One Vikings player under pressure to take a major leap in Brian Flores' new system
The Minnesota Vikings made what was arguably the biggest assistant coach hire of the offseason in defensive coordinator Brian Flores. While Flores embarks on a new journey with the Vikings he must figure out a way to get the most out of the defense’s younger players. Lewis Cine’s rookie campaign didn’t quite go as planned. […]
The Minnesota Vikings made what was arguably the biggest assistant coach hire of the offseason in defensive coordinator Brian Flores. While Flores embarks on a new journey with the Vikings he must figure out a way to get the most out of the defense’s younger players.
Lewis Cine’s rookie campaign didn’t quite go as planned. He suffered a broken leg in Week 4 which completely derailed his season. But the 2022 first rounder is poised to bounce back in his year two.
Cine was drafted to help usher in a new era at the safety position. Harrison Smith is now 34 years old and while still productive on the backend, it’s difficult to ask him to carry such a heavy load at this point in his career.
“Physically he looks good,” Flores noted. “He’s learning and he was here the entire offseason and he’s been working, and working, and working, and working. We’re excited to continue to work and grow and learn. He’s done a good job.”
Flores isn’t the only one in the building impressed at Cine’s recovery. Even his teammates were pleasantly surprised at how far along Cine was in his recovery process at voluntary workouts.
Although making an instant impact coming off a serious injury is a tall task for any player, Cine could really use a productive season in such a pivotal year with the Vikings. Flores asks a lot out of his safeties as he likes to use them in blitz packages on top of placing them in man coverage. If Cine can catch back up to speed with a solid training camp, he can carve out a significant role for himself early in the season.
