From DE 
Here’s a notebook to get you caught up on all the action as you await updates from OTA #6 on Thursday…
Double-Digits For B-Rob?
That’s why what Frazier said about Brian Robison on Wednesday was notable to me.
"I think he’s one of those guys who can be a double-digit sack guy,” Frazier said. “He has that type of burst and athleticism. We’ve seen it on a number of occasions.”
Robison had a career-high 8.5 sacks in 2012, which topped the season before that in which he tallied a then-career high 8.0. The 6-3, 259-pound edge rusher has 3 multi-sack games in the past 2 seasons, including a 3.0-sack game in Week 7 last year against the Arizona Cardinals. Frazier’s point on Wednesday was that he’d like to Robison become a more consistent player.
"We just want him to be consistently good throughout 16 games and he’s been able to do that in spurts,” Frazier explained. “I know he’s gotten off to some great starts and he’s settled down a little bit and he’s picked it back up, but just being able to see him do it consistently through the four quarters of a season and continue to crescendo over the course of a year, that would be good for our football team.”
Rudy On The Rise
Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph came on a strong a season ago, leading the team in targets (93) and TD receptions (9). His season culminated with an appearance at the Pro Bowl, where he won the game’s MVP honors after putting on a show with 5 receptions for 122 yards and a TD.
So far during the offseason program and especially during OTAs, Rudolph has been a standout and looks every bit the part of a player who broke out a season ago and is still on the rise going into his 3rd year in the NFL.
"I try not to get too far ahead of myself, but the Kyle Rudolph that I see now is so much more confident and surer of himself than the Kyle I saw a year ago at this time,” Frazier explained. “It’s like night and day to me, personally. I’m anxious to see how he does when we get to training camp from a blocking standpoint, but that Pro Bowl, it’s flipped the switch. He knows he has a chance to be a premier tight end in this league after what he did over there being MVP and it’s evident by the way he’s practicing, the way he runs his routes, the control he has in the meetings.
“It’s obvious he’s taken his game up to another notch but we’re still only in June so I have to temper my emotions a little bit. I’m excited about what I see.”
Perfect Attendance
The Vikings made the playoffs last season as a wild card entrant. But the margin between that outcome and winning the division and hosting a playoff game was razor thin – just one game. A focus for Frazier and his team all offseason has been to do anything and everything to erase that margin and come out on the other side in 2013.
One landmark accomplishment in that effort has been the team’s high participating rate in the offseason program, including perfect attendance currently at OTAs.
“We have 100 percent attendance in our meetings, having guys here at practice working hard. It doesn’t guarantee you future success but it does give you a chance to have success,” Frazier said. “I firmly believe to have the participation that we have had from our players this offseason, from Phase 1, to Phase 2 and now Phase 3, it gives you a chance to do what we talked about when we left after our playoff game against Green Bay, which was work to improve our football team.
“Guys are working their tails off trying to improve and I don’t think you can do that if you are split as a team having only a few guys here on this day and a few on that day. To have this type of participation at a voluntary camp, really speaks well for our football team.”
Team Works With Special Olympics Minnesota Athletes
The action didn’t stop after the final whistle of OTA #5. Following practice on Wednesday, 50 Special Olympics Minnesota (SOM) athletes from across the state joined Vikings coaches and players for a fun Punt, Pass and Kick Clinic.
This has become an annual tradition for the Vikings during OTAs, and it’s an event that brings smiles to the faces of not just the SOM athletes.
“For us to be able to go over as a team and encourage those kids, they received a lot of joy from it, but so do we as players and coaches to go over and sign some autographs, take some pictures,” Frazier said during his press conference on Wednesday. “It encourages them in what they’re doing. It’s a special time for all of our players and everyone that was involved. Brad Madson, our community relations director, does a terrific job of reaching out to the community and today with the kids from the Special Olympics is a great example of his work being able to have the Minnesota Vikings give back to our community.”
