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Vikings talk game week at Giants: 'It's real'
Vikings players Ed Ingram, Aaron Jones, Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus and Blake Cashman spoke from the locker room Monday at TCO Performance Center ahead of Week 1 at the New York Giants.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Vikings’ offseason started with workouts after the NFL Draft before coming together for organized team activities, mandatory mini camp and training camp.
Nearly six months later, it’s finally game week for the Vikings. Minnesota starts the season at the New York Giants on Sunday, a game you can watch on FOX 9. We spoke with Ed Ingram, Aaron Jones, Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus and Blake Cashman from the locker room at TCO Performance Center. Here’s the best of what they had to say.
A big year for Ed Ingram
It’s a key season for Ed Ingram, who is among the now veteran starters on the offensive line. He’s entering Year 3 with the Vikings, and if he produces, it could lead to a second contract. Ingram was a second round pick out of LSU in 2022. He’s made 32 starts over his first two seasons.
"I feel like I’m confident going into Week 1. I feel like I’m where I want to be at, I’m just excited for the season," Ingram said.
‘Nobody is talking about the Minnesota Vikings’
It won’t be hard for Blake Cashman to get ready for Sunday’s opener. The former Eden Prairie and Gophers’ standout will play his first game for his hometown team after three seasons with the New York Jets and two with the Houston Texans. He’s one of several new players on the Vikings’ defense.
The Vikings are currently 1-point favorites at the Giants, and it might be the only game they’re favored in the first half of the season. What’s his favorite part of the first week?
"Just finally getting to put all our work together and showcasing it not only for ourselves, but our fans and the league. Nobody is really talking about the Minnesota Vikings," Cashman said. "This team has a lot of pieces, we have everything to gain and nothing to lose."
‘It’s more fun the more it counts’
For the Vikings’ players that knew they were making the team and had starting roles, it was a relatively boring preseason. They stood and watched from the sidelines while teammates battled for roster spots. They got their work in during training camp, and joint practices in Cleveland.
The starting defense got just 14 preseason snaps, so it remains to be seen what it will look like.
"It’s all about making practice feel like a game," Metellus said.
"It’s football, it’s more fun the more it counts," Smith said.
‘Everything is for real now’
Possibly one of the biggest moves the Vikings made this offseason was bringing in Aaron Jones to lead the running back room. The Vikings released Alexander Mattison, paving the way for Jones after he didn’t take a pay cut from the Packers and was released.
Jones finished last season with 656 yards rushing and two touchdowns in 11 starts. But he had three 100-yard games in the final four weeks of the season. What was the difference? He says he got healthy after dealing with injuries.
"I was just able to get healthy. I felt like that was the biggest thing all season, I had been fighting injury," Jones said. "Everything is for real now. No more preseason, can’t get any days back."