EAGAN, Minn. — DeeJay Dallas made a resounding first impression in Purple.

The veteran running back who signed to Minnesota's practice squad Sept. 2 was elevated to the active roster 10 days later.

He played six snaps on offense and 19 on special teams. Most will remember the lane-clearing block he made on Green Bay's Evan Williams to help spring Myles Price for a career-long 68-yard kickoff return that set up Minnesota's second TD of the day.

The play deserves to be on the highlight reel for Dallas and Price forever. It's a flat-out wallop delivered cleanly and within the rules that prompted significant reaction from Minnesota's sideline.

It's also a trust-earner in a series of such actions by Dallas since his arrival in Vikings meeting rooms, the locker room, the practice fields and U.S. Bank Stadium.

With Vikings running back Jordan Mason landing on Injured Reserve with a broken thumb suffered in Week 1 against the Packers, the Vikings signed Dallas to the 53-man roster and believe he'll be able to complement Aaron Jones, Sr., and the efforts of the run game more this week at Chicago.

Before last week's game, Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips said he told the newcomer before the game, "I'm glad we have you, and I trust you completely."

"I meant that. Just right from the start, he's worked very hard to learn how we do things and showed very early that he's very capable," Phillips added. "We knew he had experience, and a lot of times that's just understanding NFL football and coming in, they kind of understand, 'Hey, maybe we call it different. I understand what these routes are.' And generally in protections there's going to be some carryover just learning the verbiage.

"But from the first night he was here, he's in there with Mod' (running backs coach Curtis Modkins) talking through protections to start off with, just making sure we're good there," Phillips added. "We'll get you right on the tracks and the reads and all that stuff in the run game, but the protection is critical, and he did a great job."

Phillips emphasized he's "impressed by the human."

The pickup was quick enough that Dallas was entrusted to be in the backfield on some third-and-long situations, showing a completeness that has been underrated when people assess Jones' career with an eye toward his volume of stats.

The running backs first connected on social media upon Dallas' entry to the NFL as a fourth-round pick of Seattle, where he overlapped with first-year Vikings General Manager Nolan Teasley. Jones said he's been impressed with the in-person interactions.

"He's a true vet. He's come in and picked it up really quickly, and it's actually kind of surprising because it's not easy to do, but he picked it up pretty quickly and I'm like, 'That's a pro right there,' " Jones said. "So he checks all the boxes when it comes to being a pro, being in his playbook, knowing what he's supposed to do. And you can throw something up on the board in front of him, and he sees it and picks it up and you can go out there and do it right on the fly."

After the game, Dallas admitted to Vikings.com, "The first day, my brain was hurting real bad. But I got it and picked it up. It's been fun."

"It's my first time being a Viking, and the fans here are second to none," Dallas said. "Seattle's fans are nice, too, but here, it's a different feel. I came out and the SKOL Chant was going on, 'This is crazy.' With Nolan bringing me here, I'm blessed for sure and just happy I was able to contribute."

Dallas has experience as a runner, receiver and returner. He said he watched Price's rookie season from afar and concluded Price is "the man" as a return specialist. Knowing the value of a springing block, Dallas was happy to do his part.

"As a returner, that matters. Holding a block for this number of seconds for somebody to split matters, and if I can do my 1/11^th, that's all I care about," Dallas said.

Dallas showed he is willing to have a little fun, too, with the expression he made for his team headshot, a wide-eyed look.

Asked about it by FOX 9's Dawn Mitchell, he explained he was trying to "embody the Vikings mentality, like that berserker mentality."

Special Teams Coordinator Matt Daniels said Dallas is embodying other qualities sought when the Vikings build the roster.

"The moment that this guy got here, and I watched the tape on him, I was really, really enthused. Great job by the personnel staff to ID him as a guy that we wanted to bring in, kind of this supplemental, being able to be a third-down back, but also have a big emphasis from a special teams standpoint," Daniels said. "True professional, high football IQ, tough as nails. Really, really loves the game of football. Plays the game the way it's supposed to be played with a ton of passion, a ton of energy, really more of a quiet guy than he is loud. And you can kind of see that even after the block, it was kind of this real just even keel energy that he had to him.

"I just really appreciate what he's brought to this unit. The way he communicates, the way he talks with his teammates, there's a level of trust that's already being built amongst him in the punt unit considering that he is the PP (punt protector), but he's just this calming voice, really kind of the poise in the noise," Daniels added. "And he brings a physicality and play style that really fits being a Vikings player. I would say that he epitomizes that. He's tough, loves football, and he's a really good teammate."

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