Posts tagged: jasper brinkley

Vikings Dominate For Second Consecutive Week, Leaving Playoffs In Play

December 23, 2012, by 15 comments

Adrian Peterson didn’t have a hundred yard game.  Christian Ponder, while making some nice plays early on, didn’t suddenly transform into Tom Brady.  Jarius Wright is obviously not at the same level as Percy Harvin.

Still, the Vikings dealt Houston a convincing 23-6 loss, and the defense can stand proud after this one.

Rookie Harrison Smith led the Vikings with seven tackles, while also adding a forced fumble and a sack.  Jasper Brinkley and company held Arian Foster to almost no gains whatsoever, and he also had a forced fumble.  Everson Griffen and A.J. Jefferson took advantage of those forced fumbles with each recovering one.  Antoine Winfield and Fred Evans each came up with timely sacks, and Matt Schaub never seemed quite able to develop the rhythm that has downed plenty of their 2012 opponents.

The special teams did their job, as well, led by Blair Walsh who broke an NFL record for 50-yard-or-longer field goals.  He scored from 56, 41, and then 39 yards out.

Coach Leslie Frazier should be proud of the way his team played on Sunday, despite the fact that his passing game still looks completely lost at times, as the Vikings have edged a huge step closer to being included in the postseason tournament.

Links Of The Week: Headed To D.C.

October 10, 2012, by 28 comments

Heck, it has been a while, so let’s do this thing:

A Last Minute Shuffle At Linebacker

October 7, 2012, by 1 comment

In Sunday’s game against Chris Johnson and the Titans, Minnesota will get one linebacker back from injury while another will have to sit because of a new injury.

Mike Wobschall of Vikings.com reports that Erin Henderson is sure to return from a concussion that kept him on the sidelines the last two games, while Marvin Mitchell will be inactive after suffering a calf injury during Wednesday’s practice.

Backups Audie Cole and Tyrone McKenzie are both expected to be active to provide depth in Mitchell’s absence.

Middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley is going to be staying on the field in nickel packages which isn’t too surprising considering how well he has been playing in Henderson’s absence.  Frazier explains that Henderson could eventually work his way back into the nickel package, but it won’t be this week.

“Yeah we’re going to keep Jasper at the nickel mike for the time being,” Frazier said. “He’s done a good job there. Give Erin a chance to kind of get his legs back under him and then we’ll revisit it later on. Jasper has done a good job so we have a lot of confidence in what he’s accomplished so far.”

Okay, now go back to putting on your Colts jersey… we’ll see you in a few hours.

TOP FIVE TC STORYLINES: The Defense

July 26, 2012, by 4 comments

Today, the Minnesota Vikings officially will open training camp in Mankato, and there will be plenty of storylines to follow on offense as chronicled here.

The defense provides even more intrigue and drama for us to follow, however, as there is a surplus of jobs up for grabs across the board.  Here is my look at the top five storylines to follow on the defensive side of the football in the coming weeks:

5.  The Alan Williams Show

“Hey, Alan, I have a job for you.  I want you to come to Minnesota and coach up the defense that, outside of Jared Allen, was atrocious last year.  Oh, by the way, I want you to supervise the guy you are replacing and also try to get Singletary to keep his pants on.  Thanks, see you soon.”

New defensive coordinator Alan Williams inherited a mess, to be frank, and the unique arrangement of the coaching staff could prove to be a point of drama moving forward.  It will be mighty interesting to see how he responds to the challenge and how his players respond to him.

Continue Reading →

Spielman Admits He Is Concerned About Brinkley

June 24, 2012, by 7 comments

Rick Spielman had a chance to sign one of the many proven middle linebackers that hit the open market back in March.

He passed.

Instead, the team has decided to move forward with Jasper Brinkley, a fifth round selection in 2009, to take over the position that E.J. Henderson has held for so long.  Brinkley filled in for Henderson quite well during his rookie season, but last year he missed every game due to a hip injury that is apparently still lingering.

“I know what we saw when he came in as a rookie and when he came in and filled in for E.J. and the potential we saw there,” Spielman recently told 1500 ESPN.  “He’s a big banger, physical inside middle linebacker that probably doesn’t get enough credit for his athletic skill set as well.”

Spielman can’t help but admit that Brinkley’s health concerns could be a problem, however.

“But again, the durability is a question right now,” continued Spielman, “just because he hasn’t played in a year and hasn’t played much at all hardly through this offseason.”

The Vikings are keeping Brinkley in Minnesota between now and training camp and Spielman says the goal is to make sure he is 100% ready to go by the time training camp rolls around.  Rookie Audie Cole, practice squad player Tyrone MCKenzie and free agent pickup Marvin Mitchell make up the depth chart behind Brinkley and have been seeing increased reps during his absence.

“There’s no question Jasper’s slated in there, but there is some competition going on,” Spielman said of the starting position. “Jasper has to show that he can be on the field, and if not, like I said, we’ll monitor where our young guys are, where some of our backups are and can they do it, and if not, we’ll definitely have to explore the market outside.”

“It’s a big year for him as well, I know, because he’s going into the last year of his contract,” noted Spielman.  “So, he wants — he needs to get on the field.”

I find the timing of Spielman expressing his concerns kind of puzzling.  When free agency opened up he watched guys like Curtis Lofton, Stephen Tulloch, David Hawthorne, and Dan Connor sign with other teams despite their proven talent and fairly ideal age.

If Brinkley doesn’t pan out because of injuries, and the depth behind him proves to be inadequate, then the decision to make middle linebacker a non-priority could be one that comes back and bites Spielman in the ass.

Brinkley Is Still Sidelined

June 19, 2012, by 1 comment

Jasper Brinkley made was all set to be E.J. Henderson’s primary backup at middle linebacker in 2011, but a preseason hip injury sent him to injured reserve which meant he didn’t play a single snap in the regular season.

This year, the stakes are even higher as he is in line to outright replace Henderson as the team’s starting middle linebacker, but once again injures are casting a shadow of doubt over his ability to successfully man the position.

In the middle of the OTA schedule Brinkley suffered a groin injury.  He opened Tuesday’s minicamp on the sideline, but Brinkley says the reason is not his groin injury, but rather is related to the hip injury from last year.

“Just a process with the hip, still keep going so hopefully I’ll be out at practice one day before (minicamp is over),” Brinkley said on Tuesday. “This goes back to the hip. Other than that, though, everything is good.”

Brinkley described the decision to sit out as “precautionary” and said if this were a regular season game he would be playing.

“The first couple of OTAs, I was able to do a little bit. I was able to show what I could do,” Brinkley said. “I’m pretty sure if the coaches weren’t satisfied they would bring somebody else in. It’s still a work in progress.”

Brinkley is probably right about that.  The Vikings passed on a chance to sign Rocky McIntosh, who has now signed with the Rams, but other options still exist if they don’t think Brinkley is a true solution.

One of those options?  E.J. Henderson.

Tyrone McKenzie has been playing as the first team middle linebacker during Brinkley’s absence.

Wobschall Is The Guy To Follow Through OTA’s

May 31, 2012, by 17 comments

Mike Wobschall makes a living by being one of the Vikings biggest cheerleaders in writing and in front of the camera, so you won’t get much of the disappointing news from his stuff at Vikings.com, but he is also one of the best in the business.  Plus, when other media outlets are not allowed access to practices or other events, he is right there to make sure he keeps us informed.

Through the first two days of Minnesota’s OTA’s, Wobschall has been there to keep us updated on everything.  Here are some highlights, accompanied by links, as to how the first two days have been going.

DAY ONE OBSERVATIONS:  Wobschall tells us that cornerback Antoine Winfield looks to be 100% this offseason and describes him as “spry,” while wide receiver Jerome Simpson showed his capabilities stretching the field, receiver Bryan Walters looked very sharp.  More notes about which players looked good can be found at this link, too.

IMPROVEMENT ON OFFENSE:  The offense, led by quarterback Christian Ponder, is bound to take their lumps as the installation process progresses.  As noted by both Wobschall and Ponder, however, the offense showed marked improvement from day one to day two.

DAY TWO OBSERVATIONS:  Cornerback Chris Cook made one of the best plays of the session and it could have been a defensive score, defensive coordinator Alan Williams is making a Frazier-like impression on his players, middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley is bound and determined to show his critics that he can defend the pass, undrafted cornerback Bobby Felder is a name to keep an eye on as a sleeper candidate, while fullback Matt Asiata turned some heads by making a diving catch way down field.

VIDEO LINKS

Leslie Frazier press conference on Wednesday:  LINK

Christian Ponder press conference on Wednesday:  LINK

Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin continue their rehabilitation by pushing each other:  LINK

An NFL Network report from Minnesota’s OTA’s:  LINK