Speaker 1: We need to have good offensive line play, and the
Speaker 1: line really gels and I think that's that's what's more
Speaker 1: important anything else. If you if you really want to
Speaker 1: make a run, you don't get to this level without
Speaker 1: being confident. They understand that as long as they're getting
Speaker 1: the good reps in practice, that they'll be out there
Speaker 1: and they'll be fine. Welcome into Episode one ten of
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. It's the moment we've been waiting
Speaker 1: for for so long. Week one in the NFL, the
Speaker 1: journey to the super Bowl starts. Now, the slate's clean,
Speaker 1: everyone's O and O. Your destiny is now what you
Speaker 1: make of it. Months and months of workouts, practice, OTA's camps,
Speaker 1: it all comes down to this week to go out
Speaker 1: there improve you're the best. Joining me on the pod
Speaker 1: today the usual suspects. We've got Vikings dot COM's Chris Corso,
Speaker 1: Gabe Henderson, producer Jay Nelson. It's game week, guys, how
Speaker 1: are we feeling. I'm excited. I'm super excited, and they're
Speaker 1: kicking it off with a huge game tonight. So for me,
Speaker 1: when I've been seeing everything, there's the anxiety of the
Speaker 1: week and working through all of our programs, all of
Speaker 1: our shows, but tonight's game being Dallas Tampa and Tampa
Speaker 1: is huge, and I am super excited for tonight's game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say the same because last year I wasn't
Speaker 1: able to experience a normal season openers, So this year
Speaker 1: reacts on the road, so we get the opposing teams fans,
Speaker 1: so it's a different experience. So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not anxious yet, maybe asking that after
Speaker 1: the podcast where right now I'm feeling good. I want
Speaker 1: to see this offense. I want to see the Vikings
Speaker 1: offense out on the field. We didn't get to see
Speaker 1: them all together during the preseason. Dalvin Cook, Adam Feeling Justin,
Speaker 1: Jefferson and Kirk Cousins. Let's see this thing come together. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a lot of guys we have yet to see on
Speaker 1: the field this season. Super excited to see a lot
Speaker 1: of those names, as it's my first season to cover
Speaker 1: the Vikings and I can't wait. I'm not gonna lie
Speaker 1: with all of the business that goes into a game
Speaker 1: week on our end, I'm really pumped that we don't
Speaker 1: have this Thursday game. Let it marinate a little bit.
Speaker 1: Get you guys more content out there. There's some exciting
Speaker 1: things that have been going on this week. We've got
Speaker 1: an exciting podcast for you today to get you ready
Speaker 1: for everything Sunday. I hope you're ready for some fun.
Speaker 1: Got some games to play. There's a hint we will
Speaker 1: close the show with a little themed game that we've
Speaker 1: got planned up cooked up for you. We're gonna have
Speaker 1: a lot of fun with that one. And in between
Speaker 1: all of that, we have a fantastic interview with Vikings
Speaker 1: legend Robert Smith. He's actually working with the Vikings Entertainment
Speaker 1: Network this season as an analyst and obviously what a
Speaker 1: treat to have a guy like that to help break
Speaker 1: down the game on Sundays. So let's get to it.
Speaker 1: The Minnisota Vikings hit the road in Week one. They
Speaker 1: open up the twenty twenty season in Cincinnati against the Bengals,
Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer's former team. A little bit has been made
Speaker 1: about that this week. Zim not so much. You know,
Speaker 1: the kind of guy is. He says, this is his
Speaker 1: team now. He's really not worried about them Bengals right
Speaker 1: now except don't beat them. Yeah, but he's actually five
Speaker 1: and two in his season openers here in Minnesota. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and those season openers pretty much are our big test
Speaker 1: to where you are as a team. All offseason. You
Speaker 1: have all the talk, all the speculation of Okay, this
Speaker 1: is what our team is going to be. When snap
Speaker 1: one comes, that's when we can stop speculating and start reacting.
Speaker 1: And we know Zimmer He's been with his team for
Speaker 1: eight years, so it's not much of a homecoming for
Speaker 1: him per se as the media is trying to make it.
Speaker 1: But it makes for a good story, right, And I
Speaker 1: think this will make for a good game, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure he has his troops already. I'm just I think
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. I told you asked me after the podcast
Speaker 1: if I'm getting anxious, and I think I'm getting anxious
Speaker 1: about the game, not this podcast, but about the game
Speaker 1: because these teams are fairly even and pretty much every aspect,
Speaker 1: Ben leever, and now we're talking about earlier that earlier,
Speaker 1: this week about it. So we'll see how things, how
Speaker 1: things play out, and how things shape up, because it
Speaker 1: is gonna be exciting. Gabe's anxiety took like what five
Speaker 1: minutes of things. Well, I'm operating on three hours to
Speaker 1: sleep right now. I understood I understood the anxiety of
Speaker 1: the week has been bubbling all week for everybody. Even
Speaker 1: just walking around the building, you can tell it's week one,
Speaker 1: Like guys want to get going with the regular season.
Speaker 1: We heard it all offseason. It's like, yeah, this is
Speaker 1: the offseason, but wait till we get to week one.
Speaker 1: Now it's here and it's like it's go time. And
Speaker 1: they all know that. And I think also kind of
Speaker 1: a little bit of the stink of preseason and going
Speaker 1: on in three for all of them, with all the
Speaker 1: questions that not only in you know they might have
Speaker 1: on what's going on, but the public and all the criticism,
Speaker 1: I think they're ready to go out there and put
Speaker 1: their best foot forward and just kind of proved everybody,
Speaker 1: now we're fine, we got this and it's Week one
Speaker 1: against the Bengals. So like we were talking about before, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he might not think about it as much, but you know,
Speaker 1: Zimmer's got a little extra for this week. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: was gonna say, you know who's ready to get going,
Speaker 1: it's Mike Zimmer. He has never had a bad defense
Speaker 1: until last year, and he admitted and he said it
Speaker 1: in the off season. You've seen a little bit of
Speaker 1: it in the preseason, not having all the guys out there.
Speaker 1: Now he's got Daniel Hunter, Michael Pierce, Dalvin Tomlinson, all
Speaker 1: new members of this defensive line that we didn't have
Speaker 1: last year. He's ready to put it out on the
Speaker 1: field against a kind of creepily good offense in the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals. I've been saying it all week to people,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow had a really good season last year before
Speaker 1: he had that injury. So, Tatum, I know you know
Speaker 1: a lot about Joe Burrow being over there in LSU.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we're gonna preview this matchup here today. But
Speaker 1: I'm a little worried about this Cincinnati Bengals offense a
Speaker 1: little bit. Talk about anxiety, I'm not You're not at all.
Speaker 1: I'm worried about their defense more. What about Jamar Chasey there. Well,
Speaker 1: we can get into the naty gritty in just a second.
Speaker 1: I have something special plans, so you know we can
Speaker 1: go back and forth. Then. Yeah, so let's start things off.
Speaker 1: I wanted to get your thoughts obviously on specifics about
Speaker 1: the matchup, but just kind of in a different way
Speaker 1: this week. I wanted to go around and we'll start
Speaker 1: with well, start Jay right here to my left. Get
Speaker 1: your thoughts. Two things you like and one thing you're
Speaker 1: nervous about. I'm gonna somewhat piggyback off what Carso is
Speaker 1: just saying, And for me, it's actually d Hunter being back,
Speaker 1: having to kneel back on this defense. We know how
Speaker 1: big of a game wrecker he can be, especially when
Speaker 1: it comes to putting pressure on the quarterback and getting sacks.
Speaker 1: I think having to kneel back if he is as
Speaker 1: full go as we think or I have been told
Speaker 1: he's supposed to be. He is an absolute game changer
Speaker 1: and I am super excited to see what he does
Speaker 1: this weekend. Second thing, just having football back. Like I
Speaker 1: said before, it's there's you know for Thursday night football,
Speaker 1: for the kickoff for the season for the Vikings. It's
Speaker 1: Sunday in Cincinnati. I'm just excited to have real football
Speaker 1: back with real fans in the stadium, and I just
Speaker 1: want to see what that energy is going to be.
Speaker 1: Like what am my most nervous about. Let go Trey Hendrickson.
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson is my guy on that Cincinnati defense. That
Speaker 1: makes me nervous because he is a game wrecker from
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen to twenty nineteen, he had six and a
Speaker 1: half sacks. In twenty twenty he had thirteen and a
Speaker 1: half sacks. And he is a guy that people are
Speaker 1: pointing to saying, if you want to see what's potentially
Speaker 1: going to happen with this Vikings offensive line, watch the
Speaker 1: matchups with Trey Hendrickson. He's the guy that makes me
Speaker 1: nervous this weekend. All right, Gabe, two things you like,
Speaker 1: one thing that makes you nervous. One thing that I
Speaker 1: like is Dalvin Cook. We haven't seen him all off season.
Speaker 1: We know he's a dynamic back. He I mean, I
Speaker 1: think it's what second overall running back on the NFL
Speaker 1: top one hundred this year, rightfully, so I'm sure he's
Speaker 1: aiming for that number one spot. But Dalvin, I'm just
Speaker 1: thinking this is the game that we see him again.
Speaker 1: Last year, the Cincinnati Bengals defense, they gave up ninety
Speaker 1: yards to eight different running backs last year, and I
Speaker 1: think Dalvin Cook can be that guy that starts that
Speaker 1: trend again this year. I think he can be a
Speaker 1: guy that gets a hundred yards rushing or you know,
Speaker 1: just split the defense. I'm just thinking of a mirab
Speaker 1: Dula this offseason, three really good games in the preseason.
Speaker 1: I'm just like, you know, if that was Dalvin Cook,
Speaker 1: that that fifteen yard game turns into thirty yards now,
Speaker 1: and this we know the Cincinnati Bengals defense is still
Speaker 1: trying to figure things out. So Dalvin Cook is one
Speaker 1: thing I like. The other thing I like is this
Speaker 1: wide receiver unit, the Vikings wide receiver unit against their DBS,
Speaker 1: barbecue chicking the lad against Mike Hilton t Well, Trey
Speaker 1: Wayne is of course he's not playing. And then Cheeto
Speaker 1: O Woozy like those guys, you know, they they have experienced,
Speaker 1: but they're still trying to figure things out also, and
Speaker 1: then a new entire I guess, an entirely new starting
Speaker 1: secondary to know what they had last year. I think
Speaker 1: that will play into our favorite. And I'm just looking
Speaker 1: at the Eli Apple Adam Feeling match up alone January fifth,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty Wildcard game against the New Orleans Saints. Adam
Speaker 1: Feeling went for seven seven catches, one hundred twenty nine
Speaker 1: yards and talk about barbecue chicken. He met, he put
Speaker 1: him on a roaster and slow cook that thing. So
Speaker 1: I think that'll be part two this week. I'm hungry.
Speaker 1: You know it is earlier. I mean, Cincinnati is known
Speaker 1: for their chili, so I don't know. Maybe my stumach
Speaker 1: could be hurting, but I think Cheeta a woozy stomach
Speaker 1: could be hurt. And also just running after Adam filling.
Speaker 1: But one thing that makes me nervous, Jay, you took
Speaker 1: it from me. So I'm gonna go to the other
Speaker 1: side of I'm not gonna go to the other side
Speaker 1: of the ball. I'm gonna go to a different position group.
Speaker 1: I'm a big Jesse Bates fan. Free safety for the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals. I'm interested to see how Tyler Conklin and
Speaker 1: Chris Herndon will match up against their safeties. Their safeties
Speaker 1: are there, they're two playmakers in their defense. They'll lead
Speaker 1: the team in tackles, which doesn't say good things about
Speaker 1: their defensive line. But I mean one on ones. We
Speaker 1: know third downs they're gonna blitz and our corner and
Speaker 1: our tight ends are gonna be one on one with
Speaker 1: their safeties. And of course Erst m Junior is night here.
Speaker 1: So what is Tyler Conkling going to do? What is
Speaker 1: Chris Herndon going to do? So that's going to be interesting.
Speaker 1: That's one thing that makes me nervous. I'm sure Clint
Speaker 1: kobe Ak will put him in the right position to
Speaker 1: make plays, but on paper, that's one thing that's standing
Speaker 1: out to me. Of Coursel, You're up next. I'm really
Speaker 1: excited about the Eli Apple matchup as well. He's a
Speaker 1: decent amount of Eli Apple. Seemed like Adam Feeling always
Speaker 1: had his number. I don't know if he's gonna guard
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson. Well, we'll take that too. But the other
Speaker 1: thing I'm really excited about is our six hundred pound
Speaker 1: defensive tackles against the Bengals offensive line. I think the
Speaker 1: Bengals offensive line, I don't want to say too much
Speaker 1: bad about them right now, but I don't think they're
Speaker 1: the strongest in the NFL. They just traded one of
Speaker 1: their starting centers to the New York Giants and Billy
Speaker 1: Price out of Ohio State. I don't think there's much
Speaker 1: there for Dalvin Tomlinson and Michael Pierce to really contend with.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna have a good game in the
Speaker 1: rushing game against Joe Mixon, and I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: get after the quarterback as well. Tatum that those are
Speaker 1: probably the two ones I had the Eli Apple thing.
Speaker 1: That's too easy. I mean, we're all excited about that.
Speaker 1: I mean you do have to think about it this way. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrows coming off an injury, awful looking injury, and
Speaker 1: the first defensive line that you're going to face is Hunter,
Speaker 1: Tomlinson Pierce and want him before bringing up the depth
Speaker 1: on our defensive Yeah, that's exactly right. Crazy Meldon Richardson's
Speaker 1: just hanging out waiting to get out on the field.
Speaker 1: On the field, yeah exactly. So. Uh yeah, that's why
Speaker 1: defensive line. That's why defensive line has to be my pick.
Speaker 1: I have to say the Matt you you were talking
Speaker 1: about matchups game, I think this is the matchup that
Speaker 1: we want to see be enforced early by Mike Zimmer
Speaker 1: as well. I want to see him dialing up those
Speaker 1: those middle a gap blitzes, let the linebackers play in space.
Speaker 1: I want to see Nick Vigil, who's a guest on
Speaker 1: one of our shows this week, really get involved against
Speaker 1: his former team. So I want to see the defense.
Speaker 1: That's that's what I'm excited about, nervous about. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say our old line, I want to see how this
Speaker 1: group comes together. We talked about the offense and not
Speaker 1: coming together yet completely out on the field in the preseason.
Speaker 1: The old line's a question mark for me. I want
Speaker 1: to see what happens in the running game. I think
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook will hold his own either way, but I
Speaker 1: want to see how they do when Kirk Cousins drops
Speaker 1: back and looks for Adam Feeland and Justin Jefferson against
Speaker 1: those dbs. Tatum, I'm really that those are the two matchup.
Speaker 1: It's one in the trenches, Tatum. That's what I'm looking at.
Speaker 1: I'm looking to the trenches. I like that. I like that. Look.
Speaker 1: Now I'm going to go on the outside. I'm super
Speaker 1: excited to see this combination of Feeling and Jefferson again
Speaker 1: this season. After you have a rookie record breaking year,
Speaker 1: what is next for you? Obviously we talked or you
Speaker 1: guys were able to talk to Justin Jefferson a lot
Speaker 1: this week on the Audible, and I think he's confident
Speaker 1: and I like his confidence. So for me, when you
Speaker 1: look at this duo when they're both on the field,
Speaker 1: it's really pick your poison. Feeland such a vet. Jefferson
Speaker 1: is quite quite good. Yeah, So at this point, who
Speaker 1: you're gonna get? What are they gonna do. I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see this first group figure out how they're going
Speaker 1: to cover that duo. And then I guess my other
Speaker 1: piece of excitement, I'll kind of piggyback a little bit
Speaker 1: on your your nervousness. I'm I'm excited to see this
Speaker 1: offensive line come together because they have no choice. If
Speaker 1: you're gonna give Kirk Cousins enough time, welcome to Minnesota. Welcome.
Speaker 1: So I've heard, if you're gonna give him enough time
Speaker 1: to make good decisions, which you know he enjoys the
Speaker 1: a clean pocket, I think that um, I think that's good.
Speaker 1: And I think with the juice of Brian O'Neill's contract extension,
Speaker 1: knowing that there's some longevity on the line will hopefully
Speaker 1: give them a little extra spark. Seeing Riley Reef on
Speaker 1: the other side of things as an opponent now instead
Speaker 1: of a teammate, might be like, you know, let's prove
Speaker 1: we can be just as good without them, you know
Speaker 1: that kind of mindset. So, speaking of Riley Reef, I
Speaker 1: know we were talking about I know we had a
Speaker 1: lot of entailed conversations off camera before and I was saying,
Speaker 1: I got myself into a rabbit hole just researching the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals last night and ran upon an article written
Speaker 1: by their team reporter, and he says Riley Reef is
Speaker 1: their best offensive lineman this year. That's That's what. That
Speaker 1: was my point before game. I think we gotta, we
Speaker 1: gotta get after Joe Burrow. I mean, he's gonna be
Speaker 1: he's gonna be his life. Yeah, he was sacked thirty
Speaker 1: two times in ten games. You wonder why he got injured.
Speaker 1: You know, he didn't have the right protection. And he's
Speaker 1: a bit of a he's a wild card. Like he's
Speaker 1: got athletic ability and he's not afraid to use it.
Speaker 1: I remember at LSU he was asked at a press conference,
Speaker 1: why don't you slide? Because he was just taking hit
Speaker 1: after hit after hit, and it just took that one.
Speaker 1: I think in the UCF Bowl game where he just
Speaker 1: got smacked. No granted he got back in the game
Speaker 1: and just lit it up. Yeah, but like I think
Speaker 1: after that he kind of realized, if I'm gonna have
Speaker 1: a little bit of longevity in my career and need
Speaker 1: to start slointing. So I think he learned it the
Speaker 1: hard way, not specifically that, but just that how porous
Speaker 1: their offensive link can be. But I think part of
Speaker 1: it too is, like you, the competitive nature if he's
Speaker 1: on your team. On the flip side, though, coaches and
Speaker 1: gms and front offices are saying, what are you doing?
Speaker 1: You've got to protect yourself letter and you know, like
Speaker 1: Kirk is one of those guys where he's diving head
Speaker 1: first and they had to tell him how many times,
Speaker 1: like hey, slide to save yourself, just so that we
Speaker 1: need you to stay in this game. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: since he was feeling that that way last year once
Speaker 1: Burrow went out. The one thing that I always think
Speaker 1: back to is like RG three's rookie season, he was
Speaker 1: lightning up, going crazy, tears up his knee, and then
Speaker 1: he's just never fully the same because he has to
Speaker 1: change his style for us this week, we want to
Speaker 1: beat Joe Burrow. For Joe Burrow's career, I'd like to
Speaker 1: see him for their long term and I think for
Speaker 1: him that just means he's got to be more comfortable
Speaker 1: in the pocket, and for the Bengals that means they
Speaker 1: have to address that offensive line. Yeah, Pete Bursts did
Speaker 1: a really good job in film room this week just
Speaker 1: analyzing Joe Burrow what he does with his legs. There's
Speaker 1: a play where he was alluding tackles like he was
Speaker 1: literally just running around for his life like for ten
Speaker 1: to twelve seconds. And one guy I can't think of
Speaker 1: his name wasn't the Browns. I think they were playing
Speaker 1: the Browns And the guy who actually ended up getting
Speaker 1: the sack missed the sack three times in that same
Speaker 1: play and then ended up getting the sack. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's sneaky athletic because you look at him and you
Speaker 1: don't think he's going to be as quick as he is. Right, Yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: I enjoyed watching with Llcu. I hope that he has
Speaker 1: a mediocre game. Justin Jefferson said the same thing. We're
Speaker 1: not teammates anymore. I know I'm spelling the deats on
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. Yeah. I think Mike Zimmer took him in
Speaker 1: the room and was like, tell us about this quarterback,
Speaker 1: right right right? Well, I mean we act they signed
Speaker 1: Jake Browning to the practice squad. That was a move. Huh, yes, petty,
Speaker 1: very petty, that's not that wasn't that wasn't going to
Speaker 1: be my nervous point. That's not nervous. I was waiting
Speaker 1: for the follow up for that. I'm not I'm not
Speaker 1: nervous about that point. No, I threw that out there
Speaker 1: to say that that's not what I'm nervous about. I'm
Speaker 1: a little nervous just about a slow start. I don't
Speaker 1: think this is the team that you can not that
Speaker 1: you can for to do that too, because I do
Speaker 1: think that you can rally back in all those kinds
Speaker 1: of coach talk. This is the Cincinnati Bengals. We need
Speaker 1: to get a win that first week, and after the
Speaker 1: way twenty twenty started, nothing could mean more to this
Speaker 1: team than coming out with some confidence in oh in
Speaker 1: three preseason than to just smack the Cincinnati Bengals. You know,
Speaker 1: um what I think it's I'm a dog owner, so
Speaker 1: I always say like it's inserting your dominance early on
Speaker 1: like that. You know, I've got a dog who completely
Speaker 1: does that, And I'm like, dude, you don't need to
Speaker 1: like chill. Yeah, and so, but I think that's important
Speaker 1: right now to be the dominant team from the get go.
Speaker 1: I'm nervous that maybe it's going to take us a
Speaker 1: little bit of time to get that together question. Are
Speaker 1: you the type of dog owner that walks in the
Speaker 1: house before your dog walks in or do we let
Speaker 1: home walking like so if you open, Oh no, we
Speaker 1: do it together. Oh okay, yeah, we do it together. Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean you've got to know whose boss. I have
Speaker 1: a female dog that tries to assert her dominance, so
Speaker 1: I know exactly what you're talking about. I will I
Speaker 1: will say though, that one of our dogs was not
Speaker 1: trained by me, and she does whatever she wants, and
Speaker 1: I know we want names. My dog, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: is very well here twenty pound dogs that thinks he's
Speaker 1: sixty pounds. Yes, so yeah, I feel what you're saying.
Speaker 1: But back to the dominance no, but yeah, so yes,
Speaker 1: I just that's what I want to say. And I'm
Speaker 1: nervous it's not going to be there, just after what
Speaker 1: we saw in the preseason. If you come out hot,
Speaker 1: and especially against a team that has some question marks,
Speaker 1: they're like, hey, Joe's back, but what's he going to
Speaker 1: look like? You know, defensively, Trey, Wayne's being gone and
Speaker 1: some of the other guys in the secondary that people
Speaker 1: think maybe suspect. If you're a team that lets them
Speaker 1: hang around a little bit and they start getting comfortable
Speaker 1: and realize they're at home, and the home fans start,
Speaker 1: you know, putting some extra sauce on it. Like that
Speaker 1: is the nightmare of what you don't want to do
Speaker 1: this weekend. Like you're saying, jump out, get a couple
Speaker 1: scores early, and then just keep the throttle down and
Speaker 1: go as much as you can to get the crowd
Speaker 1: out of the game and to start putting those doubts
Speaker 1: back in the Bengals minds. That's what I think needs
Speaker 1: to happen in order to have a successful start here
Speaker 1: on Sunday. It's crazy to think that we're talking game week.
Speaker 1: How great is that? And speaking of game week, we've
Speaker 1: got Postgame Live coming up after the game this year,
Speaker 1: first time that's back, obviously, and this year is really
Speaker 1: really exciting because we're going to have guys on the road, Gabe,
Speaker 1: You'll be on the road doing some work for us
Speaker 1: there and we'll also have an analyst in studio with
Speaker 1: me on Sundays. And I am extremely excited to be
Speaker 1: welcoming Robert Smith to the v N team. I know
Speaker 1: that he's got his college football duties on Saturday, We're
Speaker 1: going to just sit down and have a nice long
Speaker 1: chat with him about what he expects for this season,
Speaker 1: how excited he is to be back on this side
Speaker 1: of things, because you know, he is a fantastic college
Speaker 1: football analyst. I can't wait to hear his NFL takes.
Speaker 1: Joining the Minnesota Vikings podcast this week is Vikings legend.
Speaker 1: Robert Smith. Thank you so much for being here. We
Speaker 1: are pumped to have you join Veen Vikings Entertainment Network
Speaker 1: this season as part of our PO game live production.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to do it. It's gonna be so
Speaker 1: much fun. I did some of the games a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago, including the playoffs, unfortunately the loss at
Speaker 1: the end there to San Francisco, but hoping for much
Speaker 1: better things this year. Yeah, and you've got quite the
Speaker 1: schedule calling college games before making your way out here
Speaker 1: to Egan, that sounds like a heck of a weekend
Speaker 1: you're going to have. Yeah, but but it's fun. I
Speaker 1: get to go to LA to call my games. We're
Speaker 1: not doing the games on site this year, and as
Speaker 1: much fun as it is to go and do it
Speaker 1: on site, if you're going to be on site, somewhere
Speaker 1: La is not a bad place to do it. And
Speaker 1: then of course it's always great to get back up
Speaker 1: to the Twin Cities. So I'm excited about it. And plus,
Speaker 1: you know, you wrack up those frequent flyer Yeah nice,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, definitely nice. We'll get you a nice of
Speaker 1: ak at the end of the what seventeen week season
Speaker 1: we got going on now, hopefully longer? Exactly? All right,
Speaker 1: Robert Well, I kind of want to start this conversation
Speaker 1: out the same way he started the podcast with the guys.
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you overall this season with this
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one Minnesota Vikings group, I want two things
Speaker 1: you're excited about and one thing that makes you nervous. Well,
Speaker 1: the thing I'm excited about is, you know, based on
Speaker 1: what happened in the preseason and you know, not not
Speaker 1: scoring any points really offensively, right, uh, is is to
Speaker 1: see the starters in there, um you know, to see
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook and uh you know, to see Justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: and Adam Feel And it's going to be nice to
Speaker 1: have those guys back in there, um you know, and
Speaker 1: of course there were a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: starters missing on the defensive side of Paul, you know,
Speaker 1: particularly with Peterson and Harrison out and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: not having not having the linebacking corps um. But to
Speaker 1: that to that same point, what makes me nervous is,
Speaker 1: you know what we did see from the offensive line
Speaker 1: in the preseason. Um, that's that's got to be a concern. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, hopefully Christian darry saw it gets healthy. You know,
Speaker 1: nothing against Rashod Hill, but you know, I don't I
Speaker 1: don't think he's an elite starter uh in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And um, you know that u Udo did great at
Speaker 1: that right guard spot, hopefully continues to approve and the
Speaker 1: line really gels And I think that's that's what's more
Speaker 1: important anything else, you know, and speaking to some of
Speaker 1: my former teammates that were linemen, Uh, you know, the
Speaker 1: number one thing is the offensive line operating as a unit,
Speaker 1: a cohesive unit that identifies everything the same way, immediately
Speaker 1: knows when to pass off blocks, and obviously is able
Speaker 1: to both run and pass protect. So that's got to
Speaker 1: be an area concern though. We need to we need
Speaker 1: to have good offensive line play. If you if you
Speaker 1: really want to make a run. Yeah, Before I get
Speaker 1: that second thing, you're excited about. I did want to
Speaker 1: ask about that matchup with Rashad Hill and Cincinnati defensive
Speaker 1: end Trey Hendrickson. Producer Jay Nelson is here helping me
Speaker 1: with the buttons of the show on the podcast, and
Speaker 1: that was actually his matchup he was most excited to see,
Speaker 1: was Hill versus a guy like Hendrickson who's coming off
Speaker 1: a career year down in New Orleans now at Cincinnati. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's you know, that's a it's a it's a
Speaker 1: great Week one matchup for Rashad Hill and a really
Speaker 1: good test for him. And you know, the offensive line,
Speaker 1: particularly at left tackle. I mean, guys have to be
Speaker 1: so good with their feet and particularly in a matchup
Speaker 1: like this, you know, with the athletic ends like that
Speaker 1: that can rush hard upfield, cut back up underneath him.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the that's the thing that you know,
Speaker 1: Lynman really need to focus on, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: how they balance, how they use they use their feet,
Speaker 1: and how they use their hands in combination. So that's
Speaker 1: going to be a great test Week one. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: mentioned athletic ends, and we've watched the Vikings pick up
Speaker 1: some pretty impressive guys this offseason the defensive side of things.
Speaker 1: And then you've got Daniel Hunter back in the mix,
Speaker 1: DJ one, I'm earning the other starting spot on the
Speaker 1: opposite side. You know, with a front like that, as
Speaker 1: a former running back, is that scary? Like they just
Speaker 1: seem scary big? Well as as a running back, you're
Speaker 1: never scared of any group that you're you know you
Speaker 1: have you have you have confidence in your own offensive
Speaker 1: line and your ability to to do what you need
Speaker 1: to do. And you know, my my game wasn't trying
Speaker 1: to run big players over, it was trying to avoid
Speaker 1: them whenever possible. Would if if you if you do
Speaker 1: make contact, make contact with the proper proper leverage with
Speaker 1: the with the proper shoulder pad angle so that you
Speaker 1: can uh not present them a good target to hit.
Speaker 1: And if they do hit that, you've got proper leverage
Speaker 1: and body lean to be able to turn the legs
Speaker 1: and get get some extra yardage. So you know, we're
Speaker 1: going to have you on for a postgame live. We're
Speaker 1: really excited to have that happening directly after the game.
Speaker 1: This season, you're here for a handful of content tests.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately we don't get to have you for a pregame
Speaker 1: show every week, so I kind of wanted to get
Speaker 1: this week maybe your three keys to a Vikings victory
Speaker 1: as type of a as a pregame setup for us. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I think again, you know, going back to that line play,
Speaker 1: that's going to be crucial. And when you do get
Speaker 1: that protection you've got, you've got to get some separation
Speaker 1: at the white out spout, and that's something that you
Speaker 1: didn't you didn't really see in the preseason. The guys
Speaker 1: further down the roster just weren't able to get the
Speaker 1: separation that we've seen with Justin Jefferson and with Adam
Speaker 1: DeLand in particular. So those would be the first two keys,
Speaker 1: and on the defensive side of the ball again because
Speaker 1: so many players were missing, kind of getting those guys
Speaker 1: back in and making sure that the communication is good
Speaker 1: because when you're at a road game like that, in particular,
Speaker 1: communication especially verbal communication and can still happen. You know,
Speaker 1: I know last year without fans in the stands, you know,
Speaker 1: normally the home defense is at a disadvantage because they
Speaker 1: really can't hear each other because the opposing offense as
Speaker 1: all the noise of that stadium, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: on the road you do have that luxury. So if
Speaker 1: you're able to hear each other, you need to be
Speaker 1: able to communicate effectively improperly. You mentioned a rough goo
Speaker 1: at the preseason a couple of times, and you know,
Speaker 1: we do realize we didn't see our starters out on
Speaker 1: the field. But as as a player or as a
Speaker 1: starter coming in with you know, no preseason or an
Speaker 1: underwhelming preseason, how does that have an effect on a
Speaker 1: player's mindset? Well, I don't think most veteran players are
Speaker 1: concerned about that because you understand that you know, the
Speaker 1: starters aren't in there. Um, I've seen it both ways
Speaker 1: where you've had some good preseason performances and and it
Speaker 1: takes into the season feel well. But I think you know,
Speaker 1: you don't get you don't get to this level without
Speaker 1: being confident, uh and without knowing what you're doing. And
Speaker 1: so those guys have been around for a while, and
Speaker 1: of course last year played without a preseason at all,
Speaker 1: that's right, So they understand that that as long as
Speaker 1: they're getting the good reps in practice, that they'll be
Speaker 1: out there and they'll be fine. Yeah, they may actually
Speaker 1: know a little bit better what that is like just
Speaker 1: to come out and start a season. I mean, and
Speaker 1: that goes back to their college days as well, because
Speaker 1: you don't get that fortune. We see that happen in
Speaker 1: college football all the time, right, Yeah, So it's it's
Speaker 1: something that something that uh, they're very familiar with because, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, even when they did play in the preseason,
Speaker 1: you play maybe one or two series, and even if
Speaker 1: things don't go perfectly in that time, you just understand
Speaker 1: that it's preseason, it's warm ups. But now when when
Speaker 1: you've got that full week of preparation, when you're preparing
Speaker 1: for one because in training camp you do so many things.
Speaker 1: Now you do start some preparation later in the week
Speaker 1: for that other team, but it's just not the same.
Speaker 1: It's a different mentality and training camp and there are
Speaker 1: a lot of other things that you're trying to do.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of players that aren't necessarily going
Speaker 1: to be playing that are getting reps, and now all
Speaker 1: the starters get the reps that they're supposed to get
Speaker 1: and the full week of preparation. Robert, do you think
Speaker 1: fans truly understand what it's like to be a player
Speaker 1: who spent his entire offseason working for this part of
Speaker 1: the year and it finally being that game week and
Speaker 1: all of the anticipation and anxiety leading up to it. No,
Speaker 1: I think I think there are a lot of things
Speaker 1: that you know, people that haven't played the game, particularly
Speaker 1: at the highest level, don't really understand exactly what it
Speaker 1: is that you're talking about right there, because I mean,
Speaker 1: it's what you do. It's not only your livelihood at
Speaker 1: your passion, and you prepare all of that time. And
Speaker 1: I think that's why it becomes so important the longer
Speaker 1: year in the league, you really understand how attention to
Speaker 1: detail becomes so important because you know, there are only
Speaker 1: a few plays that end up in general deciding a game,
Speaker 1: whether it's some some big play or some bad play,
Speaker 1: and those are those are usually caused by one or
Speaker 1: two people taking an improper step, taking an improper angle,
Speaker 1: not using the right form, and tackling not using the
Speaker 1: right form and blocking U and an interception or a
Speaker 1: fumble things like that. So, uh, it all comes down
Speaker 1: to the way that you prepare mentally, uh, and then
Speaker 1: going out there and physically executing everything. And yes, it's
Speaker 1: it's there's definitely some excitement more than anxiety, but it's
Speaker 1: it's the game that you love, and you love the
Speaker 1: opportunity to go out there and show people what it
Speaker 1: is that you've worked so hard to prepare for. And
Speaker 1: I know Viking Sands are just waiting in hot anticipation
Speaker 1: for this season to kick off a lot of high
Speaker 1: exp dictations, a lot of excitement here in the Twin Cities.
Speaker 1: Is the Vikings kick off the twenty twenty one football
Speaker 1: season on Sunday, and of course after the game, you
Speaker 1: can catch our podcast podcast guest Robert Smith alongside me
Speaker 1: for postgame Live. I promise I'll be able to put
Speaker 1: that out without stumbling by Sunday. I guess I need
Speaker 1: to go get more practice repsent or something. So oh,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for being here, Robert, and we'll
Speaker 1: see you very soon. Sounds good. Thanks Sam. Love having
Speaker 1: Robert Smith on the Minnesota Vikings podcast today, and of
Speaker 1: course you can catch him on our postgame live show
Speaker 1: on Sundays. We're so excited to have him join the
Speaker 1: Vikings Entertainment Network team. You can catch that show following
Speaker 1: each and every game this year on all of the
Speaker 1: Vikings digital and social channels. The twenty twenty one NFL
Speaker 1: offseason is finally over, and now it's about which team
Speaker 1: can win enough games to sit Lombardi Trophy throne. In
Speaker 1: the spirit of a certain popular television show on a
Speaker 1: three letter network, We've got our own game going on
Speaker 1: here on the Minnesota Vikings podcast, and that's the game
Speaker 1: of first football is coming, all right. So the rules
Speaker 1: are pretty simple on this guy's like a hot breath
Speaker 1: of a dragon. We all know those Targarian beasts, except Gabe,
Speaker 1: who did watch the show. The answers, I have an
Speaker 1: offseason activity for you, but let's like, let's let's know
Speaker 1: you're good. You're good. I like the rapid pace of
Speaker 1: this because, like the hot breath of a Targarian dragon,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be rapid pace. I want like quick answers.
Speaker 1: We'll go around the table. So let the games begin,
Speaker 1: all right, Jay, who's gonna get the first first down?
Speaker 1: Dalvin Kirks? Oh, now, I'm my my brain just okay,
Speaker 1: I'll say, Justin Jefferson, Justin Jefferson. Kay, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with with Adam Adam Feeling first touchdown of the year. CJ. Hamm,
Speaker 1: I'm going Tyler Conklin. There you go. I think he's
Speaker 1: going to come out and just make a statement. Fullback
Speaker 1: dive for me, fullback dive. I like it. I like it.
Speaker 1: Tight En Die. I don't know that man's tall. That's
Speaker 1: like more of just like a high dive. He kind
Speaker 1: of looks like Drago from Game totally be somebody on
Speaker 1: Game of Thrones, right, I think he would be. Yes, Yes,
Speaker 1: that's he's a death. That's his name, Racky. That's what
Speaker 1: it is. Yeah, we're just nerding out over here. Don't
Speaker 1: mind us what it is, right, that's okay? Uh, first
Speaker 1: interception of the year. Jay, I'm going ben Leeber's take
Speaker 1: from yesterday that he's going to try and dog out
Speaker 1: right away and just jump on everybody. Hit Man. I'm
Speaker 1: going to hit man Mackenzie elexand I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: Xavier Woods, there you go, here we go first? Or
Speaker 1: who forces the first fumble? Jay? De Neil, he's my guy.
Speaker 1: He's who I'm watching this weekend. De Neil, Hey man, geez.
Speaker 1: I guess Harry could have a huge game. I think
Speaker 1: justin Jarrison was wearing a hit man hat. Is that
Speaker 1: why you're just repeating? I just think the best safety seriously,
Speaker 1: I mean, no hot takes here. I mean, I just
Speaker 1: made a hot take. It's the best safety in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I'll go DJ want him well, Iron Rodgers play that
Speaker 1: he made there against Green Bay. I see that happening
Speaker 1: in this game. After I was gonna go want him
Speaker 1: to Chris, after Patterson declared him as the outright starter,
Speaker 1: had a great offseason, I was gonna say, want him too.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna allow since I'm I'm the maker
Speaker 1: of this game, I'm gonna allow myself a repeat. Are
Speaker 1: you the sarcy of this game? I guess boy, I
Speaker 1: know right, no good or bad? He isn't. But isn't
Speaker 1: that it isn't that part of the whole show was correct? Again,
Speaker 1: nobody's good, nobody's bad. Speaking of good, who's gonna get
Speaker 1: the first gritty of the year. I mean, there's the
Speaker 1: obvioance answer. But after the social media post that went
Speaker 1: the other day from signing his contract, I'll say, Brian
Speaker 1: O'Neill again, love it? Oh man, I think it's JJ
Speaker 1: that's our or March. Oh you're good? Yeah, Joe, that's
Speaker 1: a Kurt Bob. I'm going number eighth. Kirk Cousins Kirk's
Speaker 1: gonna do it. I think he'll gritty one. I think
Speaker 1: Chris is looking at my notes. I was I was
Speaker 1: gonna say if Kirk friends in the first touchdown of
Speaker 1: the year or something like that, he's gonna do it.
Speaker 1: He's gonna whether it's pretty or not. It's very, very strategic.
Speaker 1: The Vikings defensive line left several debts to pay with
Speaker 1: a franchise low in sacks, and we know what Mike
Speaker 1: zimmer defense always pays its debts. So who gets the
Speaker 1: first sack? For me? Denil is the lanister and that
Speaker 1: he's going to do like I said before with him
Speaker 1: forcing first bumble strip sack, Denil Hunter, sweet Everson Griffin. Okay,
Speaker 1: w yeah, I think wow. I think he picks up
Speaker 1: as the chief I mean he was the only player
Speaker 1: in the Chiefs game would well, I guess the first
Speaker 1: player would a sack in the chief I guess he
Speaker 1: was the first player all preseason would have sacked for
Speaker 1: a sire. You go, yeah, I'm sticking with it now.
Speaker 1: I'm sticking with DJ want him. I think the might
Speaker 1: happen on the same play. Okay, I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: the wild card. I'm gonna have Pierce. I know that
Speaker 1: that's not very common, it's not really supposed to happen.
Speaker 1: But I have a good feeling about this match. Yeah
Speaker 1: I do. I do. So you threw it up for me,
Speaker 1: I did. That's good, that's fine, It's totally fine. Games
Speaker 1: doesn't have any game at their thrones jokes. That's got
Speaker 1: a couple of softballs, and I'm here all right, last one,
Speaker 1: of course, you gotta you need a young wolf to
Speaker 1: unite the team in victory. So the final first in
Speaker 1: the game of first, who will get the first game ball?
Speaker 1: I'm going with the old wolf of Adam feeling. I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna have a big matchup this weekend. We
Speaker 1: talked about that a little bit earlier. I think feelings
Speaker 1: my guy to possibly get the first game ball the year.
Speaker 1: I'm going Mike Zimmer. Nice, he's get himself. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think the players to give him the game ball
Speaker 1: first game back, like the defense has just a monster
Speaker 1: performance to say, that's exactly I'm gonna go off topic
Speaker 1: here for my dj Wanham take. I think Zimmer is
Speaker 1: all excited about number ninety nine coming back, and I
Speaker 1: could so easily see Zimmer going all right ninety nine,
Speaker 1: here's the game ball that might happen. Watch out Jay,
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I mean for me. I'm not that I
Speaker 1: ever said his name once in this game of first,
Speaker 1: but I wrote down Harrison Smith because I think if
Speaker 1: he has a stellar game after his extension, I think
Speaker 1: all the good favor is in his h in his
Speaker 1: back pocket, and um, he might be, you know, like
Speaker 1: the chosen one of the games. All right, so let
Speaker 1: me paint a picture for you because I said, Harrison
Speaker 1: Smith is going to get the first interception in the
Speaker 1: first force fumble, right, that's definitely game ball worthy. He's
Speaker 1: getting the game ball and then giving it to Zimmer. Okay,
Speaker 1: there you go. That's that's that's what's called a compromise. See,
Speaker 1: I love it. Everybody's going for that game ball. No
Speaker 1: one's giving it up. I think the answer is whoever
Speaker 1: gets the game ball has to watch their back because
Speaker 1: everyone's coming to take it. Well. I appreciate you guys
Speaker 1: for playing three Eyed Raven with me today. This is
Speaker 1: only the beginning, and we hope that the Vikings twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one season ends better than the last season of
Speaker 1: that said show that we've been talking about. Obviously, epic
Speaker 1: to watch and let's see who wins the real game
Speaker 1: of firsts. After the Vikings kickoff the season Sunday against
Speaker 1: the Bengals. We have a little bit of housekeeping to
Speaker 1: get to before we close out on the podcast, because
Speaker 1: it's been a really exciting week of content here at
Speaker 1: the Vikings Entertainment Network. And so I'm going to start
Speaker 1: with Gabe on this one and the kickoff of the Audible,
Speaker 1: which will be happening every week, Tell the tell the
Speaker 1: people a little bit about what to expect. So the
Speaker 1: Audible is a player driven podcast that we will do.
Speaker 1: It'll air on Thursday nights on KFA and and Friday
Speaker 1: nights on Fox nine. So Justin Jefferson is the player
Speaker 1: host today. We have a special guest each week, and
Speaker 1: the special guest is Jordan Jefferson, his brother. So Ben
Speaker 1: Lieber and I were co hosting that podcast. Ben Lieber,
Speaker 1: we made a few jokes about how why he had
Speaker 1: to leave and he wasn't there to interview Justin with me.
Speaker 1: But Ben Lieber and I will be interviewing a player
Speaker 1: host each week, and then that player host will have
Speaker 1: a guest, so it'd be like three guys, four guys
Speaker 1: just talking ball, talking life, and this week is JJ.
Speaker 1: We talked about just being the younger brother, and Jordan
Speaker 1: gave us a few stories about JJ. That about Justin
Speaker 1: that many Vikings fans are any many people don't know about.
Speaker 1: So every single week this year the audible. Next week
Speaker 1: is Michael Pierce will have some more special guests for you,
Speaker 1: so stay tuned. So I have a question. Is Michael
Speaker 1: Pierce's special guest Princeton? There you go. Wouldn't that be
Speaker 1: a good one if anyone was wondering Princeton is Michael
Speaker 1: Pierce's doc. Have we done a purple pups in the studio?
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I'm just saying I think that
Speaker 1: would be a nice little I would be bring to it.
Speaker 1: We did hear Jordan Jefferson had a dog. I heard
Speaker 1: a little bark that I tried to edit out of
Speaker 1: the show last night, but it was not Jay. I
Speaker 1: couldn't get that one Jeremy Shepherd, because Justin Jefferson did
Speaker 1: living together some kind of purple pubs last year, and
Speaker 1: the Jeerman Shepherd was okay, all right, Well, Chris, you
Speaker 1: mentioned this a little bit earlier, but there's another edition
Speaker 1: of Vikings Vantage out this week, so tell us all
Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, really excited this season we have Nick
Speaker 1: Vigil on the first episode of The Vikings Vantage. Obviously
Speaker 1: the former Cincinnati Bengal and Mike Zimmer on x's and
Speaker 1: Oh's this week compared Vigil to the late Chad Greenway
Speaker 1: of this Vikings roster, so I'm very excited to have
Speaker 1: him on. I know he's a big time Minnesota guy
Speaker 1: now being here for a little bit hunting and doing
Speaker 1: things like that in the offseason. So really excited about
Speaker 1: the show along with Gabe this year, and it should
Speaker 1: be a fun little preview to the game coming up awesome. Well,
Speaker 1: of course, don't forget the Ready Set Glow at TCO
Speaker 1: five K's on September eight teenth. You can sign up
Speaker 1: for that online at Vikings dot com and as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: stay tuned all week long, especially on Sunday, for all
Speaker 1: of the Vikings content on all of our social channels,
Speaker 1: including Postgame Live with Robert Smith. We're super pumped about that.
Speaker 1: One week one kicks off Sunday at noon from Paul
Speaker 1: Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the Vikings take on
Speaker 1: the Bengals and Game Day Live starting at ten am
Speaker 1: on Fox nine and stay tuned to kfa N for
Speaker 1: all your Vikings game day coverage over the airwaves for
Speaker 1: Chris Corso, Gabe Henderson, and Jay Nelson. I'm Tatum Everett.
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in to the Minnesota Vikings podcasts.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: podcast and Happy game week guys, Skull Vikings. Let's go