Ready to impress and assess

The Vikings’ season may not officially begin until September, but it will be game on for the team on Saturday morning at the Stott Community Field. Weeks of spring training will culminate in a scrimmage that head coach Jerry Glanville calls a, “who can you trust” game.

Glanville says he is not looking for any one player to come up big and prove himself. Instead, he wants to find out who will be, “doing the right thing” on the field.

Offensive coordinator Mouse Davis echoes Glanville’s feeling on the subject and says he isn’t looking for any particular player to step up. He expects to see that happen in the fall, when the season gets under way.

In the meantime, the scrimmage will serve as a gauge of the knowledge and skills that the players have been developing at practice under the tutelage of the coaching staff over the past few weeks.

Davis says each of the four quarterbacks will get a little work, as will the receivers and running backs.  The offensive line has been heavily engaged during the early morning practice sessions that the team has used.

Davis says the scrimmage will challenge them in their pass protection specifically, which is an area that they have struggled with so far in spring training.

Most of the starters will sit out a majority of the game though, as the risk of injury outweighs the benefit of live looks.

While the coaches may be concerned about injuries, not all of the players are. Free safety and senior Jordan Brown, coming off of an ACL injury last year that limited him to sporadic special teams work, admits that contact is exactly what he is looking forward to most at the scrimmage.

Brown is confident that he is the healthiest he has been in a long time and is looking forward to contributing to a defense that is in its third year of maturation under Glanville. He feels the work he and his teammates have put into their game during the off-season has paid off and he is eager to have it recognized.

During practice the past couple of weeks, there have been a few key areas on both sides of the ball that were focused on. 

Linebackers coach Kevin Emberton continually preached to his group that they “needed to push [their opponents] back after contact.”  He seemed pleased with their progress throughout the weeks and that particular corps of players should not fail to impress this weekend.

The secondary worked on disrupting passes and it resulted in a couple of notable plays by the cornerbacks—an impressive interception by Deshawn Shead and a strong strip of a receiver by Tracy Ford are indicative of the progress that the defense is making. 

The defensive linemen repeatedly practiced drills in which they focused on mirroring the movements of the man they were targeting. Nose tackle and expected starter Jermaine Jacobs will have to hope this experience will be enough to get him ready for the upcoming season, as he will sit out the scrimmage as he recovers from oral surgery.

All of this work will come to a head on Saturday, as a line will be drawn in the turf at the Stott Community Field. It will be an opportunity for the coaches to gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the team that they have not had in the past, including last year, due to a shortage in linemen.

This spring scrimmage provides a golden opportunity to start the Vikings’ 2009 season off right. Special teams play will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the scrimmage will officially begin at 10 a.m. There will be an autograph session and a free barbeque following.