Game Plan for Commanders in Week 14, Improving as a Team & More | X’s and O’s with Kevin O’Connell

Game Plan for Commanders in Week 14, Improving as a Team & More | X’s and O’s with Kevin O’Connell

and Vikings head coach Kevin Oonnell joins us now from TCOPC. Round of applause for the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, please. Kevin Oonnell, who can see us and we can’t see him, uh, but that’s okay. Um, it’s the, um, Kevin, it’s the Toys for Tots drive here annually at Shields. And, um, you you are a person that is very generous with your time, very generous uh, with your means. So days like this, especially for kids, I would imagine it resonates with you. And good morning. Good morning. And uh hello to everybody out there. And I just wanted to uh you know, highlight toys for tots and uh some of our players being out there today. they uh we’ve got one of the uh best groups I believe in the whole NFL of giving their time, giving their energy, giving their joy back to the great community, not only here in the Twin Cities, but in many of the cities that our players come from from around the country. And I know how much it means to those guys that are going to be there today. and just how great of a cause that is for so many folks this time of year. Um to bring joy uh to uh anybody’s face, anybody’s life is a special special thing and it’s not lost on any of us. So sorry I couldn’t be there. Wanted to try to make it out there, but as you can imagine, we are uh hard at work here at TCO. Uh Kevin Oonnell face and the Vikings face the 3 and9 Washington Commanders here Sunday at noon on FM 100.3 KFA. And this is a toys for tots drive. So, uh, we have opted to have some tots, some kids ask Kevin O’Connell some questions, an opportunity to chat with head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. Come on up here, Connor. And they got excited about it. The first one, uh, your name is Connor. Where are you from? Arlington. Arlington. Okay. Look right there. The head coach is on the other side of the camera. That’s Paige Joerger from the VEN waving at you. And uh what is your question for head coach Kevin Okonnell? If you had a superpower, what would it be? Connor, that is a great question. I think uh I think it would be for me it would be being able to be two places at one time. Uh be able to be, you know, with my family here at uh the Vikings training facility every single day like I am, but also to be able to be home with my kids. I’ve got four of them. Uh, one of a couple of them actually don’t look all that different from you in age and they wear their their purple Vikings jerseys on Sunday to the games just like you. I see you there in the Justin Jefferson. Um, looking sharp, my man. But that would be that would be it to be at, you know, multiple places at once and and be able to be all in wherever you are would be my uh would be in the the superpower, but it would also allow me to maybe be in the meeting rooms of our opponents and find out the game plans they may be using against us ahead of time and use that to our advantage would be another reason. But great question, Connor. Yeah. Hey, Connor. High five, ma’am. Round of applause for Connor from Arlington. Come on up here, Jacob. Toys for Tot. So, we got uh takes uh takes from tots, so to speak, uh for the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Kevin Okonnell. Uh Jacob, where are you from? Uh Burnsville. And what’s your question for KO? If you could play golf with three other people, who would it be and why? Man, well, uh unfortunately, PA would not be one of those people. Um they’re sitting next to the distraction known as the kids. I mean, not the distraction, the kids. That’s right. That’s right. But uh but Jacob, I would say um I would say one of them would have to be Tiger Woods. I would just want to see what that looks like getting to play next to him. And then uh believe it or not, I I would probably want my two boys, Kaden and Colton, to join me out there. Uh even though Kaden’s getting pretty close to being able to beat me every time we play. Um having him out there and Colton as well, my uh I’ve got a six-year-old and a 11year-old and and uh like I said, that would be that would be the group there. us three in Tiger Wood sounds pretty fun, doesn’t it? Yep. Well, let let me turn it on you. If you could golf with any two people, Jacob, who would it be? Um, probably Tiger Woods for sure. And and probably Kevin. Hey, how about that? You haven’t seen me golf, Jacob. You haven’t seen me golf. Actually, he has. That’s why he wants to play with you. Oh, there you go. Jacob from Minnetonka. Thank you. On up here, Charlie. Last one. uh takes uh from tots uh at Toys for Tots. Uh Charlie, where are you from? Woodberry. Woodberry, what’s your question for Kevin O’Connell? Um my question is just that the past few weeks have not gone our way and I was just wondering what are you telling the guys and what’s the game plan for coming into this week, next week? Oh, we’re getting in the weeds. Yeah, good good question. And so, um, a lot of the, uh, a lot of the struggles and we are certainly in a tough time right now. We have not won a game in far too long and and we’ve gotten used to around here winning games. Uh, so what I’ve been really challenging the guys to do is stay the course. Uh, continue to uh, show that we’re willing and and capable of playing extremely hard, working uh, throughout the week, putting together great game plans, getting these players to understand what they’ve built here. uh culturally can’t just be something we uh endorse and ring the bell about when we’re winning. It’s more important to be able to show uh what we’re all made of in these moments where things are tough. Vikings fans want to see their teams their team have success and and we want to bring that energy and that juice to US Bank Stadium this week and we’re playing against a team that also is is looking to uh uh win a football game and and desperately needs to as well. So, we’re both uh going to be uh laying it all on the line and and hopefully we can put together a great game plan for our team, offense, defense, and special teams and go play a good game of complimentary football, which we have not done lately. And we’re learning and seeing in the real time, you do when you do a lot of things that lose football games, you really don’t give yourself a chance to win them. Um and we’ve got to get back to doing the things that win football games, which um over the course of my time here, we know what that looks like, but we’ve got to make it happen. and uh talking about it uh outside of that great question from you is not going to do much to do it. So, we’ve got to get to work and continue to step forward, step together, and make sure that the best parts of this organization come out when needed, which is now. Uh Charlie, ladies and gentlemen, high five, bud. Great job. Great job with that question. Good job, Charlie. You guys can watch uh watch all of that back at Vikings.com later. Uh, our final question, uh, a a tot. Uh, our tot is Eric from Chaza. Eric from Chaska. Uh, this child has the final question. What’s your question, Eric? Well, coach, uh, as as you talk about trying to improve. Sorry. 41-year-old Tot from Chaza. Uh, coach, uh, amidst some of the negative things, talking about putting things back together, five games less in this season. How do you balance out trying to win games or parse through wins and losses with really cherishing the successes and the growth that your team has seen over the course of 2025? Yeah, it’s a great question, Eric, and hopefully you get your hands on a toy or two uh today as well. But uh but no, I think I think um you know the way I look at it right now is uh although we are you know putting everything we have into going 1 and0 this week, finding a way to win a game, bring bring some joy back to our locker room and most importantly to our fans at US Bank Stadium this Sunday. Um, but in the midst of the struggle, in the midst of uh this journey we’ve been on with some bumps in the road, no question, I do believe you can be building um and forging something that can be uh built well into the future of we can remember these moments. We can remember who and what it felt like and it looked like when we were all in in these moments and uh this team continued to uh stay together. this team continued even without the results to to be about the things that we say we’re about in our locker room. Um, all while knowing we’ve got to improve the football. We’ve got to get the football right. We’ve got to play games the certain ways that uh when we look back on the moments that we came out of this stretch hopefully in a positive way. Um, I think we’ll be able to build on that and build on that and look back on this when adversity inevitably hits down the road. We’ll remember these moments and how we dealt with these moments. Um because obviously, you know, uh you know, the the spirit and the culture that exists in the drought will only be enhanced in the harvest. I tell our team that all the time. And um we we’ve got to be able to look inward right now. And it’s not easy to do. It’s very easy to find that exit ramp and look the other way. But uh not this group, not any team I ever coach. Um now Kevin, uh in 2017 to 2019 was with Washington. Uh and in fact in 2019 it was his first opportunity as an offensive coordinator and and 2019 Kevin uh in in looking at the current uh iteration of Washington football now called the Commanders. They they have a current defensive lineman named Don Payne and a punter named Tres Wei who were there with Kevin uh back either 17 18 or 19. I think Tres Wei was there before he got there. I I just you know Harrison Smith would be an example here. I just think it’s really cool and unique. It certainly is unique, but it’s cool when players play with one team all of their careers. You know what I mean? Yeah, I do. And uh those those two guys, I mean, Deron Payne was there. Uh I believe uh his rookie year may have been my last year there. Uh and we we felt his impact immediately. we felt um he was going to be the player that he’s become which is an impact defensive lineman no doubt on all three downs and then Tres way might be you know over the over the course of the last 10 years in the NFL maybe longer might be the best punter in football um tremendous tremendous guy locker room guy uh beloved uh in that organization and um much like Harrison Smith I mean I think players of that caliber that are able to stay with a team and and play in front of the same fan base for their whole careers. You know, I think in a day and age where it’s becoming more and more popular, even at the lower levels of football, to change schools, go to a different place, change jobs, go here, go there, um I still think there is such value in in building a relationship and rapport with such great fans like we have here in Minnesota. And I think that matters to Harrison Smith. I think it’s always mattered to him. And I think it’s why he takes so much pride in putting on the purple every week and going to play in front of our great fans. And um what a career he’s had. And and like I said, I think uh it should be celebrated when players uh do those things and and do it at such a high level in front of the same fan base for the same team for the the better part of their whole careers. Yeah. I I I love how you laid it out and I’m glad you laid it out that way because to do that requires uh not having wander lust and you know if people want to make what’s best for them or best for them and their families and they feel it’s elsewhere. I’m not negative on that. I understand that too. But you know sometimes and Kevin has seen a thousand times more stuff than than I and we ever will see. But nevertheless, it requires sometimes taking less than you want, but placing quality of life for yourself or your families first and and not not everybody is in in lock step with that. But that’s part of the requirement when you stay one place. And it also fortifies the village, right Kevin? It does. you become such a foundational piece uh to build around and and somebody that Harrison, speaking of seeing it all, Harrison’s been through just about everything um as a Minnesota Viking. So, for a head coach like me with a team right now where we’ve fallen on some very difficult circumstances and times where we need to go get a win, this isn’t Harrison’s first time going through a tough stretch. This isn’t his first time seeing what the locker room is really made of during these moments. and it happens to be he’s got a big gold sea on his chest for a reason. So, he’s one of those players that not only do I rely on, but I know our whole team relies on in these moments to continue to press onward and and upward and do everything for for this week and any week we get gifted to go compete. Uh let’s make it a good one. Let’s put a heck of a plan together and let’s go 1 and0 this week. Now you you Kevin has been here longer than any place else in his career from a coaching standpoint. Um how how taxing has this season been on you and your staff, Kevin? Yeah, it’s been it’s been difficult. Um it they’re always hard PA and and that’s the one thing I’ve I’ve shared with you in in this very radio studio on your show is um you do this long enough and you start realizing exactly what the wins uh really mean. But uh it’s more so the life of a coach is the wins are uh very quickly uh you you move on very quickly from those cuz you know the next challenge is coming and you don’t really get the same enjoyment out of the wins. Uh that maybe you once did when you know the totality of this. Uh but I can tell you the losses um they uh there’s not a Sunday where a loss comes our way that it doesn’t hit me incredibly hard. and and it’s the same goes for our staff and we want so badly to see our players experience success and and the with the way they work and the way and what they put into this. Um nothing is given in this league. It isn’t it is hard to win. We’ve learned that firsthand this year. It’s not something we could come to expect. It’s something that we’ve got to know uh the work that it takes no matter what to to try to go get a win every week in the NFL. But I but I will say this uh this season although it’s been very difficult, it’s been trying. It’s it’s it’s challenged a lot of uh players and coaches alike in this building. Um, I’ve been incredibly proud of the fight, uh, where we’ve been at each and every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to to restart weeks and then what it looks like on the practice field to continue to fight and battle and and continue to try to improve because uh, we’re on our way um, at I can’t tell you when it’s going to be, but we’re on our way to getting to where we want to get to as an organization. And sometimes there’s temporary pitfalls along the way that if you allow those to inevitably tarnish your ability to go get ultimately the end goal done, whether that’s in the near future or in the future to come, um then shame on all of us for for not being about what we say we’re about. And that’s not something that I will ever allow happen in this organization while I get to be the leader of it. Um, and and after the Seattle game, um, you you you said something fascinating about Max Bromer. So, I’m just going to lay it out like this. Uh, be because we all know because we all watch or listen to the games, there are two young quarterbacks on whom Kevin and the team are relying. So, the young quarterbacks, one sometimes has seen it sometimes a beat slowly, the other a little too quickly. uh that they they both generally do it well in practice up to the games. So, h how do you get it to work the way you you uh you and they want it to work during the games? Well, I think we simulate as best as we can on the practice field. Um simulate what it’s going to feel like for him, what the timing and rhythm of things are going to be. Uh but you you also tend to learn some things on a Sunday. And as a young quarterback, both of our both of our guys who uh both JJ and Max this past Sunday, uh we’ve seen the inevitable impact of the speed, uh the physicality, the difficulties of navigating an NFL game for a quarterback. It’s why it’s the hardest position in sports because so many things, so many variables both uh with the guys wearing the same uniform as you, but most importantly, the guys on the other side of the ball can have an impact on you snap to snap. And uh in Max’s case, I you know, I I think I mentioned it after the game. He was uh you know, inevitably when the game starts to speed up and it was his first time, what a challenge. I mean, being at Seattle in that environment against one of the best defenses in the league, he got a little sped up at times and and he’s already a quick processor. So, when a quick processor gets sped up, well, you can get through reads a little quick sometimes. You can maybe uh, you know, not be as accurate as you want, either anticipating a throw or throwing a ball out to the boundary on a third down to Jordan Addison. all these throws that if you go back and watch the tape and and and I did with Max of the the week of practice where he made those throws and we we threw and caught those balls. Um I I I wanted to show that to him because it was a message of everything that took place Sunday, what you felt, how you reacted to things, even when you didn’t want to allow the game to impact you in a way, uh it still did. I wanted him to know that that’s normal. um that what what took place there and and some of the trials and tribulations that he went through in an NFL game against a really good team on Sunday. Uh it can be an incredible growth moment for him and although he’s disappointed the result wasn’t what he wanted. Um I sure hope he bottles up a lot of that experience for the next time he gets an opportunity and he can apply it at that point and be better for it. And that’s ultimately how young quarterbacks grow and get better in this league. is um in in your estimation, Kevin, is Dallas Turner turning a corner to potentially becoming a big-timer? Well, I’ll tell you, he had one of his best games this past Sunday and and obviously the stat sheet is always what I know a lot of folks look at, but to me, especially with a player like Dallas, the eye test of just what it felt like watching him play with such speed, uh his athleticism on display, physicality, I mean, he was all over the field, sideline to sideline, great pass rush when he got his ops, especially in some of those one-on-one opportunities. um was just a physical force throughout the game and you saw it in a lot of different ways and that’s why we were so excited to bring Dallas here and I think he’s getting better and better and after a couple you know really nice performances here of late you know my challenge to him and and to himself I know from Dallas himself is consistency now be that guy every single week be a force for our defense be a force for Flo and that defensive staff to be able to turn him loose and I think we’re going to see more and more playmaking out of Dallas Turner here over the final five games of our regular season. Yeah. You um you credited punter Ryan Wright in your press conference yesterday and and and rightfully so. And but frustrating as it may be to hear right now, he he and the kicker Will Riker, I mean, they’re super important during a season like this, right? Yeah. I think anytime you’re not having the type of production as an offense that that really we’ve had for the better part of three years coming into this season, um we’ve really never had to play uh too many games where field position was so important. Flipping the field when you’re backed up or pinning somebody deep to allow our defense to be able to defend 90 plus yards of grass to keep people out of the end zone. Um the kicking game has, you know, there there’s been some moments where uh our special teams have had one or two plays where they’ve been catastrophically impactful on the game and but for the better part of the whole season, I think our coverage units have been very good. Uh Will Riker’s been outstanding. Like you said, the 59 yard at Green Bay was one of the more impressive kicks I’ve seen. And then Ryan Wright has had his best year. He’s been consistent. Um, it’s not just the hang time, it’s not just the distance, it’s the location, it’s really playing almost a pitch and catch game with our gunners. You know, Tavier Thomas and and Ty Fleming have both been uh just absolutely lights out winning versus double teams, single blocks out there. And it’s all come together in ways that have helped us uh try to navigate some of these choppy waters offensively because it gives our defense a chance to then impose their will and see if we can get these games to the fourth quarter and have a chance to win them in the end. And we’ve got to do a lot more things better in other aspects of our team. But there’s no question that Ryan and Will have been phenomenal for us. Uh last couple here for Kevin Okonnell, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. This is every Tuesday on KFAN and Vikings.com. Uh it’s called X’s and O’s and um and Kevin is is very gracious with his time uh each and every Tuesday. Uh Christian Darasov, the left tackle, is so vital to the success of your offense. Does does much of what you want to um when when he doesn’t play, does much have to change? Yeah, I think you just end up uh you know having to make some sacrifices to uh some scheme, some different aspects of how you’re going to try to protect uh especially against you know specifically in regards to last Sunday. I mean you’re playing against um if not the the best defensive front across the board. They’re right up there with some of Green Bay we played the previous week. Um, and what happens is you’ve got to make some sacrifices to try to help who’s ever stepping in. In this case, Justin School there on the left side. Uh, try to help him as best we can. Maybe that, you know, mitigates the the impact that TJ Hawinson can have as a, you know, rhythm part of our pass game. And although TJ eventually made his impact on the game, it was not without risk of trying to uh, maybe not do everything we could always for the sake of protection. and you’re trying to activate as many eligibles as you can. Uh Christian Darol is a force in the run game. You get him and Josh Oliver working together over on that left side. We’ve we’ve had some real real impactful plays this year in the run game behind those guys. Uh so you just look at it. He’s one of our best players. There’s a reason why those franchise caliber left tackles aren’t on every roster in the National Football League and and the loss of those players uh is felt not only last year, you know, when we were able to overcome it uh winning a lot of games without CD once he went down in the fifth game. It’s been a little bit more difficult for us this year uh to just kind of overcome uh just the es and flows of CD’s recovery as he’s been able to come back and be on the field, but uh just not to uh the level at which uh we all uh you know have come to expect just because of the natural progression of that rehab process. And he’s getting better and better every week. He’s going to have a good week this week and uh we’re absolutely hopeful CD himself included in that uh that he’ll be out there in the 71 jersey at left tackle this weekend. Uh I mentioned Dallas Turner. Um your defense had Darnold all all messed up pretty much the entire game Sunday. When when you graded the defensive performance outside of Darasaw, what did you see? I mean outside of Dallas Turner, what did you see? Yeah, I think uh what I saw was great disguise. Uh they were doing a lot of things to try to cause some confusion pre- snap for not only Sam but uh the play caller there and and the rest of the guys on the offensive uh team there for the Seahawks. There was great disguise and then there was a play style there that uh you know encompassed we wanted to be a good tackling team and I thought uh they were on the field a lot. they were on the field too much and and maybe wore down a little bit as the game went on, but they continued to find a way to force some of those third downs where uh there was potential for the ball to get turned over and give us a chance to get back in the game. There was a chance to make some impactful plays not only by Dallas, Eric Wilson uh had a very nice game. Blake Cashman, um we saw Van Ginkle continue to impact the game. Doesn’t always do it in the stat sheet where people can see it, but he’s so impactful getting Jonathan Gernard back. I think he played 15 snaps uh is obviously huge as one of our best players. And then how about a guy like Jay Ward stepping in and bringing a physicality and a and a level of play style and tackling uh to that corner position. Flo and his staff have come up with ways to get Jay Ward on the field, which I love because uh I love watching just the way Jay Ward plays football. He does it on the kicking game, but now we’re starting to see it a little bit on the defensive side. Yeah. You um so so Rogers comes out for a few plays. In comes Jay Ward. I mean, just welcome to the show, man. As a corner, you’re opposite Jackson Smith and Jigba. And you know, defense is disguised so beautifully. It initially looks like, wow, that might be one-on-one. Then then of course there’s a little help, but I think they would call that baptism by fire. Yeah, Jay’s giving you some good reps this year. Lastly, uh football being the ultimate team game, it’s um it’s very difficult, at least for me, to hone in on one thing and say this is the most important thing. Uh, but it arguably Kevin is the single mo most important thing with the 2025 Minnesota Vikings moving forward, the improvement and maturation of JJ McCarthy. Yeah, I just think it’s the quarterback position and and the ability to uh play at a consistent level uh that allows the other g the other guys to have an impact on the game. Everything goes through the quarterback position and and we’ve seen some uh moments uh you know, you go back through our season, you see some moments where uh JJ gets in a great rhythm and and we’re able to um really see the fruits of of the special players we have on our offense like Justin and Jordan and TJ and Jaylen Naylor and and and I think just the consistency factor of not only JJ doing his job, but the detail of everybody around him, the ability to make sure we’re limiting any and all self-inflicted causes uh that either eliminate our chances for success on a given play uh sequencing of a play on a drive, a critical third and two. Can we get third and three, third and four, can we get all 11 guys doing their job and find a way to get those new set of downs and then see if we can stack more positive plays on that? all well. You know this PA as well as anybody. We’ve got to try to find a way to to generate some of those explosive plays that that help you not have to drive it 12, 13, 14 plays every time you touch it. And it’s been kind of a hallmark of our offense over over the course of our time here. Even when uh maybe we’ve, you know, hit a hit a stretch during a game where we don’t consistently have uh positive plays, we’ve been able to overcome it by generating those seven to 10 explosive type plays in the game that either flip the field, put you in the scoring zone uh or ultimately uh provide the lift needed to then stack whatever’s required to go get a win. And even if that’s coming from behind, a fourth quarter comeback, uh you know, one-score games that we’ve been uh pretty successful at, those plays are just something that we’ve lacked and we haven’t had enough of this year. And uh the continued growth and development of JJ coming back, uh hopefully with a full week of practice this week will be uh will be a real positive and and I can’t wait to watch him play. Uh when you’re four and eight, as you know, there’s a lot of noise all over the place. uh speaking for the hundred or so here uh specifically the kids and the families with whom I’ve chatted Nordo and yours truly ma’am they all love and they all care and they want you to win every single game and we’ll be pulling for you and the team hard this weekend. Thank you Kevin. Have a great day. Kevin Okonnell, appreciate you guys man. We got the best fans in the world. Thanks BA indeed. Have a good day, man.

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell talks with Voice of the Vikings and KFAN’s Paul Allen ahead of the Week 14 game vs. the Washington Commanders.

#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