Vikings

NOTEBOOK: Sam Bradford Speaks, Faith in Forbath & Keeping Cohen in Check

(photo credit: Brian Curski, Cumulus Media)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford is back on the practice field after missing all of last week with a knee injury.

Bradford was limited in practice leading up to the team’s Weeks 2 and 3 games but dialed back his workload in Week 4 when the knee didn’t respond as he’d hoped. After getting a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews and taking some time off, Bradford said he feels “night and day” from two weeks ago.

“Anytime you go for a second opinion there always is a little bit of anxiety,” said Bradford, “because you aren’t sure how that conversation is going to go, what that conversation is going to be like, but I would say after going down there, it was definitely good news.”

While Bradford refused to confirm the official diagnosis, reports have indicated the quarterback suffered a bone bruise against the New Orleans Saints. Bradford said he anticipates playing through some discomfort when he retakes the field, but the team will need to be confident in Bradford’s ability to navigate the pocket and remain somewhat mobile.

Bradford was limited on Thursday, and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was unwilling to share how much Bradford did during practice. If he can’t practice in full Friday or Saturday, Bradford may still not be ready to play against the Bears.

His optimistic words may give Vikings fans hope, but Bradford also declared that he felt “better” two weeks ago before visiting Andrews and missing the next two games. If there is true improvement, it will likely manifest itself on the next two injury reports.

“Being able to make it through [Friday] and being able to make it through [Saturday], I think that’s obviously key for me to being able to go out there and play at a high level,” Bradford said.

Faith in Forbath

A season ago, Vikings kicker Blair Walsh missed at least one kick in four of the team’s first eight games, prompting the Vikings to work out potential replacements.

Current Kai Forbath has missed a kick in three out of four games, including a pivotal missed field goal against the Lions last Sunday.

It begs the question: Could the Vikings patience start wearing thin with Forbath?

“I think he’s alright,” said Zimmer. “We just keep going.”

Forbath is now 18-for-23 on extra points in his 11 games with the Vikings. His 39-yard field goal last Sunday that deflected off the right upright was his first missed field goal in Minnesota.

“We analyzed it briefly,” said special teams coordinator Mike Priefer. “We know what we did wrong. He didn’t finish through towards his target like we talk about all the time.”

According to Priefer, Forbath had a great practice on Thursday, hitting 20-of-21 field goals, including a 61-yarder.

Forbath beat out Marshall Koehn to win the kicking job in the preseason, largely because of his consistency.

“He’s just got to get his confidence back, and I think he has his confidence,” said Priefer. “We’ve just got to be more consistent, and he knows that, and that’s the only way we’re going to win games. We got to make those field goals.”

Tackling Tarik

With the Bears starting a rookie quarterback on Monday night, the Vikings will be watching for Chicago to establish the run with Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen.

Howard, a rookie in 2016, rushed for 288 yards in two games versus the Vikings as a rookie. Cohen, a rookie this season, is off to a blazing start with 150 receiving yards, 181 rushing yards and over 6.0 yards per carry through four games.

“He’s a scat back guy,” Zimmer said of Cohen. “They run the normal plays with him but he could bounce the ball pretty much anywhere. Catches the ball well out of the backfield, good returner, they line him up as a receiver sometimes, they line him up in the backfield, there’s a lot of different things that they do with him.”

Cohen, out of North Carolina A&T, may pose the greatest threat in the passing game. He has the fourth most yards per route run amongst running backs, according to Pro Football Focus, and he has been targeted 28 times, tied for third in the league behind James White and Andre Ellington.

This will put pressure on the Vikings linebackers and defensive backs to tackle better than they did last week against Ameer Abdullah, who was PFF’s fourth-most elusive running back in Week 4. This will be an exercise in leverage and positioning for the usually sure-tackling Vikings.

“It’s different tackling,” said Zimmer. “In space, the little guys are hard to get to. They have the advantage because they’re quicker than most guys and typically faster. The big guys are going to try and run you over. It’s a different type of tackling. … Space is a little guy’s friend, typically.”

Howard, at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, is the thunder to Cohen’s lightning. The Vikings still remember his 69-yard run that set the tone for last Halloween’s 20-10 Bears win.

“The big run we gave up in the first ball game last year, it boiled down to we didn’t take good angles,” said defensive coordinator George Edwards. “We didn’t tackle. [Howard] was able to see us. He has great vision with cutback, and he’s a very strong runner.”


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