Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer
Good morning. It will be good to get into pads today, start to press a little bit. It's been good that we've had all these fans out here. We had a lot of fans out this morning.
Q: Are you going to miss having Chad Greenway and his leadership around?
A: Sometimes. No, we are always going to miss Chad. Chad was a great person, great leader. Did a nice job really with everything. It wouldn't surprise me if he comes down to camp at some point.
*Q: How familiar is Edmond Robinson at that position. Did he play primarily the other side last year? *
A: Yea, pretty much, it's actually an easier position maybe. There's a few different responsibilities. But it's probably a little bit easier.
Q: Do you plan on having Robinson and Lamur rotating day-by-day at the spot?
A: Yea and we got [Ben] Gedeon playing there some too. We're going to let it play out.
Q: Do you think it's easier in pass or run responsibilities?
A: Probably a little of both, maybe.* *
Q: What steps has the team taken towards unseating Green Bay for the division title?
A: I think we're continuing to get better players. I think that's part of it. I think we've probably been the best defense in this division for at least three years now, so I think that's a good start. We've just got to improve offensively.
Q: Do you have any additional information about the Kentrell Brothers injury?
A: No.
Q: You made another roster move today, bringing in Darnell Sankey. Were you just looking to add another linebacker?
A: Yeah, we just need to get some linebackers in here.
Q: Can you talk about your health? How is the eye?
A: Good, I'm ready to go. No problems.
Q: What have you seen out of Mike Remmers throughout camp?
A: Really the same stuff that I've seen in the spring without the pads on. He's very diligent in his preparation, gives you a lot of different looks and different changeups in the passing game.
Q: Do you think he's better in pass protection or run blocking?
A: I think he's better in run blocking.
Q: Was the emphasis put on strengthening the offensive line this offseason?
A: Yes, obviously we're trying to get good football players where ever we can get them. We'll find out some more today when we get the pads on.
Q: Is Rashod Hill seeing game action in last year's season finale against the Bears what gives you confidence that he is a quality backup?
A: Yeah, it was. He played good in it for a guy coming in in the middle of the year, learning a different system, things like that. He's a very talented guy, long arms, huge size. He's got to continue to progress with all the communication things. That's where it's at.
Q: When you look out on the practice field and see that you're already down one starting offensive lineman, does it concern you considering what happened last year?
A: We don't want to start the same thing that happened last year. We want to try to get through 16 games with these guys, but it's concerning. You don't want to get anybody hurt the first day.
Q: How's Tom Johnson looking?
A: I thought Tom played well. He has played well since we've had him. He does a good job in pass rush. That's probably his specialty. He is working real hard, continuing to get better in the run.
Q: When the pads come on, how would you describe the difference in evaluation of the guys than without pads?
A: It's mostly in the lines. The DBs, it is pretty much the same thing. When guys are pushing against you a little bit more physically, I think that's the biggest thing. You can evaluate those guys a lot more. The other thing is, some guys don't run as fast when they're in pads versus when they're in shorts too. Some guys run just as well and so it's all of those kind of things.
Q: Stefon Diggs was kind of pointing the finger to himself, claiming some injuries were on him. What have you heard about what he has done to stay healthier?
A: I don't know. I have no idea what you're taking about so I didn't know what he did or what he didn't do.
Q: Do you think Diggs is ready for a break out season?
A: I mean, I hope so, I have a hard time predicting everything. He's a good player so hopefully he'll have a good year and that'll help us win.
Q: In training camp, do you do much live tackling?
A: No, not really. We've been a pretty decent tackling team I think. We're not going to do a whole bunch of it, we'll get a plenty of it in the preseason games. It's about being in the right position mostly and really the second part of it is, on defense, if you got guys running to the ball the second guy will usually get there. That's been a big emphasis for us.
Q: Is there more out of the run game with pads on or is it about equal?
A: It's equal, I mean I think we'll learn a little bit more about their run game but the past game too. You know, we have to protect the quarterback as well. Both those two scenarios, if we don't run the ball good we won't be very good offensively. We've got to run the ball.
Q: What are your expectation for Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook?
A: My expectations are for them to play good. I haven't seen Latavius other than on tape. Dalvin has shown a lot of really good things so far. We'll see.
Q: What are your expecting to see out of C.J. Ham and Jerick McKinnon?
A: Yeah, same thing. Ham's biggest deal is, can he adjust from going running back to full back. Taking on, you know he'll have to take on [Anthony] Barr today a few times and there's going to be some collisions to see if he has the physicality to take care of it.
