know, he was over there with the surface first surface tablet with Carson talking about some looks that maybe we hadn’t prepared for. Hey, did you see this? This is probably going to be this call. And, you know, Josh was pretty was pretty jacked up about that. And and then JJ just saying, you know, how by Carson playing in rhythm and and maybe uh progressing quickly on some things, just how much of a point guard feel it kind of had at times. Um all of that is uh is real positive from a standpoint of that’s the one thing you love about him. He’s gonna find um positives in even a situation where he can’t be on the field because of an injury currently. Um which is growth in my mind whether uh he was out there or not. Kevin, have you guys offensively seen more man coverage than maybe you thought he would? No. Um and even the man coverage we have seen has has come out of the two high align you know alignments where there’s um either a um interior uh second or third level helper uh so people can play with leverage you know there’s man coverage where you know I’ve got to play right down the middle of my man cuz I’m there’s a fiveman pressure or um I’m not anticipating any help and then there’s layered uh man coverage where either it’s a roll to Justin program and they can play hard inside leverage uh It’s an interior double team. Um, which we saw a couple times throughout the game, whether it’s the same side safety or a far side safety. Um, so like no matter what, if if you have hard outside leverage, you probably have it for a reason because you’re probably running into where the help is. And if it’s inside leverage, there’s probably somebody over the top. So, what that requires is, you know, an elite level of technique and and a release plan to try to uh, you know, beat the beat the nearest defender and then be able to have a plan for the furthest defender away. And people are changing up the looks of whether that of of how those double teams kind of come. But, I think in the process of that, that’s where the progression of the quarterback lies. And you know, if they’re doing all those things, there’s there’s probably somebody who had to play it a little bit more straight up around the field. Uh we saw that on, you know, there was a uh there was a conversion to Jaylen Naylor where regardless of whether it’s man or zone, you know, Justin’s on the opposite side of the field. TJ’s working vertical trying to win and then, you know, Speedy ends up winning that inside leverage late and Carson progresses. pocket movement, completion, first down, and it doesn’t seem overly challenging, but yet there’s a lot of components to that that uh make those things positive plays. And it’s to me, it’s about the voids, the vacancies. It’s about finding uh not everybody on the play with how we build plays is going to have un, you know, you know, difficult leverage. So, if you progress in rhythm, you’re going to find that eligible with the leverage that can win. And then our guys are doing a good job winning. Um, and we just got to trust that and and keep on pairing the protection with uh with with tight fundamentals, techniques, and progressions. And then the receivers just got to keep doing their jobs, which they’ve been really good at. And I think we’re going to start seeing more and more um kind of benefit from that showing up in the stat sheet maybe than it has early on in the year. Well, you work Jordan Addison back in this week when his discussion is done. Yeah, he’s uh you know, it’s phenomenal to get him back. you know, it was just like it was a shot of life for us to get CD Gink and Harry back. Um, it’ll be Jordan, it’ll be Ryan Kelly, it’ll be school being available as well. Um, so we’re, you know, although we’ve had to kind of weather the storm a little bit early on, um, anytime you can get such impactful players back, um, it’s critical. And I think Jordan, you know, I know he’s going to be in great shape. He’s he’s been able to be in the building and be in meetings and things to stay sharp mentally. Um, and so now it’ll just be getting him a full week of of work. And, um, you look at the way, you know, you know, Speedy, you know, Jaylen Naylor’s been, you know, consistently on tape, one of the guys that pops off the tape. I think Adam Thelen, although, uh, you know, the the targets and the reception numbers might not be there, he has been wildly impactful in my mind with some of the jobs we’ve asked him to do, run game, helping a little bit out on the edges here and there, and then his opportunities will come. We we almost had one early on in the game um there where Carson tried to find him kind of off of a a hard run action where he had to move up in the pocket and and uh we’re we’re going to have some ops like that to add him throughout the year. And now the way I look at it is with Jordan back, we really have four starters um at that receiver position and we’ll we’ll use those guys accordingly and try to keep people fresh and and and make sure we’re maximizing the fact that we’ve got really good depth at that position. Thank you.

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media following the Week 3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and provided injury updates and more.

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