Minnesota Vikings nuggets: Carson Wentz’s injury, J.J. McCarthy’s return and more

Minnesota Vikings nuggets: Carson Wentz’s injury, J.J. McCarthy’s return and more

All [Music] right, welcome back to the Alec Lewis Show. I am your host, Alec Lewis. This is episode 123 recording on Monday, October 27th from the Vikings facility, uh, where there was a a a little practice today. Got a little snippet, no press conference from Kevin Oonnell, but there was news. Um, if you haven’t heard, Carson Witz is undergoing season ending surgery to his non-throwing shoulder for a torn labroom that was suffered in London against the Browns. Yes, he played multiple games with that injury and yes, we will talk a lot about that over the course of this episode. Some thoughts from me after a little mini by study and then uh took some questions from you guys on social media that I will get to here uh shortly. Um if you’re new here watching on YouTube, please hit that subscribe button. There’s a little red square in the corner. You can do that pretty easily. It’s free somehow. They they allow that to be free where you just subscribe immediately and then if you if you listen on Apple or Spotify or iHeart, wherever you get your podcast, you can rate and review and follow and whatever uh else they allow you to do. Helps us out. We really appreciate it. Um this show is presented by First Resource Bank. That is a member FDIC bank in the Minneapolis area. Um, they’ve got branches all over the place and it’s run by some Vikings fans, Tim Seagley, Aaron Seagley, and Charlie Anderson. If you’ve listened to the podcast, you know about those three. And, uh, I mean, the whole staff’s great. You go into the the the branch on on Washington, walk in there, Christy at the front desk is probably going to ask you what you think Jayen McCarthy is going to be able to do this weekend, um, when he it likely starts against the Detroit Lions. So, first resource, please check them out. Uh, the show is also sponsored by Unreal. That is a locallyowned clothing brand that has become my day-to-day wardrobe. This shirt right here is Unreal. Um, and I mean, I’m I’m getting made fun of by Adam Thielen for how much I’m wearing it, but he’s he’s endorsed, too, so he gets it. He’s been on the Unreal train from the get-go. They’ve got NFL drops um that are some of the nicest hoodies you’re going to find. And I I I I I don’t wear Viking stuff as an objective journalist, but um you know, family members and stuff, they may have some unreal coming to them uh very very soon. Um if you’ve listened to this podcast, you know that Carson Wentz was dealing with a very serious injury to his non-throwing shoulder. I said that many times, uh have said that many times over the course of the last three weeks. Um and that wasn’t random. Uh Carson Wentz, like I said at the top, um he suffered the torn labroom in that game in London against the Cleveland Browns. And actually the game before against uh Pittsburgh in Dublin, he had a pretty serious rib injury coming out of that game that kept him out. I mean, I I remember watching practice on a hill in where England uh at the Vikings team hotel and Carson would throw passes and he was grabbing his ribb after and that was before the torn labum which makes the comeback in Cleveland all the more pretty pretty wild. Um, and then it makes what we’ve seen the last couple weeks or or the last week or so with the Philadelphia game and the Chargers game pretty interesting to discuss. I mean, there are a lot of ways I could go with this. Um, one of the first things I’ll say is, I mean, I have the utmost respect for Carson Wentz willingness to play through what he did. Not sure how many guys would do it. I said that also on on KFAN. I co-host the Friday football feast on that radio station which I rever and I I potentially last week I said like I I just don’t know how many guys would play through it. Um so Carson deserves an immense amount of respect for doing that. Um why did he do it? I mean there there probably a bunch of reasons. won. This is his first this was his first chance to start meaningful games in a long time and the opportunity to get to do that is something especially for this team that he grew up grew up rooting for like he didn’t take for granted. I mean, the other aspect I’ve thought with this is he got here two weeks before the season and so that’s not a lot of time to generate, you know, respect or trust or, you know, just reverence from the locker room. And so to play through that, you have to imagine or or I know that with internally the amount of um just appreciation people had for what he was willing to sacrifice for the team that that had been built and and massage and kind of managed for months previous to that. Um that’s definitely notable. Now, I say all of that and I do think it’s worth talking about Thursday night. Um it was hard for me to watch. I I put this on Twitter. Uh you can follow me there at alec Lewis where I, you know, have thoughts throughout the week, games, everything. Um but it was hard for me to watch knowing what he was playing through. Even though it is a torn labroom, so it’s already torn. Like I just just the amount of agony and pain that that that would entail of you already have a torn labum if that gets hit. I mean, there was the play where he threw a pass and it was deflected and then he couldn’t like lift his arm to bat it down. And my mind, obviously myself, I’m like, man, this is unbelievable. But I, you start thinking about like his family really. Um, if you’re his brother, if you’re his parents, if you are, you know, his wife, his his girls, and you see your family member who you already know is dealing with an unbelievable an un an unfathomable amount of pain going through what he was going through. I mean, I just can’t imagine what that would be like because probably I’m I’m assuming his family knows that this guy was going to just continue to play based upon his own pride. Like I I had a conversation a couple weeks ago with Jordan Matthews who was a receiver at Vanderbilt and then he was a teammate of Carson’s in Philadelphia and the way he described Carson was like I mean this guy you know the physicality of the game is what he lives off of and if you’re a family member you know that and yet you see him out there continuously taking hits and you pro your mind probably goes to the long-term ramifications of it and and obviously a lot of the conversation I’ve seen on social media and that I mean I’ve received texts from friends about and family today is like how how could they have let him continue to play knowing the severity of that injury? And it’s it’s an interesting question like I my mind my the analogy I consider is it’s almost like a boxer like those guys or girls like are wired to give it everything they have inside that ring and to not show any signs of weakness or um reason to to doubt their strength or toughness. And in a boxing fight, it is incumbent upon the corner, the the the the cutman, the person who holds the towel, the water bucket that I don’t ever really understand that they’re, you know, rubbing on the boxer in between rounds. Like, it is their responsibility to ensure that the boxer, you know, doesn’t get hurt to a a level that it that you can’t come back from. Like you hear all the time the the the corner throws in the towel, the boxer’s mad at at the trainer and the cup man because they thought they could have fought valiantly through it. But sometimes like that is the right thing to do for the corner to look out for the human being in the ring. And I mean Kevin Okonnell after the game was asked about, you know, did he consider um with the amount of hits that Carson was taking behind what really was a de facto third string left tackle, third string um right tackle, third string center essentially with Blake Brandell? Like did Kevin Oonnell consider pulling Carson from the game just to, you know, ensure there wasn’t worse injury? and and Kevin was like, you know, the trainers kept up to kept coming up to me, Tyler Williams, the the director of health and updating me on Carson’s status and and um they believed and and they deemed obviously that, you know, it it was okay to play it out. It just it I I just speaking only for myself observing like it was hard to watch. And that now the Vikings, I mean, it’s a tough spot to be in if you’re the trainers, if you’re Kevin O’Connell, and you guys might be asking like, “What’s the tough spot?” You know, you gota and I and I understand those questions, believe me. Um, but if if you take Carson Wentz out in the third quarter and the fourth quarter, and you put Max Bromer in, you’re doing, if you’re Kevin Okonnell, what you’ve said you’re not going to do time and time again, you’re not going to throw the young quarterback who’s never played into the ultimate suboptimal environment. Now, it’s it’s tough to square that with, but you’re willing to throw the veteran into this. Like, it’s tough to square. I I understand that completely. Um, but but throwing Max Bromer in that environment behind that offensive line, you know, down multiple scores with the Chargers feeling themselves. I mean, that is a that is a tough that is a tough position. And then in addition to that, let’s say you throw Max Bromer and then he gets hurt. you’re one snap away from having to turn to JJ McCarthy who is the emergency third quarterback and then what happens if that is the conversation coming out of the game. So, it it’s a tough position to be in. But again, I just return to the analogy like sometimes as tough as it is to make that call if you’re the corner, it is worth saving the person from themselves. And and again, I say that knowing and having known for weeks that Carson Wentz has had the torn labum, but you just start to think about concussions or or other injuries and you start to think about long-term health. During the middle of that game, I I in the press box, I’m thinking, man, 20 years from now, to do a story where you go spend time with Carson Wins and talk to talk to him about what he went through, like that would be a fascinating deal because this this is really difficult to watch. So, um that’s kind of my take on on on that. And that’s a lot of where my mind has gone in the aftermath of thinking about this thing since Thursday. And you know, sometimes I I I’ll ramble a little bit and and you see like that was kind of a a ramble, but like I I just think that is the context and the prism with which like it makes these things complex. And if I’m not bringing out up all angles, aspects, sides of of the situation of how I thought about the situation, then I’m not using this platform, which allows me to talk as much as I want to to the betterment of for for you guys. So, um, that’s kind of that’s where my mind goes. A a couple other things like one of even before this injury, one of the thoughts that I had for this podcast was just the quarterback play. And I, you know, it’s hard to separate or just, you know, delineate with this team right now what is the primary issues. But I I I just I went through a lot of the numbers and and watched the film back from a lot of the games thus far. Two things that stood out with the quarterback play is the the sack rate right now, the the the rate at which these quarterbacks are taking sacks and have taken sacks through seven games is absurd. It is the highest pressure to sack rate in the NFL according to nextgen stats, which means when the Vikings are pressured in the pocket, they are th those are becoming sacks at like a 30% rate, which is in the last 10 years one of the highest rates in the NFL. this year. It’s higher than Justin Fields who has struggled to see the field. It’s it’s higher than uh Cam Ward in Tennessee. And so, I mean, that’s that’s one of the things that stands out. And the other aspect of the quarterback play, so they’re taking, you know, way too many sacks, the inaccuracies is has been jarring. Uh the Vikings, there are 40 quarterbacks who have started two games this year. 40 quarterbacks who have started two games this year. JJ McCarthy ranks 39th of the 40 in his bad throw rate which is a prerence number you know just bad throw rate it’s pretty easy to pick up JD McCarthy is 39th of the 40 and then Carson Wentz was 37th so just the amount of poor throws by these quarterbacks and again Carson Wentz sample size is much much greater than JJ McCarthy’s and both of them have played through injury JJ McCarthy did in the Falcons game and Carson Wentz has for multiple weeks. So, it’s really I mean, how much of these the inaccuracies was, you know, was injuries contributing to? It’s a hard question to answer, but just the facts are the facts. They’re taking way too many sacks and they’re they have not been accurate enough as quarterbacks. So, we can talk about all of the surroundings, and I’m about to I promise that’s the that’s the point of the Alec Lewis show, but just strictly from a quarterback play standpoint, it is nowhere near even a mediocre bar. And so like as as we look ahead and as JJ McCarthy returns likely this upcoming weekend against Detroit in Detroit against the Lions team that their defense ranks near the top in every metric run defense, pass defense, run offense, pass offense must be nice. Um JJ McCarth accuracy is is and then and and and not taking sacks. Those are the two things I’m watching more than anything else. These are base level things. Can JJ McCarthy when there are receivers open, can he hit them in stride? Can he place the ball well? There were a lot of times in training camp where he was inaccurate in training camp. So I I I as much as the injury may have played a role in week two. Um it’s something that I’ve watched for for you know when he’s been on the field. Um the accuracy is something I wonder about. So, it’s that and then it’s, you know, is he trying to evade pass rushers in the pocket who are much more athletic than the pass rushers that he faced in Michigan. Those are the two layers um that I’m watching this upcoming weekend. The other the the last aspect on the quarterback play and then I’ll move on. If JJ McCarthy this upcoming weekend in Detroit is utilizing his mobility outside of the pocket, man, he better be careful as he is scrambling up the middle of the field, as he is running towards the sidelines. This Detroit defense, you guys know this, like Brian Branch, these guys will hit you. Their linebackers, those guys will hit you. I mean, dicey plays on the sidelines. there is a chance these Lions defenders are going to hit you. So, as JJ McCarthy returns in this game, if if he indeed does, if there’s no set barring any setback this week, I mean, it is is he preventing himself from taking sacks, is he throwing the football accurately? And then, man, is he being careful as he’s evading defenders, scrambling up the field? Because the last thing, and I’ll get to this later in the Q&A portion, the last thing you need with JJ McCarthy right now is another injury. And you guys know this. I’m not saying, but but I mean, right now with the way this season has gone, with the way it’s going, availability for this guy, that is the most important thing to see what you have, to see if he can develop, to see if he can find his accuracy, acclimate to game speed, all of that stuff really, really matters. And I just and I haven’t even I I have I admittedly have not delved deeply in this Lions film, but that is the one area that really would worry me in this game. Knowing the way the Lions play defense, you have to avoid serious collisions given that he’s only played two of the 24 regular season games since he’s been a Minnesota Viking. So that’s really my first thought and it’s all on the quarterback play. And I know I’m throwing a lot at you, but we’re going to segue a little bit from the quarterback play right now. All right, the second thought for me uh deals with a subject that we have talked a lot about the run game. The Vikings run game. Um it was a priority this off seasonason. It was a priority in the 2024 offseason. It was a priority in the 2023 offseason coming out of Kevin Oonnell’s first season as the Minnesota Vikings head coach. I recall, and I’ve told this story many times, sitting at a ballroom table in the spring of 2023 at my first Indianapolis scouting combine. Boy, was it a hoot. And I remember sitting at this ballroom table with the other beat writers and Kevin Oonnell held a little private session, which we appreciated. I appreciated it. Um, it’s always nice to hear his thoughts as he’s reflected and all of that. Um, and I remember him saying then, this was 2023, the spring in Indianapolis at the JW Marriott, floor two, ballroom table. Uh, room was kind of hectic, people all over the place. Um, I remember Kevin Oonnell saying then that the run game needed to be a priority entering his second season as the head coach. And, and he talked a lot about it that day. I’m sure I have the recording, the interviews, all that stuff, and I could go back and delve into it. And I’ve probably done that for stories for multiple years because I brought this up many times. In that off season, the the one addendum that they made for their run game, or the two really, one of them was to sign Josh Oliver as a run blocking tight end. And Josh has done that job really, really well since he’s gotten here. The other thing that they did that offseason was they, you know, they chose a little bit to move off Dalvin Cook and to go with Alexander Madison who they thought would lead to more efficiency, less home run hits, but maybe more singles and doubles. That did not happen. We all know this. Alexander Madison fumbled a bunch. He is a phenomenal dude. Really enjoyed being around him, but as a running back in 2023, not good. Um, so that was the priority that first offseason. And then again before 2024 it was a conversation point you know brought in Aaron Jones that was a big signing. Um the run game efficiency was just about the same. Now, this off season, um, you know, there was a couple, you know, they brought in Jordan Mason, uh, acquired him from the 49ers, and then another conversation, talking point was that the team hired an assistant offensive line coach, Keith Carter, with kind of a interesting, you know, people had interesting perspectives about him, but had came with some run game experience. Um, was a a physical kind of hard-nosed type of coach. And so with that paired with Jordan Mason paired with an interior offensive line where you have drafted a first round pick at left guard where you sign an experienced center and Ryan Kelly where you signed an experienced right guard and will fry the run game will will be better. And I am here to tell you that the run game if you just looked at success rate which is a an advanced metrics you know it entails a downto-own basis. are you successful on any given down from from just that one metric they have been fairly efficient but if you look at really anything else yards per carry 4.2 it’s right around past seasons EPA per play negative.08 08 right around past seasons. I think these are the numbers. I’m coming up with it right off the top of my head. Uh you know, negative runs around the same. Um explosive runs definitely around the same I if not less. Um it’s just the run game like the the the the summary the headline of the run game to me is it just doesn’t feel like it’s it’s something that’s going to scare the opposing team. Like if you’re, you know, the the Lions defensive staff, Kelvin Shepard, and you’re preparing this weekend, whi where are you’re not like, we got to make sure we got to really load up and stop the run. It’s kind of like, you know, let’s make sure we limit the receiver weapons and then they’ll probably run it. Let’s just be tough at the point of attack, prevent some of their double team duo stuff, you know, be physical when they run their split zone and TJ Hawinson is flowing to block the backside. If we can do that, should be all right. like it just doesn’t feel like the run game has a level of it strikes a level of fear in the opposition. And it’s interesting because the Vikings are are again you’re they’re running into light boxes. Yes, the offensive line has been decimated by injury. That is obviously a factor, but one of the aspects of the offensive line being decimated by injury. So, what is the what is the fix for that? you just drop back the whole game. And I mean, that is a harder thing to do as an offensive lineman than than run block. So, um, again, like I wrote down here leading into this, haven’t really committed to it. It doesn’t scare you. It doesn’t. That’s what I wrote. It doesn’t scare you. It doesn’t. Um, it’s just not something that is dynamic. And again, this is year four. Have talked about it a lot. um in training camp like there was a lot of conversation off to the side from a lot of the staff of you guys need to be talking about the run game the run game’s going to be bet the run game the run game and like Jordan Mason has been pretty efficient but even the Aaron Jones runs I mean it’s like 41% success rate which is you know middleish of the pack so um look I I I just it just feels like the Vikings in some ways offensively are one-dimensional without a quarterback who can throw home runs the way that Sam Darnold did last year and that’s just not just not a great place to be. Um it makes you rely a lot upon quick game on early downs and defenses are smart enough to be able to take some of that stuff away as Jesse Mener was last week. So, um, again, I just we just we have to talk about the run game. And until the Vikings commit to it, prove that they can do it. Prove that it’s something that defenses really have to allocate real mental resources and time to stop. Um, it just feels like it’s going to be kind of a slog offensively. I mean the I said plenty if you guys listen to this podcast for months now and going back to August I said many times the scaffolding of this team has to be the defensive line and the run game and there is a reason that it doesn’t feel like the Vikings have any identity right now is because those things which were expected to be the scaffolding um have not really held their ends of the bargain. So um that’s my second thought. Number three, I’ll just segue right to the run defense. Uh I looked this up today. If you look up all the teams defensively and how many snaps they’ve played against heavy personnel, so that’s like two tight ends, two, you know, a fullback and a running back, two tight ends and two fullbacks. I mean, the Chargers were using Tucker Fisk and Scott Matlock, who literally seemed straight out of two men in a truck. I used that joke last week. I’m going to use that for the rest of time. Scott Matlock and Tucker Fisk would be the types of guys I would want to bring a couch up to my apartment. There’s just no doubt about it. They are um the Vikings have faced more runs out of heavy personnel than any other defense in the NFL. Um and their stats against the big body run game, it it’s not great. And the the other aspect of it, the Vikings, like against the Chargers, one of the things they did to try to stop the the the Scott Matlock, Tucker Fist, two men in a truck run game was the Vikings utilized like a six down front. So they would have, you know, Jaylen Redmond, Jonathan Allen, Tyler Baddy, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Jonathan Gernard, and Dallas Turner. And so what the Chargers ended up doing is like, “Okay, fine. You guys are going to load up up front and you’re going to have two linebackers out there. then we’re just going to run play action and and we’ll beat you guys down the field because you’re so loaded up to stop the run, which is the ultimate marriage of the run in the past, which was the whole kind of strategy from the Vikings leading into this season. Anyway, offensively for the Vikings, um, when the when Minnesota made this transition of Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard to Jonathan Allen and Jayvon Hargrave, like it was pretty clear the run defense probably is going to take some of the hit, but it always felt like, okay, maybe they can counteract that by the level of pressure production they’re getting from the interior. Well, I’m here to tell you that, you know, Jaylen Redmond has more pressures than Jonathan Allen and Jayvon Hargrave. Jaylen Redmond is getting double teamed more than those two guys. Jayvon Hargrave has only played 40 snaps in the last two games and he’s not no longer even in the game on early rundowns. And so, I I’d say Jonathan Allen, if you watch the tape, he’s been fine. like he has he he hasn’t been like a major impact uh either in the run defense phase or the pass rush phase and that’s definitely notable. Levi with excuse me Jaylen Redmond has been a saving grace. If you don’t have Jaylen Redmond I have no idea what this thing looks like. I I really I I actually I mean I I don’t know I I do not know if you don’t have Jaylen Redmond where this Vikings defense would be. He has been that important in both phases. Levi Draker Rodriguez has been serviceable. Again, they it by the way that they are structuring their personnel right now, they have more confidence in Levi Drake Rodriguez to stop the run than Jayvon Hargrave. And the film would probably tell you that that’s a sensible approach. Again, to go back to the earlier point, if you’re going to become worse at run defense, you better offset that with major negatives from a pass rush perspective. And they’re not doing that. And so they’re just not getting enough pass rush to offset the run defense. And that it’s it’s a it’s an issue. Now you guys might be asking, okay, so why aren’t other teams just going to load up with heavier uh personnel group? I mean, they are like they absolutely are. That is it’s been a strategy that opponents have used for multiple weeks now and it’s going to continue to be and I don’t I mean Taki Tammani, the UDFA that they had last year, I thought played pretty well. like I I I’m almost to the point where it almost feels like you have to have him on early downs. Um he’s still here on the practice squad, I believe. And so like I I would not be surprised if we were to see him um in in some of these future games just to minimize the run game. And again, they stopped the run against Philly, but I Philly also they lost their center in that game. Tyler Steen at Reicha like th that that that offensive line has been a problem for them throughout the season. So I mean the run defense is is squarely a problem and it it really is is more proof that like the more you watch these games it’s like do you have an offensive line? Can you run block? Can you protect? Do you have a defensive line? Can you stop the run? Can you get at the quarterback? And and I mean that’s what wins. Um thought number four. I’m actually going to switch it up. I we’re gonna call this the the positive portion of the Alec Lewis show. Um Jaylen Redmond who I just talked about and Jaylen Naylor. I I I’d say Jaylen Naylor has had a had a great year. Um and a lot of props to him because he, you know, had a serious hand injury at the end of training camp, didn’t even miss a game. Um has played way more snaps than Adam Thielen. He’s he’s open a ton. It’s just sometimes he’s like the third option and the Vikings quarterbacks have not gotten to the third option or had the protection to get to the third option. But um he’s had a great year. Jaylen Naylor, if the Vikings don’t resign him, um there’s probably going to be a team out there smart enough to watch the tape and understand what he what what Jaylen Naylor is capable of. I mean, he’ll give you effort in the run game. He is, you know, a burner on the outside and then he, you know, he’ll run over routes effectively and he catches the football. though, like if at some point this season the Vikings can protect long enough and the quarterbacks can read it out quick enough, like I wouldn’t be shocked if Jaylen Naylor just like goes off down the stretch. Um but yeah, that’s the the for the positive we’re going to make this the positive segment. um we’re going to need it probably the way this thing uh is has a trajectory. And um Naylor and Redmond, the two Jaylen’s um I mean those guys have had great years and a year where um it’s hard to find, you know, the bright spots. Um those two guys have brought it. Um all right, we’re going to get to thought number five and then I’ll I’ll get to some questions and be quick. All right, thought number five, the past defense. Um, I’d say, you know, coaches always always talk about the marriage of of Russian coverage. And what they really mean is, can we get pressure quick enough to where our coverage, you know, they don’t have to cover for so long? Or can we cover so well that the pass rush has enough time to get home? It’s really a a question of time. Do the the pass rush and the the coverage, do they blend together well enough to make the time effective for that unit, if that makes sense? And I just feel and we talked about the interior pass rush, but I also I mean opponents are chipping Jonathan Gernard on almost every play. The Vikings aren’t getting enough pressure production from Dallas Turner. I wrote a long story about Dallas last week. Just feels like, you know, there’s just not a ton of moves there. I the the the the late hit kind of launching with the helmet at Justin Herbert was atrocious to see. It’s one of the more frustrating plays of the game. Um beyond Ivan Pace not lining up on the kickoff and and the the million uh penalties on special teams. Like I just you know just not that’s the other thing is like this edge room leading into the season. We talked about it. I I talked about it like this is going to be such a dynamic group and obviously Andrew Van Ginkle has been hurt and the Vikings have felt that to a level that I I didn’t know was possible to feel it. But um I mean there are ways to diffuse edge rushers with chips with you know there there are a lot of them. And the other aspect or component of this defense right now is it just doesn’t feel like the blitzes are crazy effective. like they’ll they’ll run the the weak side offball linebacker blitz and if the running back the opposing running back can pick it up, it just doesn’t really get home. And then there was the early change. I thought, you know, the the play that maybe was a pick by Isaiah Rogers in the first possession of the game. Like that was one of the best blitzes they’ve run in weeks. It felt like um where they bring I believe it was Josh Mattel’s off the edge and play a little read coverage on the outside. But other than that, it just feels fairly um you know, they do what they do. That just it it’s just kind of how it is right now. And then on the back end, I mean, if there’s time, there’s either space in the zone coverages or these corners and the secondary isn’t trusted to play man. It’s just not like Josh Matelis isn’t really uh I mean, he’s he’s lost AJ Brown, Aronda Gadson, beat him across his face in the red zone, but Josh Matelis has never been a cover coverage player. Like he’s he’s always been most effective in the box. That’s just not where you want him playing. Um, and then the communication like I just I mean maybe you underrate Cam Binham’s consistency. Maybe Stfan Gilmore’s you know his working with Harrison Smith like Isaiah Rogers has not been as sharp. So just the marriage of the Russian and coverage has not been um close to a level that I think you know we envisioned it and that it’s I mean really as you look forward that it’s going to have to be for this team to have any success. Um all right I’ll get to the Q&A stuff. ask for these on social media. Um, if you’re not following us, Alec Lewis Show on Twitter, you can do that. Alec, Alec Lewis Show on Instagram. I I didn’t prep for these. I’m gonna go with them pretty quickly. Um, Nick Miller, based on where we stand now, what are reasonable expectations for the rest of the season? What should be considered successful? Um, JD McCarthy staying healthy for the for the last 10 games or if there’s playoffs. Um, him staying healthy for the rest of the season would be a success. Um because then you have somewhat of a feel of you know what do you have? Where’s the development? What do you need to do for next year? But I mean really that I I I I think more than anything that that would make this successful more than any wins, losses. I mean I I I you know we could talk about proving that you run the football and all this stuff, but like the quarterback position is the most important. and the Vikings invested a heck of a lot and have invested a lot of time and and made a decision to forge through with JJ McCarthy to be the starter this year. So, what do you have figuring that out? Uh requires him staying on the field. So, um maybe that’s like a little tongue and cheek or hyperbolic or whatever, but I I I truly believe at this point that that would allow this thing to be deemed successful to to have an understanding um of where it’s at. uh pie in the can. Could you see the front office trading away a veteran or two if the outcome of the Lions game isn’t good? Uh maybe Hawinson or do they just write it out? Um look, I mean it it’s to go into sell mode, you know, in a season that you spent $344 million in cash and yet you you you’re in your four season not having won a playoff game. Um I I I I don’t know. It’s hard to see, but like yeah, I I’d say I’d never rule it out with players who, you know, might be in the last year, their contracts, you know, uncertain futures, like, yeah, if there’s a deal that is sensible. I mean, this team needs draft picks. They need young players um to produce. The best way to acquire young players is through the draft, and the more picks you have, the better chance you have at hitting. Um, so yeah, we’ll we’ll kind of see, but um I mean if the outcome of the Lions game isn’t good, we’re going to have Colton Pouncy, my colleague, on a preview. But like it is hard to come up with a path where the Vikings win this game other than like a major injury in the Lions or or crazy turnovers, but I mean it’s this team is tough. Um, let’s see here with O’Neal getting injured again on on field goal pat. Uh why do teams not put in second and third stringers for at least the PATs? Well, you only have so many offensive linemen up for the game and you’re not going to use the center because um Andrew Depala is obviously the long snapper. So, you’re pretty limited. Um and and I mean, yeah, I mean the the special teams phase is interesting because it’s obviously has s a much higher importance this year than it’s had in the past. And I just um I’d say the special teams units for the most part besides the penalties like with the players that they are working with I I honestly I expected the special teams unit to be much worse than it’s been this year. Um Will Riker’s been pretty money. Ryan Wright has not been good but he has not been awful. Um and then Miles Price hasn’t muffed punts which he he showed in training camp that he could do. So um yeah, it’s tough for that group. They’re working with a ton of young guys, etc. Um, since it has not since it’s been a non-stop concern for the Vikings since forever, what stops the Vikings from calling the top O line coach in the league from an expiring deal and offering them four times the market price uh for his services? I I think like years ago, John Gruden said that the offensive line coach is the most important hire that a head coach makes. Um, I mean, look, it it’s it’s it’s it’s pretty hard to evaluate Chris Cooper, and I I know a lot of fans like want, you know, me to rip him or or call for his firing or what have you. And this is not a defense of Chris Cooper. I I I mean, you could probably convince me either way. Um, but like for for most of the years he he was working with Ed Ingram, um, Garrett Bradberry, uh, Dalton Risner, Blake Brandell, and now I will say like they obviously haven’t drafted and developed offensive linemen. You look at the Indianapolis Colts, they let go of Ryan Kelly, they they let go of Will Fry. Now they’re developing a guy Bolini who’s like an allp pro caliber and and gone gone. And you got they had developed Will Fry in the first place. So, you ask questions for sure. Um, but they’ve only drafted four offensive linemen. Two of them were late round picks and Walter House and Michael Jurgens who I mean I talked to scouts at the time were like I I I mean I don’t know. So, um, yeah, look, the offensive line coach is essential. Um, but it is also the responsibility of the whole staff to be married together to to buy in to view things from a run pass standpoint. Um, so yeah, that’s what I’d say on that. Um, Jonathan Moore asks, “Can you elaborate on what you meant by this from the other night? This is an unraveling of the tension that had been building for some time.” I wrote about this after the game. Um, it just feels, it’s felt to me really going back to the spring that there’s been like an underlying tension with this team. Um, and and in its staff and its staff, the staff is a part of it. the players obviously. Um, but I just you just get the sense that the the joy that has been there in the two of the three seasons where they have won double digit games, you just don’t feel that. You just don’t feel like it is as, you know, as their their their every day is like as downhill as it seemed like days in the past were. And I I just like I I said I said that I wrote that um you know there are multiple people kind of familiar with team dynamics who have you know talked about this. But you know I I I’ll say that I just part of what has made Kevin Oonnell so great um in his role is just the feeling that there’s there’s always um like there there’s like an underlying joy. There’s an awareness. there’s uh calm within the storm and you just haven’t felt that as much. Um and I just I I I uh I thought it was important to mention. Um let’s see here. Uh why wasn’t Max put in far earlier or maybe start again? Carson wanted to play the Vikings deemed that um he couldn’t get hurt worse and then through the c through the course of the game um again as I I talked about it in pretty in depth at the beginning of this show like that’s where you know if it’s a boxing fight it’s one of those where you’re like the co the corner needs to throw in the towel. They obviously didn’t and and there are a lot of there’s a lot of context involved in that. Um, let’s see a couple more here. Um, someone said Kirk, question mark. I mean, look, Atlanta and that contract and Atlanta in itself, Atlanta’s a mess. Um, I have never understood the play calling from Zack Robinson, their OC. Um, and uh, and yeah, so I who knows, would they move Kirk? What would it look like if they moved Kirk? And then Kirk ended up playing and playing well. I I will say like um the Vik, excuse me, the Falcons played the Dolphins. Kirk played this weekend and there was a lot of like on Kirk is awful. Now the movement is worth probably questioning, but I I I and there was a miss to Darnell Mooney over the middle of the field, but part of me was like, should Darnell have taken that vertical? So, I mean, I don’t know. Kirk didn’t throw any picks. He got the ball out. like I I I I I do think he definitely would come back here. Um again, but his contract, his trade, the Vikings don’t want to lose any picks because they view those picks as important. So, um yeah, I’ll end it with this. How much responsibility is the Vikings coaching staff bear for the slow, excuse me, development of Dallas Turner? Um, well, I I do think it’s interesting that Mike Pentton, so I’ll go through kind of the arc of this. The Vikings for the first couple years, uh, for definitely the first season of Kevin Oonnell’s time here, they had a pass rush specialist coach, Mike Smith. Mike um, kind of had an indefinite leave for personal reasons and then left and and is now the the pass rush coach for the for the New England Patriots. Um the Vikings kind of replaced him on a temporary basis with Mike Pton who you know Kevin Oonnell worked for has had a great relationship but then after last season with Mike Pton the Vikings quickly kind of moved him back into the assistant to the head coach role and brought in Thad Bogurtis who had been with the inside linebackers and and that has done a lot of teaching in that room and and I I do think the development now is is is you know it’s got the better chance than than it has. But um how much is the Viking staff culpable? I mean, look, every everybody, you know, I understand that Dallas Turner is young. I also understand he’s been solid at times. He’s played the run. He’s dropped into coverage, but like at some point, a draft pick who is a first round pick has to come in and impact from the outset. Like it doesn’t always have to be this developmental timeline. you look in other other building, Quinn Mitchell stepped in and was a key part of the reason they won the Super Bowl. Jared Vers stepped in and was a key part of the reason they made it deep into the playoffs. Like not all players necess necessitate development for for years on the front end. And so like, you know, there are reasons to give time and give space and patience is rare in this line of work and in this field, but I mean it’s it’s hard to square that when you trade a ton of picks and this is a team without a ton of young players. So, um, again, yeah, I think the staff it’s it’s the question is valid. So, um, yeah, that’ll do it for sobering in to a sobering Alec Lewis show. uh crazy to be at uh episode 123 and be here with a lot of this commentary, but hopefully it gives you guys some perspective, some information. I’d be curious what you think about a lot of it. Um you can throw, you know, comments. Uh whatever you guys got um questions, toss them in the comments. But I appreciate you being here. If you’re listening, uh if you’re watching YouTube, hit the subscribe button. If you’re listening on Apple or Spotify, you can rate and review and all that good stuff. presented by First Resource Bank, sponsored by Unreal. Um, and yeah, we will talk to you guys uh very very soon. [Music] [Music]

Alec Lewis, the Minnesota Vikings beat writer at The Athletic, hosts Ep. 123 of The Alec Lewis Show. He talks about Carson Wentz, J.J. McCarthy, the run game, run defense, the pass coverage and more. This show is presented by First Resource Bank, which serves the needs of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. For more information, here is their website:

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