There are two ways to look at Josh Freeman saying he’s confident he’ll get better.
- He can’t get any worse. Freeman was 20-53 with 16 overthrown passes in his first start with the Vikings.
- His 33 incompletions were a result of limited knowledge of the playbook and underdeveloped chemistry with his receivers.
Freeman is going with door number one.
“Looking back, maybe I was a little too fired up at first,” Freeman said Friday, via ESPN. “There’s definitely a lot of correctable things, things that going into the game I would’ve banked on me being able to complete or get done on the field, but at the same time we weren’t able to do so, so I’m moving forward and just got to find a way to be better prepared.”
“I think with any quarterback, there’s a lot of times where read one, read two, step out of the pocket, moving, there’s just that comfort level when you know where you’re going with the ball and you’re comfortable stepping up in the pocket and getting your feet set,” he said. “Then accuracy goes way up. There were obviously some shots, looking back, I could hit in my sleep, but in the game they were maybe a little high. That made it hard on my guys.”
While the ESPN report suggests that it’s likely Freeman will get another chance to start, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk writes that Freeman needed to be benched, regardless of his concussion.
Florio is siding with Monday Night Football analyst John Gruden, who disagreed with the decision to start Freeman in the first place.
“I don’t think it’s fair to [offensive coordinator] Bill Musgrave, I don’t think it’s fair to the head coach, Leslie Frazier, and it’s certainly not fair to Josh Freeman,” Gruden said during the game against the Giants. ”He’s been here for two weeks. There’s no way he knows where all these receivers are supposed to be. This is not Major League Baseball where you trade a third baseman and put him in the lineup and bat him fifth.
“Bill Musgrave had to meet with Josh Freeman and find out what plays does Freeman like. Here’s the plays that we run. Now, let’s put the plays in that we both think will work against the Giants on Monday Night Football. Give me a break!”
