Written by Sam Ekstrom
With a perfect preseason – record-wise, at least – now officially in the rearview mirror, the Vikings start preparing in earnest for the St. Louis Rams and the rest of their regular season schedule. As the gameplan gets put into place, both the offensive and defensive coordinators will have the luxury of including a valuable asset that was missing for most or all of the preseason.
The offense gets a well-rested Adrian Peterson, and the defense gets a fully-recovered Linval Joseph.
Peterson was intentionally held out of the preseason to reduce wear and tear, while Joseph only played a handful of downs in preseason game no. 1 before suffering an injured calf at a nightclub shooting. Peterson, the veteran, and Joseph, the first-year Viking, are expected to be mainstays on their respective units. One of them will bolster the running game, and one of them will help put a stop to it.
Peterson told the Star Tribune that Norv Turner’s complex scheme is the offense he’s “been waiting for” throughout his eight-year NFL career. Turner attempts to stretch the field with a down-field passing game – opening up room for Peterson – and often elects to forego a fullback, which Peterson prefers.
“He’s the best running back in football,” said Turner on Tuesday. “This is still a game of players, not about schemes. You get a guy in there who’s hard to tackle and is an explosive runner, obviously has great vision, all the things he brings. He’s going to change it dramatically.”
Turner refuses to put a quota on Peterson’s carries, saying instead that any decision about his touches will be made on a game-to-game basis. Peterson touched the ball a career-high 388 times in 2012 – 344 carries and 40 receptions – and gained over 2,300 yards from scrimmage. At age 29, however, Turner would like to give Peterson some relief.
“Everyone wants to see those guys get 25 touches,” said Turner. “It’s kind of the magic number when he gets 20 carries and five catches. The only problem with that, if a guy does that for 16 games, he has 400 touches, and you’re not going to do that to a guy, so I think it’s a week-to-week deal.”
Peterson will presumably share carries with Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon. Turner knows it’s important to have a healthy Peterson if the Vikings are able to make a playoff run, so any reduction in AP’s workload is based on a big-picture outlook.
“Adrian’s going to be a big part of what we do, and we’re going to be smart in how we utilize him,” Turner said.
On the other side of the ball, nose tackle Linval Joseph is practicing again and ready to wreak some havoc on offensive lines.
“The times that we had him out there, you could feel his presence,” said defensive coordinator George Edwards. “He did a good job of pushing the pocket when he was in there early in the training camp.”
Joseph is expected to fill the void left by Pat Williams after the 2010 season. The 330-pound 25 year old will play alongside Sharrif Floyd and try to restore the Vikings to their previous run-stopping dominance. The Vikings were a top-10 rush defense each of Williams’ final five seasons in Minnesota, but in the three years after the his departure, the team fell out of the league’s top third.
Joseph’s run-stopping presence should help the linebackers as well. With Joseph clogging the space between the hashmarks, the middle linebacker has some relief against the run. Potential starting MLB Jasper Brinkley is excited to have Joseph aboard.
“It allows the backers to float. Linval is a big guy,” said Brinkley. “He creates a lot of movement up front, he creates disruption up front. Makes it easier on the ‘Mike’ linebacker.”
Joseph, who totaled nine sacks in his three full seasons as a New York Giant, is also expected to be a force in the pass rush.
“I think it will truly help [having him],” said Edwards. “Any time we can get the quarterback not feeling comfortable and worry about getting his footing right and that kind of thing, getting him off the spot … it’s a benefit to us.”
The Vikings feel lucky to have a healthy Joseph after what happened to him on the early morning of Aug. 9. A stray bullet clipped the defensive tackle’s calf during a late night shooting in downtown Minneapolis and sidelined Joseph for over two weeks. Joseph was an innocent bystander in the event. The fifth-year player now possesses a new outlook on life.
“It was very scary,” said Joseph of the shooting. “Now I just look at every day different because your life flashes in front of you in situations like that, and just like I said, I’m glad I have the opportunity to do what I love. I just look at every day different.”
The Vikings had a good preseason even without the aid of Peterson and Joseph. The team gained close to 150 yards per game on the ground and only allowed 12.3 ppg defensively. Make no mistake, though, nos. 28 and 98 will be vital fixtures on this year’s squad.
| Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket. He has previously served as a play-by-play broadcaster in Iowa and South Dakota and has covered Minnesota sports since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights |