Minnesota Vikings: Exclusive interview with Anthony Harris

With a starting spot up for grabs, The Viking Age’s Josh Zinger caught up with second year Minnesota Vikings safety Anthony Harris for a quick interview.

Last year, as the Vikings cycled through a number of underwhelming options at strong safety, rookie Anthony Harris was a lone bright spot at the position, playing very well in two starts late in the year.

Now with a year under his belt and still no clear option at the position, Anthony Harris has an opportunity to play himself into a starting role for the Minnesota Vikings during training camp. After a solid day yesterday that included an interception of Joel Stave, Anthony Harris answered a few questions for The Viking Age.

Going into your second season, has the game slowed down for you at all?

"“Yeah, it’s slowed down a bit for me. You know I’m a lot more familiar with the defense, I know where I’m supposed to be, I know what I’m looking at pre-snap, so just knowing all those things just kinda gives me a tip on what plays might be coming or where I’m gonna position my body during the play.”"

After a strong end to your rookie season, what are some things you’ve been working on to improve on over the offseason?

"“I’ve just been trying to get better overall. You know, get in the weight room, get some explosion, get my quick-twitch back, get some strength, put on a little bit of weight, just work on my change of direction and my technique, so I was just overall trying to improve on my game and become a better player.”"

And what do you think you can bring to this secondary in terms of your skill set?

"“You know, I think I’m a guy who can cover in space, play in the box a little bit, you know, just do multiple things that the coaches ask me to do. So, it’s just my job to work on getting better each day in every aspect, look for weaknesses and try to improve and get better.”"

The defense as a whole had a very strong year last year, but are there any things that stand out that the defense is really looking to improve on this year?

"“We’ve always just gotta continue to get better, continue to rush the passer, continue to tighten our coverages, be more consistent getting people in third and long, be more effective against the run, forcing the pass and then you know, contest every pass, make plays, and turn the ball over.”"

With so many safeties competing for a starting job right now, how do you approach practice every day?

"“Every day is just about taking advantage of the opportunities you get here, coming out here and giving the best effort, tuning in mentally and physically, being where you’re supposed to be and making the plays when the opportunity comes.”"

Do you think having that competition on the team helps you be on your game and improve every day?

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"“Yeah, I mean I don’t think guys really try to focus on it too much. Right now we’re out here competing against each other, offense vs. defense, even though we’re one team, so as defensive guys we’re just trying to be competitive, trying to compete with the receivers, trying to see how many turnovers, interceptions we can get each day, so you know we’re out here having fun and just trying to compete every day.”"

So going up against the offense every day like that, what have you seen from them? What areas do you think they’ve improved on this year?

"“Yeah, just watching them, at first glance the offensive line looks good, a lot of size up front, they’re getting good push. Obviously the running backs and everybody are looking good and catching the ball, so we’ve got a lot of talent out here, but we’ve just gotta keep improving, keep trying to get better.”"

Thanks Anthony, good luck this year.

"“No problem.”"

Next: Vikings game-by-game 2016 season preview

Huge thanks to Anthony Harris and the Minnesota Vikings for allowing this interview.

Josh Zinger will be in Mankato covering Minnesota Vikings training camp for The Viking Age until the 6th, so for more coverage, follow him on twitter and look for his stock reports at the end of each day. Follow on Twitter: @jzingz

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