During his first public comments about his new defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer declined to say where Ngakoue will line him up, but the answer might be obvious.
Putting Ngakoue in Everson Griffen's old spot on the right side would let one of the NFL's best strip-sack artists keep rushing passer's blindsides.
Ngakoue's 14 forced fumbles trail only three NFL defenders — Arizona's Chandler Jones, Chicago's Khalil Mack and Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt — since he entered the league in 2016.
Asked about Ngakoue's supreme ability to force fumbles Tuesday morning, Zimmer said co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson can help Ngakoue "add to his game."
"When that happens, guys are aware of where the quarterback is with the football," Zimmer said via videoconference. "A lot of times, it's coming from the [blindside], where you can reach around. He's got some really good pass-rush moves, but we think we can add to his game a little bit with some of the other ones with Andre. Hopefully, that can help. But, obviously the more fumbles we create, the better it is."
Off the field, Vikings leadership preaches the importance of "culture" in the locker room, and Zimmer turned to new senior defensive assistant Dom Capers for information on how Ngakoue would fit the team. Capers had the same role with Jacksonville last season.
"Not only as a football player, but as a person," Zimmer said, "and if he would fit in right with the culture that we have here. So yeah, [Capers] was another factor."
NFL nearing season's testing plan
In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, said the league is close to finalizing the testing protocols leading up to game day. The NFL season starts on Sept. 10, and the current NFL-NFLPA agreement on daily COVID-19 testing runs through this week.
The league is "very fortunate," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, to have had relatively few positive COVID-19 cases among teams so far. According to Sills, four new confirmed positives among players and six among other personnel were recorded from Aug. 21 through Aug. 29.
Players with a "false" positive test on Saturday could now play on Sunday, as the NFL has changed protocols to allow players to return sooner than 24 hours if rerun and point-of-care tests both come back negative. Previously, a 24-hour wait for another test was required.
'What we're good at'
Zimmer canceled Wednesday's practice, giving the players rest and the coaching staff time to evaluate how the offense, defense and special teams have come together during 15 practices in the last 19 days.
The game plan hasn't yet been given to players for the Sept. 13 opener against Green Bay, according to Zimmer, who said the current priority, without a preseason, is self-evaluation.
"It is different, but I feel like we've had enough time to prepare," Zimmer said. "What we need to start doing now is, after [Tuesday], just start figuring out exactly what we're good at and then kind of go in that direction in all three phases."
Defensive end Danielle Hunter remained sidelined Tuesday, going inside with strength coach Mark Uyeyama after warmups. Defensive end Kenny Willekes and linebacker Ben Gedeon (PUP) also did not practice.
Thielen, the 'old guy'
Receiver Adam Thielen, 30, is the elder in the Vikings receiver room by about four years, which he said has been a "cool dynamic" as he shares his experiences on and off the field.
"It helps me stay young," Thielen said. "So much of the talk is about football and what we do on the football field, but I think it's so important when we're together 24/7 that you're able to shed life lessons [off the field]."