08-23-2023, 11:58 AM
https://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/32567/how-kirk-cousins-vikings-offense-cope-with-the-brian-flores-experienceEAGAN, Minn. -- Kirk Cousins heard about the Minnesota Vikings' new defensive coordinator in February via text from an NFL friend.
"You guys hired coach Flores."
Cousins texted right back.
"Training camp is going to get tough."
The
quarterback's response has proved prophetic. He and the Vikings'
offense are in Week 5 of what coach Kevin O'Connell calls the "Brian
Flores Experience," a summer of navigating an unpredictable defense that
is difficult to practice against. It has led to some "tense
conversations" in offensive meetings, Cousins said, as the team watches
film of practice reps that had little chance to succeed against the
defense as called -- even amid the hope that it will generate a
long-term benefit on both sides of the ball.
"If you were playing
him for that week, you would run a very different offense, a very
different system, have a very different plan to handle the challenges
he's throwing at you," Cousins said. "But if you just prepared to play
him, are you really getting ready for the Buccaneers in Week 1 and the
rest of your schedule? So, we've kind of had to live in that world of,
'We're going to call the plays that we're going to need for the season,
that are going to make life very difficult [for the offense] against his
scheme, and we just have to do our best to find the answers that are
there, even if it's a tough answer.'
"And so that's the world
we're living in and it makes us better in the long run. ... you kind of
have the big picture in mind and I think all-in-all it’s been good for
our development as a player and as an offense."
Flores' scheme has
been as advertised: blitz-heavy with large doses of man-to-man defense.
But that isn't what has made life for difficult for Cousins and the
Vikings' offense. Even when he hasn't called a traditional blitz, for
instance, Flores floods the line of scrimmage with defenders who are
threatening one.
Those players can line up in unusual positions --
an outside linebacker in a three-point stance over the center, for
instance, with a safety filling in for him on the edge -- to enhance
confusion. The chaos extends to the defensive backfield, where receiver Justin Jefferson said he sees "a lot of coverages you don't think is that coverage, but they do a lot of switching it up and disguising."
"It's a competitive camp," Flores told ESPN. "We're trying to
stop them. They're trying to score. They're trying to get first downs.
We're trying to get off the field. I think from that standpoint, you can
never really get away from that. I don't think [O'Connell] wants us to
get away from that. I certainly don't. We just try to get together and
all get better.
"[O'Connell] and I have had that conversation.
They're giving us enough looks. We're giving them enough looks, and
hopefully we work together and get the players what they need. As they
say, 'Together we eat.'"
"You guys hired coach Flores."
Cousins texted right back.
"Training camp is going to get tough."
The
quarterback's response has proved prophetic. He and the Vikings'
offense are in Week 5 of what coach Kevin O'Connell calls the "Brian
Flores Experience," a summer of navigating an unpredictable defense that
is difficult to practice against. It has led to some "tense
conversations" in offensive meetings, Cousins said, as the team watches
film of practice reps that had little chance to succeed against the
defense as called -- even amid the hope that it will generate a
long-term benefit on both sides of the ball.
"If you were playing
him for that week, you would run a very different offense, a very
different system, have a very different plan to handle the challenges
he's throwing at you," Cousins said. "But if you just prepared to play
him, are you really getting ready for the Buccaneers in Week 1 and the
rest of your schedule? So, we've kind of had to live in that world of,
'We're going to call the plays that we're going to need for the season,
that are going to make life very difficult [for the offense] against his
scheme, and we just have to do our best to find the answers that are
there, even if it's a tough answer.'
"And so that's the world
we're living in and it makes us better in the long run. ... you kind of
have the big picture in mind and I think all-in-all it’s been good for
our development as a player and as an offense."
Flores' scheme has
been as advertised: blitz-heavy with large doses of man-to-man defense.
But that isn't what has made life for difficult for Cousins and the
Vikings' offense. Even when he hasn't called a traditional blitz, for
instance, Flores floods the line of scrimmage with defenders who are
threatening one.
Those players can line up in unusual positions --
an outside linebacker in a three-point stance over the center, for
instance, with a safety filling in for him on the edge -- to enhance
confusion. The chaos extends to the defensive backfield, where receiver Justin Jefferson said he sees "a lot of coverages you don't think is that coverage, but they do a lot of switching it up and disguising."
"It's a competitive camp," Flores told ESPN. "We're trying to
stop them. They're trying to score. They're trying to get first downs.
We're trying to get off the field. I think from that standpoint, you can
never really get away from that. I don't think [O'Connell] wants us to
get away from that. I certainly don't. We just try to get together and
all get better.
"[O'Connell] and I have had that conversation.
They're giving us enough looks. We're giving them enough looks, and
hopefully we work together and get the players what they need. As they
say, 'Together we eat.'"
