Vikings look for urgency in guard Ed Ingram, seeking consistency on interior offensive line

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he wants to see “continued urgency” from third-year right guard Ed Ingram, who is scheduled to start his 33rd game for the Vikings on Sept. 8 at the New York Giants.

Ingram heard that order. He felt it, too.

After what Ingram called a “slow start” to training camp, he was the only Vikings starter sent out to play in the team’s first two preseason games — exhibitions largely saved for the backups fighting for roster spots.

That’s OK with him, Ingram said. He wants to improve. So much so, he stopped offensive coordinator Wes Phillips after a late August practice to get further coaching points. The two talked while Phillips stepped through pointers about pass protection. An observer stopped Ingram afterward to ask about the talk.

“I’ve been with them three years, so just communicating,” Ingram told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “Asking, ‘What are things I need to work on? What are the things I’m good at? What are the things I’m bad at?’ I’m always reaching to get better and better, so whatever I can do to get better and be better for this team, I want to be a part of.”

“Just asking him, ‘What can I do to make sure they’re comfortable going into Week 1?’ ” he added.

What are the coaches looking for from Ingram?

“Seeing that urgency every single snap,” O’Connell said. “‘What’s my job? What’s my technique? How am I working in combination with Garrett [Bradbury] and Brian [O’Neill] on my left and my right?’ Ed’s doing a really nice job. It’s just consistency.”

The Vikings would benefit from a more consistent interior line.

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This offseason, they switched left guards by demoting Dalton Risner to backup and promoting Blake Brandel, who was a backup last year. The Vikings are also trying to further develop Ingram, who surrendered a team-high 42 quarterback pressures last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

While new quarterback Sam Darnold is more mobile than Kirk Cousins, Darnold has not played well under pressure compared to other NFL passers.

“Just holding [Ingram] to that standard of what we want across that entire offensive line,” O’Connell said. “I think Ed is up there for it. We want to give him a little bit more work. Especially if you think back, he took a lot of reps in the [Browns] joint practices and then still gave us some good work in the games.”

Ingram, drafted 59th overall in the second round, is the highest pick left from the 2022 draft class, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s first with the Vikings. The team cut first-round safety Lewis Cine on Tuesday and traded second-round cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. earlier this month.

Ingram missed two starts at the end of last season because of hip and shoulder injuries. His recovery was still affecting him this summer, Adofo-Mensah said.

“He came back from his injury at a certain place where he wasn’t fully ready, so camp was a slow start for him,” Adofo-Mensah said. “But he’s kind of ascended since then.”

“We’re going to keep giving Ed chances to be the Ed we want him to be, because he sets a tone in the run game,” Adofo-Mensah added. “He’s somebody we want on the field for us.”

Ingram played 40 snaps in two exhibitions, more than triple the exposure O’Connell gave any other projected starter in his offense. The rest of the offensive starters who played in the preseason got just 12 snaps during an opening scoring drive in the first game.

Progress has been seen through Ingram’s eyes, which are better identifying his target before the snap. Like when he saw a blitzing Browns linebacker, Mohamoud Diabate, and threw him into the ground during a Nick Mullens completion to receiver Brandon Powell during the Aug. 17 victory in Cleveland.

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot just seeing the overall defense,” Ingram said. “Like the first two years, I wasn’t seeing stuff in the defense, I was just blocking. But now I can kind of see when pressures are coming.”

There are still improvements to be made, especially in pass protection. But Ingram said he’s glad he was the only offensive starter left out in preseason play.

“I’m a guy that does better when I’m actually getting reps and working through stuff,” he said, “so I feel like those games were good for me.”