Vikings ask turnover-prone QB Sam Darnold to ‘trust what’s gotten him here’

Quarterback Sam Darnold’s league-leading 13 turnovers are a “critical point” at TCO Performance Center in Eagan this week, coach Kevin O’Connell said, as Darnold continues to work on managing games.

Darnold has thrown a league-high 10 interceptions, including two in the Jaguars end zone last week when the Vikings dominated Jacksonville in yardage but were unable to score a touchdown during a 12-7 win. Darnold has committed six of his 13 turnovers in the past two games, against the Colts and Jaguars.

“Understanding situations and just being able to take care of the ball,” Darnold said Wednesday. “Especially in the red zone. That’s kind of the emphasis walking away from the game. Just going to continue preparing the way I’ve been preparing, keeping the routine the same, and when it comes to those situations … just understanding what the defense is doing, understanding the flow of the game and doing the right thing with the ball every single play.”

Darnold is leading one of the NFL’s most explosive passing offenses, and only three passers have thrown for more than his 17 touchdowns this season. But O’Connell is focused on Darnold, and by extension the offense, pulling their weight because other areas of the team have lifted the Vikings to wins.

According to CBS Sports, Darnold is the first quarterback to commit at least 13 turnovers and win at least seven of nine games to start a season since the Broncos’ Peyton Manning in 2015, when he was benched midseason before returning to lead a Super Bowl run.

“We’re doing a lot of little things that normally lead to having good chances to win,” O’Connell said, “but clearly the turnovers are keeping these games very close and relying on other aspects of our team to overcome for that. We need to score points. We need to finish these drives.

“What you can’t have is turnovers in the opposing team’s end. You’re limiting your opportunity to add three, seven, three, seven. Those things add up with the way our defense has played the last couple weeks. So we’ve got to do a better job collectively as a group — myself, our staff, and then our players and clearly Sam.”

Darnold’s three interceptions in Jacksonville included two low misfires aimed at receiver Justin Jefferson in the end zone. The third was a questionable decision into tight coverage on a slant to Jefferson. Coaches have discussed refining basic fundamentals, such as keeping Darnold’s feet moving with his eyes during progressions, and overall game management.

“From a decision-making standpoint, just trust what’s gotten him here,” O’Connell said, “which is throwing the ball at a really high level, making really good decisions, using his athleticism when he needs to. But the layer of just managing the game from a standpoint of play call intent, value received on this decision I’m about to make and the impact it’s going to have on our team.”

Perhaps Darnold was expecting to have more downfield shots available to him Sunday, because the Jaguars threw the Vikings a curveball.

Their typically aggressive, man-to-man heavy coverage used before last week’s game turned into soft, off-coverage umbrellas against the Vikings. Jacksonville played with at least two safeties deep for over 90% of the game, which was the highest single-game mark tracked by NFL Next Gen Stats since 2018.

“They played some of those coverages [before],” Phillips said, “just not necessarily the whole game, which credit to them they were able to keep us out of the end zone. This league sees what happens, and it’s a copycat league. Teams are going to see, hey, they didn’t score a touchdown. If they want to try to re-create that, we’ll be ready.”

Darnold said he’s focused on completions and accepting that a check-down might be the best play.

“You don’t want to turn the ball over, period,” Darnold said. “But in the red zone, understanding we’re having points. For me, I just got to continue to take what they give me. And if I am going to force one in there, make it an us-or-nobody throw.”