Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores gathered the guys on his side of the ball at the end of Friday's walk-through period and did something that really seems to have impressed some of his veteran employees, particularly defensive lineman Harrison Phillips.
"One of the things I like best about him early on in this camp is how quickly he's willing to adjust," Phillips said between walk-through and practice Friday. "He just brought up to us after walk-through that, 'Hey, we're going to change one of the [practice] install periods.'"
Phillips then smiled, snapped his fingers and said, "Completely changed it just like that."
As a six-year veteran and team leader, Phillips has been in the NFL long enough to not share too many details with reporters. But the gist of his point was Flores admitting his way in that situation was wrong based on the players' execution and feedback.
"There's versatility in his defense, for sure," Phillips said. "And I think you can see a lot of that in his personality.
"Sometimes, you'll be practicing, and a player will mess up. Let's say a guy is supposed to be in the A gap and he goes through the B gap. Even though it's a [missed assignment], [Flores] might be like, 'Hey, let's put that in. I like how it looked.' That's really cool. I think you have to have that forward-thinking approach to defense because this league is always adjusting."
Kicking competition?
Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said undrafted rookie kicker Jack Podlesny isn't just a camp leg to keep incumbent Greg Joseph fresher for the regular season.
"Last year we had [veteran punter] Jordan Berry and we had [rookie] Mr. [Ryan] Wright. It was a punting competition," said Daniels, referring to Wright's unseating of Berry. "This year, we have Greg Joseph and Jack Podlesny, and it's a kicking competition.