08-27-2021, 11:57 AM
It didn’t take co-defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer long to see one difference Everson Griffen has made in his return to the Vikings.
“Well, it’s going to be a lot louder at practice now,’’ he said Tuesday.
The boisterous defensive end re-signed Monday with the Vikings after first playing for them from 2010-19. He then practiced on a limited basis.
Griffen had his second practice Tuesday, and was more active, including getting some snaps at right defensive end during passing situations in a scrimmage. But the Vikings are making sure he doesn’t do too much too soon.
“I’m not just going to throw him to the wolves and let him get hurt,’’ said co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Andre Patterson. “He hasn’t been out there. So, each day I add a little bit more to his plate for him to get used to it, but also for us to get a clear and fair evaluation.”
Patterson arrived for his second stint as Minnesota’s line coach in 2014, the year Griffen moved into the starting lineup. He’s very close to the defensive end, and is thrilled to have him back after he spent 2020 with Dallas and Detroit.
“But I’m trying to keep it tempered right now,’’ Griffen said. “I’ve got to be realistic and evaluate him just like I would a rookie or free agent coming in here. I can’t let my personal feelings for him take over.”
Patterson worked with Griffen on the field when he came to the TCO Performance Center last Wednesday for a tryout and then talked to him for about an hour. He was pleased with how he looked in Monday’s practice.
“It’s just amazing the recall he had with the drills that we do, and how he can do them full speed and execute them correctly after being a year away,’’ Patterson said.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Monday that Griffen, 33, won’t start but will be a “situational” pass rusher, and Patterson said that will be a good role for him. Patterson, whose first stint as Minnesota’s defensive line coach was 1998-99, compared Griffen’s return to future hall of fame defensive end Chris Doleman coming back to the Vikings in 1999 after initially being with them from 1985-93. At age 38, Doleman had eight sacks in his final NFL season.
Mike Zimmer expects the Vikings will use Griffen in a more effective pass-rushing manner than he when he had six sacks in 2020 for the Cowboys and Lions. Patterson agreed.
“I watched him play through the season last year, because of my relationship with him,’’ Patterson said. “And I told him it hurt my heart, right? You paint a Picasso, right, and somebody else copies it and messes it up? It hurts you to the core of your body. So that’s how I saw it. And he was one of my Picassos.”
https://www.twincities.com/2021/08/24/vi...is-return/
“Well, it’s going to be a lot louder at practice now,’’ he said Tuesday.
The boisterous defensive end re-signed Monday with the Vikings after first playing for them from 2010-19. He then practiced on a limited basis.
Griffen had his second practice Tuesday, and was more active, including getting some snaps at right defensive end during passing situations in a scrimmage. But the Vikings are making sure he doesn’t do too much too soon.
“I’m not just going to throw him to the wolves and let him get hurt,’’ said co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Andre Patterson. “He hasn’t been out there. So, each day I add a little bit more to his plate for him to get used to it, but also for us to get a clear and fair evaluation.”
Patterson arrived for his second stint as Minnesota’s line coach in 2014, the year Griffen moved into the starting lineup. He’s very close to the defensive end, and is thrilled to have him back after he spent 2020 with Dallas and Detroit.
“But I’m trying to keep it tempered right now,’’ Griffen said. “I’ve got to be realistic and evaluate him just like I would a rookie or free agent coming in here. I can’t let my personal feelings for him take over.”
Patterson worked with Griffen on the field when he came to the TCO Performance Center last Wednesday for a tryout and then talked to him for about an hour. He was pleased with how he looked in Monday’s practice.
“It’s just amazing the recall he had with the drills that we do, and how he can do them full speed and execute them correctly after being a year away,’’ Patterson said.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Monday that Griffen, 33, won’t start but will be a “situational” pass rusher, and Patterson said that will be a good role for him. Patterson, whose first stint as Minnesota’s defensive line coach was 1998-99, compared Griffen’s return to future hall of fame defensive end Chris Doleman coming back to the Vikings in 1999 after initially being with them from 1985-93. At age 38, Doleman had eight sacks in his final NFL season.
Mike Zimmer expects the Vikings will use Griffen in a more effective pass-rushing manner than he when he had six sacks in 2020 for the Cowboys and Lions. Patterson agreed.
“I watched him play through the season last year, because of my relationship with him,’’ Patterson said. “And I told him it hurt my heart, right? You paint a Picasso, right, and somebody else copies it and messes it up? It hurts you to the core of your body. So that’s how I saw it. And he was one of my Picassos.”
https://www.twincities.com/2021/08/24/vi...is-return/
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