Positivity flows from Childress about offseason

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

<-------------purple colored glasses

 

Patrick Reusse: Positivity flows from Childress about offseason

 

Even in the face of skepticism, the Vikings coach has no problem picking out areas where his team has improved in workouts and camps.

 

By Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune

 

Last update: June 18, 2007 – 9:12 PM

 

Vikings coach Brad Childress was asked to identify five things that he learned and felt good about during his team's series of optional workouts, a minicamp and a rookie camp. He came up with a top half-dozen.

 

1. Leadership of new defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

 

"Having played a position, having played his career on the edge ... that gives Leslie a lot of knowledge to add to our pressure defense," Childress said. "He was a corner on the Bears' Super Bowl team [in 1985], so he's not afraid to blitz."

 

Childress was asked if it was a melancholy day for him when Mike Tomlin, a success as a rookie defensive coordinator in 2006, was hired as the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

"I was neutral about it," Childress said. "You don't expect a rookie coordinator at Mike's age [34] to become a head coach. But I knew he was a very talented coach. That's why I hired him."

 

Childress said he had Frazier, an assistant in Indianapolis, at the top of his wish list from the day Tomlin left.

 

"Everything I anticipated from Leslie, as a teacher and a communicator, we have seen on the field," Childress said.

 

2 Greater impact of center Matt Birk.

 

"Birk's a full year removed from injury," Childress said. "He's bigger and stronger. Matt played last season at 295. He's 316 now, and he's moving just fine.

 

"Hard as it is to believe, 295 is small for an NFL center. We'll see if Matt can maintain his weight, his mass, in training camp. I'm confident that he will."

 

3 Potential impact of receiver Troy Williamson.

 

"Troy's an elite athlete, or he wouldn't have been a seventh pick in the draft," Childress said. "And now, the things I have seen after his work with the crappy shoes from spammers vision people make me optimistic."

 

The cynic interviewing the coach responded, "He hasn't been looking for Neptune in the night sky. It's a football. Who can't see a football?"

 

Childress said: "I had some of those thoughts myself, until I saw for myself the things that Dr. [Alan] Reichow and his staff at crappy shoes from spammers are doing to study and to assist athletes with vision. There's a difference between looking at an eye chart, and keeping your eyes in focus when you're running and your head is bouncing around.

 

"Troy was skeptical, too, but he's now 100 percent on board. He does his vision exercises every day. He has used these techniques with the 13-, 14- or 15,000 balls he has caught in this offseason."

 

Yeah, but those hands?

 

"Troy has great hands," Childress said.

 

4 Linebacker Chad Greenway's and safety Tank Williams' recoveries from injuries.

 

"Greenway is a football player," Childress said. "He's fast. He's strong. He's relentless. Forty minutes after practice is over, you might see him fielding punts.

 

"Tank's healthy. He's playing all-out. He's going to make us deeper and better on the back end of the defense."

 

5 Progress of quarterbacks Tarvaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger.

 

"This offseason has been so much better for Tarvaris," Childress said. "Remember, a year ago he couldn't be here working out before May 17. This year, he has been at it every day, and there's no comparison to the player we saw last season.

 

"He's a good player. We know that. Is he going to be good right now as a starting NFL quarterback? We all want that. ... What we do know with Tarvaris -- when he plays -- is that you will see a much different player than in two games at the end of last season."

 

Childress also said Bollinger is a more capable quarterback than seems the popular opinion among the team's followers.

 

"He's a throw-to-the-spot guy, but that works for him," Childress said. "He's sharp enough about what's going on with a defense to do that."

 

Childress said Bollinger has been promised the chance to compete with Jackson for the starting job in training camp and the exhibitions.

 

6 The arrival of running back Adrian Peterson.

 

"He's a 220-pound man who plays the game very fast," Childress said. "He can run between the tackles or to the outside. He can catch the ball short or down the field.

 

"He has the 'wow' factor, and that's something our offense needs."

 

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com

[peepinmofo]

 

"Troy has great hands," Childress said.

 

 

 

Umm... This is where I realized this was just a funny joke.

[alexgaddis]

Umm... This is where I realized this was just a funny joke.

 

I think he meant aesthetically speaking

Edited June 20, 2007 by alexgaddis

[Yukon Cornelius]

isnt that form the onion

[Caveman_Nick]

Umm... This is where I realized this was just a funny joke.

 

 

You don't know what Troy was doing with those hands when Childress made the comment

[alexgaddis]

You don't know what Troy was doing with those hands when Childress made the comment

 

[peepinmofo]

You don't know what Troy was doing with those hands when Childress made the comment