WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Kevin O’Connell spoke for exactly 31 minutes, 58 seconds on Tuesday morning at the NFL owners meetings. He answered a wide array of questions from local reporters, while national reporters occasionally chimed in with some inquiries of their own.

Not once did Aaron Rodgers come up in conversation.

It was a breath of fresh air for pretty much everybody involved, considering Rodgers has dominated headlines at seemingly every turn.

The reprieve from the rumors gave O’Connell a chance to provide insight into the many moves the Vikings have made this offseason. It marked the first time he has gone in depth about everything that has happened over the past few weeks.

Here are five takeaways from that conversation:

The decision to pair Aaron Jones with Jordan Mason

After striking a new deal with Aaron Jones last month on the eve of free agency, the Vikings immediately started canvassing the market in search of a complementary piece to pair alongside him in the backfield.

Though he managed to play in every game last season, Jones finished with a career high 306 touches, a heavy workload that isn’t sustainable as he slowly progresses into the later stages of his career.

“We wanted to make sure we were using Aaron in a way that allowed him to be his most impactful self,” O’Connell said. “When he has historically had that 1A, 1B backfield structure, he can be a total game changer every time he touches it.”

That led to the Vikings acquiring Mason via a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. His impressive performance against the Vikings last season — he finished with 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown — played a role in him emerging as a viable option.

“We really felt what we were looking for was right before our very eyes,” O’Connell said. “He’s tough to tackle when he gets in space, and he has burst and explosion to finish runs.”

The combination of Jones and Mason should give the Vikings some versatility in the backfield as they aim for a marriage between the run and the pass that makes them unpredictable on offense.

The thought process behind signing injured players

It’s not hard to find the common thread when looking at some of the key players the Vikings added in free agency. They signed Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave on the defensive line, and Ryan Kelly and Will Fries on the offensive line, all of whom missed significant time due to injuries last season.

Why did they do that? It’s pretty clear that the Vikings feel like they possess a competitive advantage with Tyler Williams leading their medical staff.

“They’ve just proven it time and time again,” O’Connell said. “They’re world class down there with what they do.”

Not only do the Vikings believe Allen, Hargrave, Kelly, and Fries will be back to 100 percent ahead of next season, they also believe Williams and the medical staff can put together a plan that maximizes their ability to stay healthy moving forward.

The only player that the Vikings signed in free agency that could potentially have his rehab extend into training camp is Rondale Moore, as the receiver continues to recover from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The return of Harrison Smith and why it matters

There was an unwritten rule that existed between O’Connell and Harrison Smith this offseason when it came to the possibility of retirement. They were allowed to communicate so long as football didn’t come up in any way, shape or form.

There were some text messages about golf here and there and some phone calls about life in general.

“He called me one morning and said, ‘Hey Bossman, I think I’ve got one more in me,’” O’Connell said. “I was like, ‘Am I allowed to talk about football yet?’”

Nobody was more excited than O’Connell that Smith ultimately decided to delay retirement for a little while longer.

“He’s a huge part of who I am as a coach,” O’Connell said. “He’s a huge part of what we’ve built together in Minnesota.”

It can’t be overstated how much Smith means to everything Brian Flores wants to do on defense.

Never mind that Smith is in the twilight of his career. He still plays virtually every snap and proved last season that he can still make an impact.

“Just having him back is massive,” O’Connell said. “He’s a really good player and brings so much.”

The depth at cornerback behind Byron Murphy Jr.

It was important for the Vikings to find a way to keep Byron Murphy Jr. They did that by coming to the table and signing Murphy to a lucrative contract that makes him among the highest-paid players at his position.

The addition of Isaiah Rodgers shouldn’t be overlooked, however, especially considering Flores identified him as a target in the early stages of free agency.

“When he has that tone in his voice about guys, he has been pretty darn accurate,” O’Connell said. “No pressure on Isaiah.”

That Flores was so bullish on Rodgers comes with its own set of expectations. No longer can Rodgers live in obscurity. He’s going to be expected to take the next step in his career as soon as he starts getting reps with the starters.

Aside from Murphy and Rodgers, the Vikings also signed Jeff Okudah, who joins a group that also includes Mekhi Blackmon and Dwight McGlothern.

“Our roster is pretty full at that position right now,” O’Connell said. “It’s going to be competitive throughout the spring.”

The plan heading into the draft

There are a number of ways the Vikings could use the No. 24 pick. They could trade down and add more draft capital. They could stay put and take the best player available.

The optionality is something the Vikings suddenly have as a luxury after addressing so many weaknesses in free agency.

“I think the best player available is good at some positions,” O’Connell said. “We don’t want the best player available to have such a tremendous roadblock in front of them to getting on the field.”

Essentially, if the Vikings decide to use the No. 24 pick on a player, they want that player to be able to come in and make their presence felt as soon as possible.

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U.S. Bank executive Terrance “Terry” Dolan, 63, of Edina, was officially identified as the pilot flying the small plane that crashed into a Brooklyn Park house last weekend, the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office announced Tuesday.

The day after the crash, U.S. Bank had said the Minneapolis-based company believed that Dolan, its vice chair and chief administrative officer, had been piloting the plane, a single-engine Socata TBM7.

The crash occurred about 12:20 p.m. Saturday near 109th Avenue North and Noble Parkway. One of the two occupants of the house was home at the time and was able to escape without injury. Nobody else was killed or injured besides Dolan. The house was destroyed by the plane nose-diving into the roof and the subsequent fire.

One neighboring home suffered damage to its siding and some homes had debris from the crash in their yards, authorities said.

Dolan was flying back to Minnesota from Naples, Fla. After a stop in Des Moines, Iowa, he departed for the Anoka County-Blaine Airport, which is a few miles from the crash site.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

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Minnesota’s health department is laying off 170 employees whose positions were funded by pandemic-era federal grants to the state that were recently terminated by the administration of President Donald Trump.

In addition to those layoffs, around 300 employees are on notice that they are at risk for layoffs, the Minnesota Department of Health announced on Tuesday. And nearly 20 people who expected to start jobs in the last week no longer have offers.

The moves come after the federal government announced the end of more than $11 billion in COVID-19-related funding last week. MDH is losing more than $220 million in federal support.

Minnesota is one of 23 states suing the Trump administration over the federal COVID aid freeze.

Grant money helped the state respond to measles and avian flu and monitor wastewater to gauge levels of diseases like COVID-19, according to state officials.

Minnesota layoffs

State Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham said the funding cutoff came with little warning.

“The sudden and unexpected action from the federal government left us with no choice but to proceed with layoffs immediately,” she said in a statement. “They left us in the lurch, with no advance notice, no close-out period, halting work that would have helped us address chronic gaps in the system and be better prepared for future threats.”

Minnesota layoffs come as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services begins a push to reduce its workforce by more than 20,000 workers to about 62,000, according to the Associated Press. Many scientists, doctors and others with years of experience are expected to lose jobs.

MDH has more than 2,000 employees and is tasked with, among other things, monitoring the spread of infectious diseases in the state.

In the last two-year state budget, MDH had about $1.5 billion in a mix of state, federal and other funds. About 55% of that comes from the federal government, according to the agency.

Pandemic era funding

During the 2020-2021 biennium, its budget grew to about $2.7 billion due to an influx of temporary funding from the state and federal governments in response to COVID-19.

During the worst of the pandemic, MDH helped set up testing sites and provided regular updates on key information like new infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

HHS officials announced the end of state and local COVID funding last Tuesday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the federal health agency said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Much of the funding, which was set to end within the next six months, was used for testing, vaccination, and community health workers responding to the pandemic. the AP reported. It also supported a 2021 program aimed at addressing “health disparities among high-risk and underserved patients, including those in minority populations.”

“Abrupt terminations of grants and contracts is unprecedented and will impact our work and that of our partners,” MDH said in a statement on the cuts last week.

Federal grant cuts will affect several state programs, according to MDH, which expects that less staffing will mean slower response times to infectious disease outbreaks.

Community clinics, vaccination efforts, and the state public health laboratory will not offer the same level of service that they did before, the agency said. As a result, the state won’t be able to offer as much laboratory support for hospitals and health care systems.

There will also be significantly less support for nursing homes, including funding for ventilation system upgrades and staff training.

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A 72-year-old woman struck and killed last week in White Bear Township by a motorist whose blood-alcohol level allegedly was nearly two times the legal limit to drive has been identified by law enforcement as Debra Lee Lenzmeier of White Bear Lake.

Lenzmeier was hit while crossing White Bear Parkway at Birch Lake Boulevard North around 4:22 p.m. and died at the scene.

Christopher Ronald Olson, 46, left the scene but turned himself in to White Bear Lake police about 20 minutes after the collision. Olson, of White Bear Lake, admitted to having drunk alcohol and registered a 0.14 BAC on a preliminary breath test, according to charges filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court. 

Olson was released from jail Friday after posting a $500,000 bond, which includes conditions. He’s due back in court April 17.

Lenzmeier had retired from 3M after working for the Maplewood-based company for 35 years, her online obituary says. In retirement, she kept busy with jobs that “filled her time and heart as they allowed her to connect with people,” the obituary says. “Always with a smile on her face, the customers knew her and requested her by name.”

Lenzmeier’s survivors include her husband of 45 years, Bob, three children, six grandchildren and two siblings.

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