*Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer *

*We're starting preparations for an excellent football team. They're very, very good really in all areas. Offensively, they're extremely explosive. They're averaging 28 points a game. They have an excellent offensive line, best linemen in football. The back (Ezekiel Elliot) is really going to be a super player. He's really, really good and the quarterback is playing well. Defensively, they play real hard, tough, aggressive and good in special teams. So, we need the crowd to help his this week and we look forward to getting back to U.S. Bank Stadium. *

Q: Have you ever had a Thursday to Thursday turnaround like this?

A: No.  

Q: Will it affect anything this week?

A: Well, yesterday it felt like I needed to get ready for a game today. But, today is like a Wednesday. So, that's kind of how we're approaching it.

Q: How does this offensive line compare to some of the Dallas offensive lines that you had when you were there?

A: They're really good. They're really, really good. They're the best line I've seen in a long time in the NFL, physical, athletic, big.

Q: Are they better at run blocking or pass protection?

A: I think they do both pretty good. Their scheme and their running game is good and they give the quarterback a lot of time in protection. So, and in like all really good backs they help the offensive line in the running game.

Q: What has impressed you the most about Dak Prescott?

A: I think there's a lot of things - vision, decision making, when plays breakdown he's not turning the ball over. He's not making bad throws. He's doing a good job with third downs.

Q: Have they simplified things with rookies?

A: I couldn't tell you. He's been playing the whole year, so it's not like I have five games to go back on and check. You know, they do a lot of things they did a year ago. But, I couldn't tell you how much.   

Q: Did you look at him at all when he was coming out of the draft?

A: Yeah, we looked at him.

Q: Are you surprised to see him get up to speed this quickly?

A: Well, he was a winner at Mississippi State. I thought he was a winner. He did a lot of really good things, but no, I'm not really surprised. You never know with middle-round quarterbacks, but he has done great.

Q: Who impresses you most on their defense? We hear about Prescott, Elliot and the offensive line, but not a lot about the defense. What jumps out at you about the defense?

A: The biggest thing is, I think they play really, really hard. They have a lot of movement up front. Sean Lee makes a ton of plays, a ton of tackles. He's very instinctive. They're solid in the secondary. They do a good job with the coverages they run, and playing off each other. They don't typically give up very many big plays.

Q: Is that the biggest thing? When you look at them, the pass rush doesn't jump out statistically. They don't have a lot of takeaways. It's just omitting big plays?

A: Well, [that's] a lot of it, and they're playing with the lead a lot of times. So, they get a chance to maybe be a little less aggressive with the call. I guess, maybe.

Q: What stands out about Ezekiel Elliott?

A: Well, he's one of the better backs I've seen in quite awhile. He's really an all-purpose guy that catches the ball very well out of the backfield. He's quick into the hole. Looks like he's got great vision. I was watching him play today, it was an impressive run, it was only about three or four yards but it was very impressive. He's good in pass protection, better than rookie backs for sure. One of the things – he's an impact player on contact. He's built, really, 225 pounds, he's physical. He's a hurdler if you try to cut him. He's special. 

Q: Is some of the lack of explosive plays due to Sam not trusting the offensive line to hold blocks for three or four seconds?

A: Well, I don't know about four seconds. Yeah, some of it is the design of the play. Some of it is trust, some of it is guys getting open. There's so many different things involved there. 

Q: Are defenses not respecting the running game in play-action situations?

A: Yeah, maybe a little bit. That they're not. We ran the ball better this last week but, obviously, it helps if you can run the football. At some point by stopping the run and running the ball you get to control the game. We haven't done that recently.

Q: What sense do you have of where the players are at during this six-game stretch?

A: I think good. I think they're … We had a good meeting today. I met with quite a few players individually today. So, I feel good.

Q: Do you have an update on Jeremiah Sirles? You said a couple days ago you weren't sure where he stood.

A: I think he'll be alright.

Q: With the number of injuries that you guys have had, can you put your finger on why that would be? Is there any sort of adjustment that needs to be done in strength and conditioning?

A: I honestly don't think it's anything to do with the strength and conditioning or any of that stuff. After the season, obviously, we're going to sit down and look at everything, look at that part of it. We're going to look at when guys got hurt, where they got hurt, how they got hurt, but at this point, it's just football things. We've obviously tried to put our finger on a lot of that, but we're not getting guys hurt in the weight room. Most every one of them have been on the field or during the games or something like that.

Q: Do you think there have been more concussions recently or just more diagnosed concussions?

A: I don't know. I'm old school. Back in the old days, we didn't have any of that, I guess. I don't know. I couldn't tell you.

Q: What's it like facing a team you used to be a part of?

A: I guess maybe if it was [more recent]. I've been away from there for 10 years or something like that, I don't know, maybe longer, and I've played them since I left. When you play them right after you leave, I think it's a bigger deal. I don't know. I really don't think about it.

Q: Are you getting what you want to out of your blitzes?

A: Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes they get blocked, and we had quite a few free runners the other day. It just depends. I guess, when you blitz, you'd like to sack him every time, but it's really not a reality. Sometimes the ball gets out. Sometimes it gets blocked.

Q: What do you consider a successful blitz?

A: Well, hopefully it's an incompletion. That's really what we're trying to do, is get incompletions, or if we keep them short of the sticks on third down or something like that, I would consider that successful.

Q: How have teams been attacking Dallas' offensive line?

A: It varies, team-to-team. Philadelphia blitzed them a fair amount, Baltimore blitzed them a fair amount. Washington didn't really. It depends on the team, really. They do a good job. The back is really a good protector. A lot of times when you're blitzing, you're talking about blitzes, you're trying to win on the back. This back doesn't get beat very much. There's different ideas of the blitz. Sometimes you want to play man-to-man and you rush five and sometimes you rush six and play some kind of zone or man or zeroes.

Q: How do you rush a mobile quarterback like Dak Prescott?

A: Yeah, you have to be smart with how you rush him and you have to be disciplined in the rush lanes. They've got a lot of situations where he can get the ball out quickly. 

Q: What makes Dez Bryant special?

A: He's a physical presence. When the ball is in the air, he believes it's his every time. So that's always a concern. He runs good routes, great hands, catches the ball pretty much anywhere. I think the heart and mind of his is really what sets him apart.

Vikings Quarterback Sam Bradford

Q: You were talking after the Detroit game about needing more explosive plays. Could you elaborate on that?

A: Yeah, I think we've got to find a way to create more explosive plays, whether that's mixing in more of our play-action game, which we've kind of gotten away from. We're trying to create some of these plays with some deeper-route concepts; that's one way, but however we do it, we've just got to figure out a way to make sure that it happens.

Q: Is some of that just having more trust in the offensive line to hold blocks longer to allow routes to develop down the field?

A: Yeah. I think that would be one thing. I think if you just look at our game plan last week, though, we just didn't really have a lot of shots down the field. I think schematically, that was just kind of how we decided to attack them, but I think after last week, we realized that we've got to be a little more balanced in how we go out there and do that.

Q: Do you see defenses playing up more and not respecting the deep pass option?

A: No. You look at that game against them, and it was primarily two safety, two shell, really first, second, third down. They kept two guys back there most of the game. So, I don't think it really affected them or brought anyone else closer to the line.

Q: What are some of the things that stand out about Dallas' defense? We don't hear a lot about the defense. All of the talk is about the offense. What do you see from their defense?

A: They're playing well right now. I think they're top five against the run right now. They're doing a great job of taking that away. You look at them, and by no means are they overly complicated in what they do schematically, but I think everything that they do, they just do it really well. They play really well as a group. They bring a lot of energy out there. They play hard. I think they've caused quite a few fumbles this year, too. So, they're playing good right now.

Q: They don't have a lot of takeaways. Does that make it a little easier to plan to take shots down the field?

A: Yeah, obviously, I think every team presents the opportunities to go downfield. I think you look at Washington and what they were able to do in the game last week. They hit them for quite a few big plays. So, I think it's just a matter of getting the rights plays dialed up at the right time against the right coverages.

Q: As an NFL quarterback, how impressed are you to see Dak Prescott come in and look like he has been in the league for years?

A: It's really impressive. Like you said, I really haven't seen a lot of his tape, but you seem to hear about him every week. Obviously, they've won ten games in a row, and you don't do that by not playing really well. And so, for him to be able to come in as a rookie and be able to do what he has done, it's really incredible.* *

Q: Since you've had a chance to go back and look at that interception, what would you do differently on that play if anything?

A: It's tough. They guy made a really good play. They trapped it. It was something we hadn't seen, and you'd like to be able to look out there and see him. But he turned his back with our outside receiver, really sold that he was going with him. If anything, try to peek out there and see him, but it was just a tough one to see.* *

Q: You mention the play action being something that can help create explosive plays. Do you get the sense that defenses are respecting the play action?

A: Yeah, I still think that they have to respect it. I think if you talk to any defensive coaches, they go into each week each week and they know that they've got to shut down the run. So, I think that's a goal of every team you play. They want to come in; they want to shut down the run. So, they still do have to respect the play action.

Q: Have you ever had a Thursday-to-Thursday week like this?

A: It's a little different. I've never done it before, but really, it kind of plays out like a normal week, given the fact that we've got seven days between games.

Q: What's the vibe been like around the team, losing five out of six?

A: Obviously, I think everyone's a little bit frustrated right now. For whatever reason, we just weren't able to come back off the bye and play the way we have those first five games, and I think anytime you go through a stretch like we've had, people do get frustrated and it's tough. But, at the same time, I think we've realized there's still a lot of football to be played, and you never know what can happen. All we can worry about is going out and beating Dallas this week, taking it from there, taking it one week at a time, but I think there's still a lot ahead of this football team.