Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Weatherly goes up and down
Stephen Weatherly is being used at a different spot on third downs, moving inside as a pass rusher rather than his usual defensive end spot.
But the fourth-year player’s transition inside on specific plays has had some ups and downs so far, in part because he’s been asked to rush the passer standing up rather than with his hand on the ground.
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer mentioned Tuesday that he had a chat with Weatherly about his new role, and how to effectively rush the passer while standing up.
“One of the things is when you stand up, obviously your pad level’s a lot higher, so if I do stand up, be able to re-dip my pad level and play low so I can be effective in moving 300-pound dudes,” Weatherly said. “Yeah, that’s one of the things we talked about.”
Did Weatherly understand what Zimmer wanted?
“Coach Zim’s very, like, ‘A, B, C.,’ ” Weatherly said. “So I’m like, ‘Cool, got it. A, B, C.’ Loud and clear.”
Weatherly, a seventh-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2016, stood up near the line of scrimmage as an outside linebacker in college. He recorded the first three sacks of his career in 2018.
“I still have my same keys, I still have my same reads, I still have my same get-off, same low pad level, same moves that I work on the outside,” Weatherly said. “But … everything happens way quicker.
“So if anything, just for me personally, I have to increase my reaction time, but other than that, I just have to stay on track and keep doing those same things so I can still be as effective on the inside as I am on the outside,” Weatherly added.