Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell highlights reason behind playing starters in the preseason
Throughout Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell's tenure, he hasn't made the preseason a focus. It's arguably one of the reasons why the Vikings hadn't won a game in the preseason in the two seasons prior. Why did O'Connell decide to play his starters in the preseason? Sam Darnold and the first team offense played […]
Throughout Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell's tenure, he hasn't made the preseason a focus. It's arguably one of the reasons why the Vikings hadn't won a game in the preseason in the two seasons prior.
Why did O'Connell decide to play his starters in the preseason? Sam Darnold and the first team offense played just one series but it lasted 12 plays and they looked good in doing so. SKOR North's Judd Zulgad asked O'Connell about that on Monday night and if it had anything to do with Kirk Cousins being gone.
"I would like to think it's a team by team approach based upon what your training camp calendar looks like for us. You know, last year we had two weeks of joint practices. First year we only had one. But you're right, we did have returning veterans, a lot of guys that have played in a lot of games, and I didn't have really any concerns about getting off to a fast start in 2022 and we did, you know, in that open reverse Green Bay, not that last year. We certainly didn't, you know, there we were a couple turnovers here and there away from maybe getting off to a fast start again. But just in my overall assessment of this team this year, I felt like it was the best thing for the team, for Sam, for JJ, I thought the old line really, not only just the first group, but really throughout the whole night, no sacks like I taught post game and trying to I've stood at this podium a lot talking about the run game. Will give us chance to see a little bit of that and also see areas where we were close on some other runs, and runs where we didn't block it very well, or maybe it was bad scheme by me, and so it was preseason for all of us. And what I like about it is, for a lot of our players, it's not going to be their first time. Really geared up ready to go when we play the Giants, because it's going to be a heck of a challenge on the road."
The idea of playing the starters stems from the lack of playing time together. Darnold is brand new to the Vikings this season and you can tell from training camp practice that he's still getting his bearings together. Darnold hit wide receiver Justin Jefferson on multiple corner routes and dig routes with anticipation and accuracy.
The chemistry element is difficult to get without seeing reps on the field and Darnold feels more comfortable now than he did a week ago because of those important reps.
Does this mean O'Connell will play the starters more reps through the rest of the preseason? Probably not, because they are set to travel to Cleveland for joint practices with the Browns. Those reps will arguably be better than the game will to build that chemistry.
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