7 takeaways from the first three weeks of Vikings OTAs
By Adam Patrick
Players are all smiles about the new coaching staff
The new offense wasn’t the only reason why Vikings players have been full of smiles during this spring’s OTA sessions. Minnesota’s roster is just excited in general to be in an environment that no longer feels like the sky is falling if they make a mistake.
New Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell just reeks of positivity and it’s already rubbing off on his players. Some of the most notable members of Minnesota’s roster like Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, and Eric Kendricks have all commented on the positive vibes that have taken over the franchise since the arrivals of O’Connell and new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Some who are used to the strict tactics that the Mike Zimmer regime used during the last eight years might view the Vikings’ new positive approach as something that will cause the team to become too soft. But don’t expect that to be anything close to the outcome.
Just because O’Connell isn’t screaming into a player’s soul if they make a mistake, it doesn’t mean that he can’t help them learn to fix what they did wrong.
Minnesota’s new coaching staff still wants to win and compete with the best teams in the NFL. But they’re not interested in causing any of their players to have nightmares when they go to sleep at night.