Presser Points: Zimmer Getting Vikings Prepared with No Preseason

[Viktor]

"That, plus trying to get a team game-ready in a short amount of time without a lot of games," Zimmer said. "They always say that you improve the most from your first to second game because you get a chance to evaluate and look at things and change some things that aren't working. We won't have that luxury this year, so we're going to have to get going fast.


"I'll probably have some younger-player 'games' in practice, where they've got to go play games, maybe a quarter or a half or something like that," he added. "We may end up doing it on two fields, so we've got one group going on one field, one group going on another."


Does the cancelation of preseason games also affect Zimmer and his process of shaking the rust off as a play-caller?


"A little bit," although Zimmer noted he typically does not call all four preseason games.


"I'm going to have to call some during practice just so I can get back in rhythm a little bit," Zimmer said. "I've thought about that, as well, as far as some situations in practice I'll just go ahead and call the defense, and some of them I'll let [Co-Defensive Coordinator Andre Patterson] call, and some of them I'll let [Co-Defensive Coordinator Adam Zimmer] call."


Here are four other topics Zimmer addressed during his session with media:


1. Leaning a little on Week 17


Last year's regular-season finale felt a little like a preseason game.


Having already clinched a playoff berth, the Vikings sat a majority of their starters and gave young players a chance to see significant game action.


Zimmer said it "helped a lot" in evaluating some players they hadn't yet seen much game-day film on. They'll be able to lean somewhat on that tape as they prepare for this year's regular season, which is set to kick off Sept. 13 against Green Bay.


"We at least got a look at these guys and how they improved from when they came in to the end of the year," Zimmer said. "There's quite a few guys who ended up playing in that ballgame that actually did a pretty good job. [Olisaemeka] Udoh got to play a lot against good pass rushers in that game. Those are the guys I'm excited about seeing today. Like Holton Hill, some of the others, [Aviante] Collins, some of the offensive linemen and how they have improved.


"The other part is how much they have matured," Zimmer continued. "One of the things I've noticed the last few days with these young guys is some of the second-year players have matured as far as how they act and what they are trying to do and how they are paying attention to learning and we'll see how it carries over."