EAGAN, Minn. — The wind whipped Monday, but Harrison Phillips wasn't blowing smoke.
Following the Vikings fourth OTA session, Phillips spoke with Twin Cities media members at the outdoor podium and smiled broadly, unbothered by the gusty afternoon. One reporter described the defensive lineman as "all jacked up about this team," and Phillips laughed with a good-natured shoulder shrug.
It's true.
"It's exciting when you see the moves that [the team has] made and see the drive from the from the top down, from our ownership to our head coach, to our GM, to our coaching staff," Phillips said. "The push that they're showing and confidence in us makes us work even harder in the offseason and makes us want to make our coaches and our fans proud, as well. You hate to be, you know, the one loose chain on the link, and so I feel like our entire team feels that same way."
The moves Minnesota has made this spring include bringing in a number of high-impact free agents on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Phillips was asked specifically about Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, who bring 10 and nine seasons, respectively, of additional NFL experience to the defensive line room.
Phillips noted the two "probably have a few tricks up their sleeves" after having such successful careers thus far and said he's already taken away a few new nuggets from them in the pass rush game.
"They've played in different schemes," Phillips said. "I know J.A. has been in Washington the whole time, but 'Grave's been on a few different teams. Been on 3-4, a 4-3, an attacking 4-3. And so just understanding how they see blocks and what they anticipate and how they play stuff.
"When you have those like 10-year type vets who found success, and you get them in a room and just soundboard off each other, there's a lot of great things that can happen," he added.
Phillips pointed out Hargraves' get-off at the line of scrimmage, saying it's unique from most teammates he's had, with the exception maybe of Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver.
"[Oliver is] kind of known for his first step off the football," he explained. "And a lot of time when you have a player that's so vertically disruptive, there's areas to overlap players, so they get so vertical that they might take your guy right off in front of you, and you can overlap and make some free plays that way, if you understand where the blocks going, where the running backs are going to go."
Adding Hargraves and Allen to the roster, of course, means reps likely will be more spread out amongst Minnesota's linemen. It also provides the defensive coaching staff more versatility and options.
Fresh legs and a bigger arsenal? Never a bad thing.
Phillips said he's anticipating "a pretty solid rotation" up front.
"And you know, the three of us are older players [by NFL standards]," the 29-year-old said. "So I think anytime that you can go out there [platoon style], three- to five- to six-play roles, you can really attack with waves. And because of the depth we have, we'll truly have waves that we can throw in, and also the versatility of the different packages. 'Hey, this package, we've got these three. This package, we have these two. Now we have these four. Now we have just this one.'
"You're able to throw so many different elements and so many players who could play different techniques along the line that I see that overflowing and snap counts evolving over what type of team we're playing and what type of offense we're attacking, and whose skill set could be the best strength for that," Phillips continued. "But yeah, I imagine we'll share snap counts a little more; I was playing [74 percent of snaps in 2023], and I don't see that happening."
As Phillips looks toward his eighth NFL season, he's grateful it will be his fourth with Minnesota.
He specifically mentioned the clear commitment by Vikings owners to fielding a winning team.
"They truly are [walking the walk and] trying to win this thing. And it's really cool to see an ownership that cares so much about that and doing it the right way," Phillips said. "So then fast forward to this offseason, and to see the trust they gave [quarterback] J.J. [McCarthy], handing the keys over to him, and the moves that they made to support that — picking up offensive weapons, picking up defensive talent [… and adding] a couple corners, adding some versatility at the linebacker spot — every move was very, very calculated and very optimistic about our future."
Phillips and his teammates are hoping to build off a 2024 campaign in which Minnesota went 14-3 in the regular season but fell short in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
Though turnover always exists from one season, one roster, to another, Phillips isn't the only one exhibiting contagious optimism around the 2025 Vikings.
"For the last three seasons, we've kind of come in during OTAs and we said, 'Hey, let's build the foundation.' And then when you finish a season and half your roster leaves, you get a new season, whole new staff, or whole new teammates, you have to start a foundation. And then the next season, we lost a lot of people," Phillips said. "And so the conversation [during exit interviews] was, 'We're going to bring in enough like-minded individuals who know what success looks like that we don't [have to start a new foundation].'
"We should be able to hit the gas and accomplish [enough] that when we're leaving here and OTAs in a couple weeks, the foundation's already been set, and now we're striving for a championship-worthy organization," Phillips added. "Because we have some veterans that came in and found success in other places, played in Super Bowls, they've been able to jump on what we're building here. Obviously the scouting department did a great job in the character side of things, of who's come in this building, and I think we're further along on June 2 than we have been in previous offseasons, while still working toward the same goal."
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