DETROIT— If the Vikings have an upcoming game set to be played on Sunday afternoon, it’s commonplace for head coach Kevin O’Connell to lead a team meeting on Saturday night at the team hotel.
With the Vikings preparing for the Detroit Lions this weekend, O’Connell decided to take a backseat. Instead, he let his captains do pretty much all of the talking, trusting that would provide a spark ahead of a game the Vikings absolutely needed to win.
“There were a lot of folks that wanted to play the game last night,” O’Connell said after the Vikings found a way to score a 27-24 upset win over the Lions. “We just had to wait until 1 o’clock this afternoon.”
The list of captains for the Vikings includes quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Aaron Jones, receiver Justin Jefferson, right tackle Brian O’Neill, edge rusher defense Jonathan Greenard, safety Josh Metellus, safety Harrison Smith and long snapper Andrew DePaola.
“The captains were very adamant,” O’Connell said. “They wanted to make sure that everybody heard all of them individually stand up and deliver messages of encouragement.”
They all took turns speaking to their teammates. Some opted for a fiery speech. Some opted for simple words of encouragement.
“We had everybody say what they expected for the whole team,” Jefferson said. “It was great for everybody to hear that.”
What did he say?
“I said a lot,” Jefferson said with a smile. “The main thing was, ‘It’s time for us to go out there and play like we’re supposed to play.’ Let’s go out there and play ball and have fun doing it. I feel like we definitely had fun out there making our plays and executing.”
It’s fitting that the captains led the way, whether it was McCarthy, Jones, Jefferson, and O’Neill on offense, Greenard, Metellus, and Smith on defense, or DePaola on special teams.
“We haven’t scratched the surface of our potential,” McCarthy said. “This team is so talented.”
In that same breath, McCarthy hammered home what he believes makes this version of the Vikings special, emphasizing the tight bond that has been fostered throughout the organization from top to bottom.
“That’s very hard to achieve,” McCarthy said. “You can’t buy it.”
As for McCarthy, he gave a little bit of insight as to what he said to his teammates, noting that reiterated the importance of simply controlling what they can control.
“We’ve just got to focus on the next opportunity and the next challenge to overcome,” McCarthy said. “It eliminates all anxiety, all nerves, all outside noise when we just put one foot in front of the other.”
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