Vikings Daily Digest: ‘If the ball is in the air, it’s ours’

[Viktor]

“There have been a few plays in practice where I didn’t go up and make that play,” Johnson said. “Coach Stefanski has been talking that, ‘If the ball is in the air, it’s ours.’ I went in with that mindset and completed the catch.


“It was definitely a setup. Coach even said I might have sold it too hard,” Johnson added. “I caught the corner slipping … he was looking at the quarterback … and I just took off.”


Stefanski had plenty of praise for the seventh-round pick out of Colorado State who seems to be climbing the depth chart in recent weeks.


That includes a consistency in route running, a skill that Johnson can improve by watching the likes of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs every day in practice.


“Yeah, that’s part of route running, is there is a savviness to it, and it’s not going to look exactly the same every time,” Stefanski said. “Certainly to the defender, you want to show them a picture of ‘This route looks like that route,’ and I think that double move, in particular, he had a little bit of a flair with that one.


“I think he may have been watching some of the older guys run that one,” Stefanski added. “But certainly, we work really hard on the techniques and route running, and then there are some movements that these guys are blessed with, and that was one of them.”


Johnson was back to work Sunday and Monday after his strong debut, as the Vikings are now preparing for a home preseason game against Seattle at 7 p.m. (CT) Sunday.


The contest will be a chance for Johnson to build off Friday, and take another step in his progression early in his NFL career.


“It’s definitely a big confidence boost, especially being a rookie and everything,” Johnson said. “It was something I needed, but the work doesn’t stop. I have to keep going.”