The Minnesota Vikings’ veteran defensive lineman spoke to the local media on Wednesday about the team’s awful end to last season.
As one of the oldest and longest tenured players on the current Minnesota Vikings roster, Brian Robison knows his skills off the field are beginning to get more important than what he necessarily does on the field. Entering his 11th season with the Vikings, the defensive end has evolved into one of the team’s top leaders since he came to Minnesota in 2007.
Being that he was actually there to experience it all, Robison knows how abnormal of a season the Vikings endured last year. But on Wednesday, he told the local Minnesota media that there was no obstacle in 2016 that should be used to justify why the team struggled at the end of the season.
"“We ran into a lot of stuff last year with injuries and things like that, but there is no excuse. There were games that we should have won down the stretch. We understand that in order to be successful in this league, you have to work hard day-in and day-out.”"
It is a great sign that Robison is not about to let anyone on Vikings’ roster dwell about the team’s second-half collapse in 2016. A mentality that he has likely picked up from Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer.
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Robison may be seeing less time on the field this season, but the veteran defensive end’s value to the team remains at a high level. So he will still be making a tremendous impact for the Vikings in 2017, even if does not end up doing as many sack celebrations as he would like.