Vikings locker room reacts after 19-15 loss to Detroit Lions

First loss of the season. What did their defense specifically do to slow you guys down? I don't think it was nothing that they really did. I feel like they just came out and made a couple more plays than we did when it came down the stretch. But there's nothing. Everything that we've seen on film they did, they put out there. We just got to make our plays. Just make the plays that's in front of us. I feel like we 100% stopped ourselves. On the interception, do you think that Kyler was aiming for Jets in that interception and overthrew him? Yeah, I'm not too sure on that one, it was just kind of in the middle, but I tried to do what I could to catch the ball, but the defender made a good play. How can you avoid all the frustration of each and every week, trying to get into the rhythm of the passing game, and sometimes kind of getting there, but not completely like you know you can? We just got to make the plays in front of us. Everybody got to be intentional throughout the week and then just showcase it on Sundays. But you know, we just got to play better. It's right there though. Everything is right there in front of us. We just got to make it. There's a couple plays that we could have made out there today that would have changed the landscape of the game. So we just got to make the plays. Does this one, this loss, I mean, all losses hurt. Is this one kind of something that you can deal with since it's your first loss of the season and you've got a little runway to work with? Yeah, it's definitely tough, but, you know, nobody's perfect. So we're just going to, you know, watch the tape and then just get ready for next week. We've got a good opponent coming in next week, next Monday. So we're going to clean this up, and then we're going to get ready for that. The next three after this, right, it's kind of a gauntlet. What did you learn about your offense in specific this week? We just got to take it one play at a time, one day at a time. You know, we can't get too ahead of ourselves. We know what we can do. We've got the talent in the room. Everybody just got to settle down and just make the play. Is there frustration on the offense right now? How would you describe the way that you guys are feeling about how the unit is doing? I'm pretty sure the whole unit is frustrated because we know what we can do. We know what we're capable of. We're not playing to our level. Is part of the frustration, too, saying we've got to keep finding ourselves and you're already seven? You know, games that you play, it's not really about finding ourselves, you know, just making the routine plays, you know, when you turn on the tape, you know, we've got guys open, you know, we're running the ball, we've got gaps that's open, we've just got to, everybody, we've just got to execute, honestly. And you know, we know how close we are, we know how, you know, I never waver with this team, I never waver with this offense, I never waver with these guys in this locker room. You know, we have some of the best players in the world at their position in this locker room, and that's something that you'll never see me do, is waver from these guys and this organization. Thank you very much. TJ, obviously you're a bit in this league, this is your first loss this season, so it seems bigger than what it is, but how much of your mindset is, it's just one loss, let's move on to the next? That's a big, that's a big part of it, you know, I mean, we're a six and one football team, you know, obviously this one stings because, you know, we're. We lost today, so it stinks. It's a division, but you've got to give a lot of credit to them. They made more plays than we were able to. And, you know. Again, I said this earlier, but prayers out to Jack Campbell and his family. You know. I was in on that play. I didn't see what happened, but that's an Iowa guy. I know Jack, and I just want to send good vibes to him and his family and his locker room. And that and... You know, we're competitors, but at the end of the day, we're on the same team and, you know, we put our body on the line every Sunday. So, you know, just good vibes and prayers over to that guy. It's hard, you know, like I said, we do this every single Sunday. You know, we... We go out there, we know what we signed up for, but you never want to see that. You never want to see anybody go down at the end of the day. But you don't ever want to see that. So get down on our knees, say a prayer, and hope for the best. And God's got him in his hands, and he's got a plan for it. But you just gotta keep playing, unfortunately. And you gotta get back in the mindset of the game goes on. But obviously for him, his family, I know how much that impacts. I've been injured, I know how that's worked. So a lot of prayers, a lot of good vibes from this locker room going over to him. Last one. I mean, we're, you know, we got guys, we got, we got some of the best players in the world in that position. You got, you got a lot of really good talented players in this, in this locker room. And on this offensive side of the ball, you know, we just gotta, we just gotta, we gotta get it clicking, you know, and we will, you know, I got, like I said, I got no, no waiver and belief in these guys in this locker room. So we'll go check the table, check it critically. You know, we'll come back on Wednesday and get this thing rolling. Thank you all. I know it's hard to talk about a personal great play after your first loss, but that pick, what were you seeing on that? And, you know, the first that Goff gave up in the whole season. You know, just doing what my coach asked me to do. You didn't see anything that, like, wide open on that play or anything? Nothing, nothing, just doing what my coach asked me to do. What is it about this defense that it doesn't matter what backs against the wall, they're still going to fight down to the bitter end, especially going against Jared Goff and their potent offense, you know, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Gibbs? Just the guys just sticking together, just knowing everybody's going to stay together. Were you guys getting tired at the end because Gibbs started getting a little bit more yards? What was it, kind of trying to stem the tide a little bit perhaps? We were just competing, you know, at the end, just competing. What is the attitude in the locker room now with your first loss? Same mentality, you know, just get back to work, make corrections, get back to work. What was the difference between the two halves? I think, you know, just football. I mean, your momentum swings, you play two really good teams against each other, you know. You guys are going to make plays. I think the first half was our chance to run away with it, and we didn't. So we gave them a chance to buck up and come out and make some plays of their own in the second half, which they did. So shout-outs to them for being able to play a 60-minute ball game. We'll be better next time for sure. I know you're talking about not giving up chunk plays, especially in the back end. Amon-Ra St. Brown, you kind of contained at first. You know, you had a little trash talk a bit with him. What was the difference specifically in giving up yards in the passing game first? In what terms do you mean? In terms of when Goff started connecting with him a little bit. Oh, yeah, I think a lot of that was just like... You know, plays that got extended, you know, when you give a guy like Goff time, you know, when we don't get him on the ground, I know we had a couple of times, you know, where we got him off the spot, you know, we almost had him sacked and, you know, he made a couple of superhero plays to get out of it to find Amon-Ra and, you know, that's their connection, you know, being able to just find open space when the time and ability is there. So I think, you know, for the most part, the initial game plan, you know, the first reads and stuff like that, you know, I think we did a great job, I think. You know, we did a good job limiting Amon-Ra and Gibbs in the passing game. And we did a good job getting golf off the spot. We just got to, you know, finish a couple of those plays a little bit more. But I think, you know, the D-line did a great job in that pass game. And I think, you know, besides a couple of those extended plays and that one deep shot that J-Mo, I think we did pretty solid. And then Gibbs with his yardage on his feet. I mean, it's hard to get. running the best running backs in the league. And, you know, top three, probably not two or three. So, I think that's just, you know, you keep feeding them. You know, that's what you're going to get. You know, obviously. We know we play them twice a year, so we've got to be ready for that. And, you know, we've done it in the past. Tonight was just one of those ones, you know, they had our number in the second half. I don't think it's that tough. Sorry, I'm sweating. I don't think it's that tough. I mean, it's a football game, man. We are only seven weeks into the season. We just came off a bye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. And I think. You can, like, sulk in these moments, and you can, oh, like, we don't like that, but it's one game, and this is National Football League. You know, we've seen 0 and 6 teams show up and put up 30 points on the team, you know, so I think it's just a matter of, you know, what is our process, what's our standard. Are we meeting that week to week and let the long-term results show up? You know, I think we're going to see this team again, and they're going to be in our place, so I think we're going to have something for them, but, you know, we're not going to let this hang our hat too much. You know, it's not December football. It's not this January football where it really matters. Knowing that Yeah, of course. Those are good players. You know, you've got guys like Mace, who are leading the front. You know, they're all games. You know, that wears on you as a defense. But, you know, at the end of the day, we're wearing on them, too. You know, we had a couple times where we got them. You know, I feel like we just had to finish. You know, we were there. We were in the spots. You know, I think we just had to finish. But, you know, kudos to them for, you know, being able to make and capitalize on those mishaps on our end. But for the most part, you know, I think we played good. They played good. And, you know, that's what the score shows. You just got three more. No, no. I think. You can, you know, obviously I'm not going to sit here and lie and be like, oh, I don't, I'm not watching the offense or I'm not keeping up. But like, you know, at the end of the day, it's a team game, man. You know, there's only 11 players on that field at the time. And when we go, it's 11. And when the special team goes, it's 11. So, you know, you're just counting on those 11 guys to get you to the next play, get you through the next series. And, you know, that's what, you know, our mindset is on this defense. I think, you know, we got a lot of selfless guys in this. Which is why we play so well together, and we're not worried about the offense. We've got some guys over there, and we know at any point in time they could put up 50 if they wanted, you know? Knowing how tough this four-game stretch was for you guys, what did you learn about your team and maybe specifically the defense today? That I think, for one, I feel like... We learned that this team is, for one, resilient. I think no matter what the situation is, this team is going to give themselves a chance to win, whether that's playing great defense and then showing up late in the game with offense, or whether that's the special teams just being the one to take over the whole game, or the offense shows up from the first snap and they're pushing the ball down the field. I think the way this team is able to form itself within the game to be able to give ourselves a chance to win. We just got to, you know, get the wins on the column. But I think we've been doing a great job of giving ourselves a chance to win. You know, one score games in this league, you know, putting ourselves in those positions at the end of the game to play situational masters and be who we say we are inside the building, I think that's going to be key. I mean, I didn't think I was questionable coming into the week. Oh, I mean, was I? No. Okay, yeah, I was. No, no, you're good. Only Jay Ward was questionable going in. Yeah, I was good going in. Just whenever my number was called, it was ready. Thank you, everybody. You know, just wish it would have turned out a little different. And the results. I hate to use the word frustration, but some of the guys have already used it. In terms of now you've played seven games, you're still trying to get it going on offense, you know. How long can you wait to be the team that you guys know you can be? All right. Just got to have urgency, we can't keep putting it on our defense as well. But we got to have urgency just to come out and execute at a high level all 11 be on the same page. And I feel like it's always moving parts, you know, got guys who go down guys in their first year. It's a mix of things, so everybody's just got to come together a little bit, and that's it. How close do you think this offense is to getting there? I feel like we're close. We've shown spurts, shown here and there, and now we've just got to put it together consistently. Do you think that we hear so much about the Lions offense in Detroit? Do you think maybe their defense may be a bit underrated? What did you see out there today? No, not really. I think it was a little holding on the back end. But we got to play through that, and then, I mean, I felt like we was able to run the ball or move the ball. We just had some plays where they stepped up and made some plays. Of course, both sides are going to do that. But I feel like we were right where we wanted to be. We just had to finish, honestly. Honestly. I feel like we, that's a good defense. I do give them credit. That is a good defense. But we know who we are and we know what we got and we'll be better next time. Yeah, that was my point. Is it more on what you guys failed to do, you think? It was more on what we failed to do than what they did, comes down to execution. But like I said, we'll be better. We'll be better next time. It's easy to say we'll be better next time. From here on out, we'll be better. It's easy to say when you're 7-1, right? Not when you're like 7-7. Yes, ma'am. So I've just got to learn from it and respond. Does it ever get tired seeing Justin Jefferson pull off the insane catches? No, not at all. I didn't even. It was crazy. No, I was in on the play, and it was a run-pass option, so I go to take the handoff, and I look. I kind of look at what would have happened if I would have gotten the ball, but then I look, and it looks like he, like, bobbled, I couldn't tell, and so I kind of take my eyes off of it, and then I go, oh, and I look back, and I'm like, oh, he caught it? Like, what happened? And I just ran over there and celebrated. And knowing that you've got three more super tough games to follow up to here, what do you think, if anything, you guys learned about your offense today? We got all the pieces that we need. When we have to respond, we respond. But we got to go early, got to come in, throwing haymakers pretty much. Not jabs, haymakers. That's right, haymakers. And good thing, no trip to the tent for the knee. No trip to the tent. No, ma'am. Felt good. It felt good out there. Thank you. Thank you. You guys really were affecting golf, especially in that first half. multiple times, game could get into multiple times. What did it feel like you guys were doing well there? Man, we were just playing fast, playing free, playing physical. So, you know, like I just said, go back to work, focus on those things we did wrong or right, and then get better on the things we did wrong. Especially where you pride yourself on stopping the run, Gibbs, especially in that second half. What you were seeing in his game today? Yeah, man, it was a great bat. Is that? You know, kudos to him. Thank you. Now just praying for Campbell. Man, it's hard to see someone go down like that. But Gibbs, great bat. We just, you know, put it back on us. Got to revert back to techniques, fundamentals. Go back, have a great walk-through, practice, and good meetings. Back to Campbell for a little bit. I mean, obviously, it's game is secondary when you see a guy on the ground like that, especially a neck injury, get a pit in your stomach. Of course, man, because it could happen to anybody. So, man, I'm just praying for him, his family, and his health. You know, that is scary, but, you know, we put on our helmets every Sunday, Monday, Thursday, knowing what we're getting ourselves into, man, and he's going to be in our prayers for sure, no doubt. You guys know you're the... Best defense in the league. This is your first loss. We haven't had a chance to ask you this. Ask some of your other teammates what maybe, if anything, you learned about yourself in this loss. Yeah, we just got to go back to work. That's it. Plain and simple. Good meetings. We walked through good practice. Yep. Appreciate it. You know, we definitely got to respect our opponent, you know, playing against, you know, one of the best, if not the best offense in the NFL, but, you know, we got to match that. So, you know, we wanted to be the best defense, so, you know, we got to play to that standard every Sunday and, you know, got to work on it. It's just a matter of finishing tackles. It seemed like there was some missed tackles every game Yeah, you know, it definitely could have finished on a lot more tackles and stuff like that, but, you know, there's still a lot more room to improve, you know, there's still got time, you know, to fix some mistakes, you know. How do you balance kind of the obviously still having a really fantastic record, so how do you balance learning from this one, responding, but then also flipping the page right away? Yeah, you know, in this league, you know, you got to turn the page kind of fast, you know, we got a game on Monday, I believe, but, you know, I feel like, you know, we still where we at, where we want to be at, but, you know, it's definitely a lot more room to improve, you know, still a lot more stuff that we can correct, and, you know, just a lot more stuff that we can just bond together on, you know, you know. Come together as a team, you know, and fix it amongst ourselves. Dallas, do you feel it's more that you have to fix or that maybe Goff and company, they made adjustments at halftime? Oh, yeah, you know, going into the second half, you know, they clearly did make some adjustments, you know, based on what we were presenting to them as a defense. But, you know, I feel like still a lot more little details, you know, just from the little things to the big things, you know, could have got fixed a bit. You mentioned, like, working together as a team. Is that something that you guys emphasize, you know, responding to this first loss, just sticking together? Yeah, you know, we play team defense and team offense. Team ball in general, but, you know, I feel like, you know, it's definitely a challenge, you know, for us to see where we are as a team, you know, relationship-wise, to see if we can bond together, you know, and grow from it and progress from it as a team. And, yeah, that's the goal, so. I think I was seeing obviously Jared Goff plenty late. How involved does the chess match get with a guy like that? I was seeing the senior view and then seeing Flores one more time. Yeah, it's a huge part of the game, you know, they're trying to get into a perfect play. We're trying to check, you know, it's just the schematics of it and the chess game of football, you know, and, you know, obviously it's, he's seen our defense eight times now or whatever it's been since Flores has been here and, you know, we're constantly evolving, they're constantly coming up with new ideas and new schematics, so it's definitely a chess match for sure. Does that explain the second half at all in terms of what they got going on two drives or was it just a matter of tackling or running? How did you guys see that? Yeah, you know, they definitely had some, you know, good plays that they schemed up and, you know, they're going to come in and try to get us out of what we're doing and try to make plays, whether it's screens or getting guys open. You know, they're... They did a good job of that, and it's something that we've got to go back and look at the film and prevent it. It seemed like they found you and moved in the other direction. Sometimes. No, you know, they did a good job of switching it up, changing it up, and keeping us on our toes, and that's something that we've got to be prepared for, because every team's going to look at this film and try to emulate it. Two and a half for you, almost a hat trick of sacks against golf. What were you seeing personally early on, though? Yeah, you know, obviously it's a big game and, you know, I wanted to come out here and play well and, you know, obviously a lot's riding on this game with, you know, divisional game, you know, stay, you know, in the top of the league. So, you know, it's, you know, I took it personally to come out here and play well and, but yeah, you know, things just kind of fell into my lap and And It's just, you know, a total team effort. Did you have your grandparents or your family in the stands here today? You know, my mom and my wife came, so it's always good to get them on the road and come to an away game. Is your double stretch, sorry if you've been asked, double stretch? You know, that's a good question. You know, it's something that we've got to be better at getting off the field, and, you know, we gave up some silly penalties that kept the games going and kept the drives going. Um, yeah, you know, we just gotta, you know, be better prepared and try to get off the field faster. Thank you. Appreciate it.