JUST IN: O’ Connell opens up, Vikings coach shares philosophy amidst criticism.

The Minnesota Vikings offense has taken a step back over the past three weeks. It’s been evident that there has been some form of a change. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson referenced a change in how the Vikings are playing when he was asked about it.

“We’re just going out there and just playing, not really focusing on too much of the concepts and more focusing on the players that we have out there on the field, and our ability to get open against any coverage. And that’s kind of something we’re tryijng to maintain and keep consistent.

“It doesn’t have to be something that we draw up the best play that you’ve ever had. It’s all about just going out there and executing — our men versus their men and being the ones to come out on top. That’s what I mean at that.

During his Friday press conference, O’Connell was asked directly about Jefferson’s comments and had a different approach.

“No, I think coaching in general, as much as we try to hold the pen as much as we try to give our players an advantage for their benefit, it’s just a constant evaluation and reflection of the value received off of the things we do. It could be great on one play and then it could cause some things to be either hard to execute if the noise is more than you think it is or putting a little bit more on Sam’s [Darnold] plate. Do we need to do that well, it’d be great to do it but let’s be smart about this and treat each individual phase as, how do we build the best game plan to have success this week? I think to the naked eye it might look the same. To our players they might be able to feel that way and that’s the intent is our players to feel like, man I love this game plan. We’re sharp. We should be able to be crisp and efficient. At the same time from our lens as coaches, we’re still accomplishing the things we want to do to help our guys have success. 

O’Connell’s angle of each week being it’s own is both smart and the right approach. How will it be best to beat the opponent each week? That is something they should be focusing on each week.

I also think it’s important that O’Connell mentioned how the players feel about the gameplan. They should feel good about it and have it easy to understand and decipher. Is this something to worry about? Not on the surface, but certainly one to keep an eye on throughout the next few weeks.Ieeks.I feel like this game he is going to let us just go out there and play.”