Vikings notes: Road wins against NFC North foes rare

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater began his weekly news conference Wednesday with a statement about how the Vikings need to take care of business against their division rivals away from TCF Bank Stadium.

Beating an NFC North team on the road? That is something Bridgewater has yet to experience, but he is not alone. Nearly half of the roster is made up of young players who have joined the league since 2012, the last year the Vikings beat an NFC North team on the road.

The Vikings are 1-14-1 in road divisional games since Brett Favre led them to a victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field back in 2009. The one win during that span came in 2012 against the Detroit Lions, the team's opponent Sunday.

"We've started fast at home pretty good. I think if we will continue to start fast, I think that helps," said coach Mike Zimmer, who was 0-3 in NFC North road games last season. "Handling the crowd noise, making sure we don't turn the ball over. We've got to protect the quarterback better than what we've done on the road. Those will all be big things."

In their three home victories this season, the Vikings raced to double-digit leads, but in their two road losses, they didn't score until at least 28 minutes into the game. Their turnover differently has been slightly better at home. And Bridgewater has been sacked only three times at TCF Bank Stadium and a dozen times on the road.

"We just have to remain poised on the road and do the things that we're doing at home," Bridgewater said. "It's all about execution."

As the days piled up, Kenrick Ellis started to wonder if the phone ever was going to ring. Eventually the Vikings called the big nose tackle and invited him up for a workout Tuesday after Shamar Stephen suffered a season-ending toe injury Sunday. They signed him after the workout.

After starting his career off as a third-round draft pick of the New York Jets, Ellis joined the New York Giants in the offseason. They released him twice, most recently on Oct. 4. The Vikings were in need of a backup to nose tackle Linval Joseph after losing Stephen, a 2014 seventh-round pick who was serviceable in that role.

"It's already a good group, so I just hope I can add to the depth of the group and give those guys a break sometime and just try to compete and help us win," said Ellis, who has 53 tackles in 47 career games.

Defensive end Everson Griffen, who sat out Sunday's victory against the Kansas City Chiefs because of an illness, did not practice Wednesday. Zimmer said Griffen was "finishing up some tests" Wednesday and expected him to return to practice Thursday.

Defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd also missed practice with what the team is calling an ankle/knee injury.

Running backs Adrian Peterson (finger) and Matt Asiata (rib) were limited, along with cornerback Terence Newman (ankle) and right tackle T.J. Clemmings (knee).

Wide receiver Charles Johnson, who has missed two consecutive games because of a rib injury, was a full participant. He practiced on a limited basis all three days last week but still was scratched Sunday against the Chiefs.

Reserve defensive end Justin Trattou (foot) remains out.

Cornerback Josh Robinson practiced Wednesday for the first time since spring workouts.

He has been on the physically-unable-to-perform list because of a partially torn pectoral since the start of training camp in July. Now that he has practiced, the Vikings have three weeks to make a move.

Robinson said he has not had a conversation with Zimmer and the medical staff about when he might be activated to the 53-man roster.