It has been a roller coaster first four games of the season for the Minnesota Vikings offensive line.
At 2-2, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer says he thinks the group upfront has been in the middle of the road. Zimmer noted that the line didn’t play well in losses to San Francisco and Denver, but he noted they played much better in victories over Detroit and San Diego.
“C plus, B minus, something like that,” Zimmer told reporters at his Wednesday press conference. “Middle of the road, we can do a lot better.”
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was sacked seven times in Minnesota’s 23-20 loss to the Broncos before the bye. He was also dropped five times in their week one loss to San Francisco.
“There’s a lot of correcting that we have to continue to do,” said Zimmer. “That group is a lot like the secondary you have to work so much on everybody understanding where everything is supposed to be.”
With injuries to starting center John Sullivan and right tackle Phil Loadholt, Joe Berger and rookie T.J. Clemmings have been asked to step in and take their place. Zimmer thinks with more time, the unit will continue to improve.
“I think with the newness that we have with those guys, they’ll continue to get better.”
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Bridgewater wasn’t worrying about the sacks during his press conference Wednesday. He said a lot of those were caused by their own mistakes.
“We’re not here to talk about sacks,” Bridgewater said. “We want to focus on Kansas City, moving forward and can’t put all of our focus about what happened in the past.”
#Vikings guard Mike Harris: "Teddy, I love that guy. He never points a finger. … With Teddy, as an offensive line we got to keep him up."
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) October 14, 2015
Vikings getting healthier
The Vikings receivers appear to be getting healthier in time for Sunday’s game against Kansas City.
Charles Johnson, who has been dealing with a rib injury, returned to practice. That’s good news for a group that is still dealing with an injury-slowed Mike Wallace.
According to 1500 ESPN, Wallace was at Wednesday’s practice working on conditioning on the sideline, with a brace on his left knee. After practice Wednesday, he said he expects to play on Sunday.
#Vikings WR Mike Wallace said he took a helmet to the knee but he expects to play Sunday against KC
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) October 14, 2015
Wallace didn’t show any signs of the injury in Denver when he finished with a season-high in catches and yards. But he hasn’t been a full participant in any practice since.
Zimmer has said only that the team can’t divulge any information on Wallace’s condition.
