Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer

Q: How's Xavier Rhodes looking?

A: He practiced a little bit today. We will keep getting him treatment. I think there's a good chance.

Q: Is it a positive sign that Sharrif Floyd practiced today?

A: Yeah, yeah. He's feeling much better

Q: With Sharrif Floyd was he taking on a block when he injured his shoulder?

A: It was just a hit. It was a hit.

Q: It looks like Brandon Watts' is a no-go for this week?

A: I would anticipate, yeah.

Q: Why didn't Adrian Peterson practice yesterday?

A: A veteran day.

Q: Do you see Anthony Barr potentially matching up with tight ends?

A: We weren't looking for him to match tight ends. We were looking for a big, fast athlete that can do a number of things. I'm sure that playing tight ends is another, too. Our defense isn't really a, you got this cat and you got this cat. We have different things that we do.

Q: What was your assessment of Sharrif Floyd's performance?

A: He played well. He played well. He played the run good. He had some good pass rushes in there. I thought he played well. I thought all of our defensive lineman played well last week.

Q: What's your assessment on Jabari Price last Sunday?

A: Jabari is a tough kid. He's a good, competitive kid. He's got some size and he can run. He's been working a couple of different spots, that's good.

Q: If Xavier Rhodes was limited, would it be Jabari Price that got those extra reps?

A: It depends on the defense that we were in. He got some reps, but he always does.

Q: Charlie Johnson has been limited all week, is he good to go?

A: Yeah, he's good to go.

Q: Did Charlie Johnson's injury happen in the game?

A: He wasn't really doing much (in practice) when it happened. It's nothing.

Q: With all of the new starters and rotation on the defensive side of the ball, how is the communication going?

A: I think good. I think Harrison (Smith) does a good job and Chad (Greenway) does a good job along with it and Jasper (Brinkley). Anytime you have that many new guys and they come from different places, you add a new system, you add the whole thing, there's always going to be some gelling that has to take place.

Q: Do you and Head Athletic Trainer Eric Sugarman collaborate on how to list guys?

A: It's mostly him, but he always runs it by me. We haven't disagreed on anything. We're going to list everybody on the report whether it's minor or not minor.

Q: Was Xavier Rhodes lobbying to play?

A: No, we were just discussing treatment, just treatment. He's a kid who wants to go play so he wants to do a lot of extra treatment and I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page, that's all. It was nothing.

Q: Bill Belichick said that he expects you will use a Xerox copy of your gameplan last year with Cincinnati. Is he right?

A: I don't know. It's a completely different team. They didn't have (Rob) Gronkowski last year. I don't know. I know he's going for win number 200 and I'm going for win number two. 

Q: It'll at least be a PDF copy instead of a Xerox, right?

A: I don't even know how to do those things.

*Q: Is Gronkowski the key with the matchup difficulties he provides for their offense? *

A: Well, they have a number of matchup problems. Obviously, (Julian) Edelman is a matchup. Their backs out of the backfield, they've got a lot of free releases, obviously Brady, he's a big matchup along with Gronkowski. Josh McDaniels has always done a great job of calling the game. They come out and they're not afraid to change from week to week from what they've done to something else. It'll be a good test for our guys.    

Q: Will this be a better measuring stick for Anthony Barr considering their tight ends and running backs compared to what St. Louis had?

A: I don't think so. I don't know how you better test for one guy or another. For our whole defensive football team it'll be a good test. I don't know how you kind of single Anthony out.    

Q: Anthony Barr even covered a couple of wide receivers last week. Is that a sign of your trust with him in coverage?

A: We were probably in some kind of zone, he probably had help over the top, there are a lot of different things. Guys walk out on a receiver and think it's, "Hey, he's covering Randy Moss one-on-one," but that isn't it.

*Q: What do you do during the weekend leading up to the game? Do you review everything? Or do you just shut it down and relax? *

A: Hopefully Friday afternoons I go deer hunting but I'm not doing that this afternoon. Usually that's what I do and then Saturday morning I study again and Saturday night and usually a little bit Sunday morning.  

Q: Have you asked any of your players that have gone against the Patriots sometimes twice a year as a divisional opponent for any tips?

A: No, not really. Sometimes they'll offer things but not really. We just try to do what we do and do the best way we can that we think can be affective against the other team.  

*Q: Does it ever concern you when a team works out a player that used to play on your team like the Patriots working out Fred Evans? *

A: It's part of the NFL, it happens. It's not something that we do but I know other teams do that and I'm not saying that they're trying to get information. It still comes down to blocking and tackling and completing the balls and running and all of that stuff. It's nice, but it doesn't win ballgames.

*Q: Do you switch things up because of that? *

A: We have a different game plan this week than we had last week anyway. They weren't there for that last week either. I'm not concerned about it. I'm concerned about (Tom) Brady and the guys they've got.