*Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer *

I think we're excited to go play this football game against a good team. The last time out in U.S. Bank the fans really helped us a lot. They do a lot of checking at the line of scrimmage so we're going to need some help out of them. Go out and kick it off on Thursday night.

Q: Is this the stiffest challenge you've faced?

A: Well, they're the best team we've played. I mean, we are 6-5, last time I checked, I don't know. Did they take some away? But yeah, they're a good team.  

Q: Does playing on Thursday night add to the motivation?

A: I don't think so. I think every week we're kind of on display. I mean we've played Sunday night, Monday night, Thursday night, Thanksgiving. We need to execute is what we need to do. We don't worry about displays, we need to execute.  

Q: Is this the biggest challenge the run defense has faced?

A: Well, it'll be a challenge this week because they're very good up front. They do a good job with their scheme, their back is excellent, quarterback runs around. If you go back and look at some of the run stats, we've had some quarterback runs on us that have hurt us. We've had a couple big runs so we'll just see. 

Q: How confident are you in Nick Easton?

A: Well he played very well last week. We expect the same this week.

Q: Was Adrian able to get some work in before practice?

A: Yeah, he's on his normal routine.

Q: Was it the first time he has ran since the injury?

A: No.

Q: When did he start running?

A: I don't know, I'm not in charge of the rehab.  

Q: Is he close to returning to practice?

A: I don't know.      

Q: Do you see any encouragement?

A: He's doing good. He's probably ahead of schedule, I guess, I don't know.   

Q: If you were to get him back, how big of a boost would that be?

A: I don't know, we'll worry about all that when that happens. Right now we have to focus on Dallas and their team.  

Q: What separates Ezekiel Elliot from the other backs you have faced?

A: Well, he's very good at blitz pickup. He's very good at bouncing the ball to the perimeter. He accelerates on contact. If you try to cut him, he hurdles. This guy, he's as good as I've seen in a long time.  

Q: Was it any louder in the stadium for the two night games versus the two day games?

A: Maybe a little bit, it's hard for me to remember. I think the doors will be shut, probably.

Q: How much do you feed off of the noise?

A: I think it's more a deterrent on the opponent than we feed off of it, I don't know. We pretty much have to concentrate. When it is loud we have to communicate a lot better defensively.    

Q: Most people are picking the Cowboys to win, do people still respect this team?

A: That's okay because we don't really care what other people think. All we care about is what we think. If they don't respect us, that's their opinion.       

Q: How was it talking to former Vikings coach Jerry Burns?

A: Great, he's fun, fun guy. He's been through all this stuff before. We always have good conversations.

Q: What did he leave you with?

A: I probably can't say it, the way he says things, I can't say it. Clean it up? Just normal stuff, wasn't anything big.