By Sam Ekstrom
“Happy new year,” said quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the media on Monday morning at Winter Park. It wasn’t technically the beginning of the league year – that happens in March. It wasn’t the first day of wearing pads or going 11-on-11. It wasn’t training camp. It wasn’t really new at all, considering the players had already gone through several voluntary workouts, but it was the reunion of the players and the media along with their mob of microphones and clicking cameras.
It was the first chance for the Vikings to start telling their 2015 story; their first opportunity to give the scribes something to write that wasn’t conjecture. And as it often goes, the questions to kick off 2015 revolved around what happened in 2014, particularly with Adrian Peterson – absent, of course, from the voluntary session of weightlifting and glorified skipping exercises.
“We expect Adrian to be here,” said Bridgewater, who also admitted to attending Peterson’s 30th birthday bash but did not confess to riding a camel. “The guys in the locker room, we all love Adrian, but right now we have to focus on the guys who are here.”
Bridgewater has always had a here-and-now mindset, which served him well in his rookie season. He’s also never had the luxury of Peterson lining up in the backfield and diverting attention away from his receivers. Bridgewater debuted in Week 3 last season, while Peterson was sent to the commissioner’s exempt list before Week 2.
Chad Greenway, one of only three Vikings teammates remaining from Peterson’s rookie season, said he spoke to Peterson in the offseason and “shared some thoughts.”
“We had a great conversation,” said Greenway. “When you play with a guy for nine years — or going on nine years — you have a great relationship, and I do with him. He said his peace, and I just heard him out. Obviously he brings a lot to our team, and we’d like to have him back.”
Captain Munnerlyn, one of Peterson’s most vocal supporters in the wake of child abuse charges from switching his 4-year-old son, said he’d texted Peterson during the offseason, but only about the NBA playoffs. “Everyone else is beating him across the head about football, football. ‘Man, what are you going to do? Are you going to play for the Vikings? What are you going to do?’ Just to talk to him about something different; get his mind off of that.”
Reports indicate that Peterson’s fate will be determined during the NFL Draft starting April 30 and going until May 2.
Greenway’s 10th season
There was plentiful discussion about the veteran linebacker’s future following an age 31 season in which he missed his first games since 2006 due to injury. Greenway, who grew up in South Dakota and went to college in Iowa, didn’t seem to have much interest in leaving the area, even if his salary was set to decline with the Vikings.
It did decline – by over 50 percent – but Greenway returned nonetheless. “There really wasn’t that much uncertainty to be honest with you,” said Greenway.
“I don’t think you’d find a guy in the building that didn’t want him back,” said safety Harrison Smith. “He’s a heck of a player, heck of a role model. He’s an example for everybody in the building.”
With third-year player Gerald Hodges hoping to unseat Greenway as starting weakside linebacker – and the Vikings knowing that Greenway is likely gone after this season – there will be competition for No. 52’s long-held spot. The question would certainly seem to be: Now that he’s taking half the money, will he be playing half the snaps? Greenway said he doesn’t know. “I’m going out there obviously expecting to play every snap and try to help this team win. Whatever happens, happens.”
CB competition
Despite a top-10 pass defense last season, the Vikings could only fully rely on Xavier Rhodes at cornerback. Josh Robinson displayed good coverage skills in his third season but didn’t have the ball skills or the size to go up against larger receivers. Captain Munnerlyn was asked to play on the outside and in the slot, neither of which worked well for him in 2014. Reinforcements were needed.
Similar to his training camp acquisition of 34-year-old safety Chris Crocker last summer, Mike Zimmer brought in Terence Newman, 36, to be a wily veteran cornerback who knows his system and can mentor the youth in the secondary. Whether Newman will start or be a 53-man roster casualty as Crocker was is yet to be known. The former Cowboy and Bengal said he wasn’t promised anything when the Vikings signed him, but the location was appealing because of the man holding the reins.
“I knew what I was going to get from Zim,” said Newman. “Watching the team last year, there were a lot of good things that were going on here, and moving forward I figured I’m be able to contribute with some knowledge to the younger secondary and just come in and compete. I’ve been in this defense for quite a while, so me helping them getting better.”
You can hear the respect in Newman’s voice when he talks about Zimmer’s much-heralded defensive scheme. In his mind, it is a very much a well-oiled machine he wants to be a part of. Newman spent four years with Zimmer in Dallas and two more in Cincinnati … and his interception total dropped down to just one last year in Zimmer’s absence from the Bengals.
“You’ve got these machines that put these computers together. Each part has to do its job for the computer to work overall,” said Newman, analogizing Zimmer’s defense. “Every part has to click.”
Newman, a left side corner, hopes to be a valuable cog in the Zimmer wheel, as does Munnerlyn, who acknowledges that his role may be reduced. “When I was in Carolina, people would say, ‘He’s just a nickel back.’ That’s what people would focus on. He just can play nickel. I just look at it and strive with it, man. If I’m just going to be a nickel back, I’m going to be the best nickel I can be.”
Mixed feelings about the draft
It was interesting to hear the different opinions on draft coverage from players at Winter Park. Some were rather apathetic, like Xavier Rhodes, who said he might watch it “here and there.” When asked about cornerback prospect Trae Waynes, he responded, “Out of my hands. I don’t know. I haven’t seen nothing.”
Center John Sullivan represented the middle ground. “I may keep it on as background noise,” he said. “I stay up on the information with Twitter, and I am interested to know who we get, but at the same time those guys will be here soon enough. I understand it’s a long time coming for the fans, but we’ll get them up to speed once they actually get here.”
Then you’ve got those who sit in awe of the front office’s maneuvers during the first round and devour the spectacle. Former second round pick Kyle Rudolph said he’ll be watching the first round from start to finish to see what GM Rick Spielman can pull off. “The one constant that you know watching the draft with those upstairs running it is they’re going to go find guys that are great football players that fit in here and the locker room. High character guys that are going to come in and help us win football games.”
“He’s always making moves to trade back into the first round,” said Harrison Smith, who was taken No. 29 in a draft night trade with Baltimore in 2012. “I think he’s probably the most exciting GM to watch on draft day.”
Quotable
“I don’t know what I had on the bar, but I had a whole lot of weight.” – Captain Munnerlyn when asked about his squats in the weight room
“Wait, did you talk to somebody? I’m going to be starting? Is that going to happen?” – Terence Newman when a reporter insinuated he’d be a starter
“I’m always looking to get a Notre Dame guy.” – Harrison Smith, an ND alum, on who he’d like the team to select in the draft
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket and a play-by-play broadcaster in Burnsville, Minn. Hear him on 105 The Ticket Sunday mornings from 8-10 a.m. on “The Wake Up Call.”