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Antone Exum may finally get his shot this week

By Dan Zinski

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Robert Blanton and Andrew Sendejo both had their shot at locking down the Vikings’ strong safety job and neither man could do it. Now Mike Zimmer may finally be ready to give second-year man Antone Exum his chance.

A typically non-committal Zimmer made no promises when talking about Exum’s chances to start this weekend against the Chiefs but he did open the door on the former sixth round draft pick getting his shot (via Minneapolis StarTribune):

"Exum had been splitting first-team reps with Blanton in recent practices. Sendejo, who missed the loss to the Broncos because of a knee injury, returned to practice Wednesday, muddying the situation. But Zimmer isn’t ruling out giving Exum his first career start.“Potentially, if I feel good about him,” Zimmer said."

If I’m Antone Exum I’m being extra-nice to Mike Zimmer this week. I want Zimmer feeling good about me when the time comes for him to pick the starters.

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If Exum does get his chance, locking down the starting job for the rest of the season will be less about trying to make spectacular plays and more about just doing his job.

Everyone on the coaching staff keeps saying the same thing about Exum: he’s talented but he doesn’t always play smart.

Exum’s fellow safety Harrison Smith put it this way (via StarTribune):

"“You don’t have to do anything crazy,” Smith said. “You just have to do your job.”"

So, don’t take any bad angles like Robert Blanton and don’t fly around like an out-of-control maniac like Andrew Sendejo.

Sounds simple enough.

Next: Stefon Diggs emerges as a player

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