Minnesota Vikings Complete Day Three of Training Camp

EAGAN, Minn. (KTTC) – The Vikings are one day away from having fans at the 2023 Training Camp. They’re still not in full pads yet that comes Monday. Special teams coordinator, Matt Daniels, was at the podium today and spoke about how defensive coordinator Brian Flores is acclimating to his new role here in Minnesota.

“He does an unbelievable job of communicating,” said Daniels. “He really commands a room, he really demands a lot from that group and he requires them to learn and really really absorb the information and be able to spit it out really, really quickly.”

The defense is coming together with a unified identity.

“There’s a lot of ownership that goes into it like it’s not my defense, it’s our defense. It’s your defense,” added Daniels. “He (Flores) really holds ownership and accountability to that group.”

One player entering his fourth season has shown significant growth in training camp. Developing special teams players for roles on the offense or defense is not a new concept for Daniels.

“That’s the beauty of being a special teams coordinator, special teams coach is we’re really part of the developing process of these players and you want guys like Josh Metellus to do what he has to do, ball out on special teams, and eventually, he’s going to develop and become a starter in this league,” stated Daniels

Training camp, still not in full pads, still has a lot of value. It gets the younger guys up to NFL-level speed and the

“Yeah, I mean I think there’s still a lot of evaluation that goes on,” mentioned defensive tackle, Harrison Phillips. “We had a lot thrown on us defensively these first few days, and you want to see if a guy can sink or swim. So, I think a lot of the evaluation is above the neck right now. It still fits the technique. You wanna be a real technician when you’re going through walkthroughs, hand placement, and all that stuff. Because as we transition to pads, It’s only going to go faster.”

Nine more practices remain for the Vikings before they travel to Seattle for their first preseason game on the schedule, August 10th, versus the Seahawks.

Copyright 2023 KTTC. All rights reserved.