Middle linebacker is crucial to the Vikings' success on defense, and Jasper Brinkley is trying to become that anchor to the defense. He reads schemes, calls plays and positions his teammates, and that’s plenty of responsibility for someone who missed an entire season.
Brinkley missed last season after hip surgery and was slowed during OTAs by a groin injury. He came into training camp and announced himself ready to go and has been in the starting lineup for both preseason games -- but he has plenty of time to make up.
The coaches played Brinkley the entire first half against Buffalo on Friday, and defensive coordinator Alan Williams said it was an improvement over Brinkley’s first preseason game.
“He played well, he hustled, he ran around,” said Williams. “I think Jasper is getting more comfortable with having to command the defense, making calls, making checks, getting people lined up. He is running extremely well -- he played downhill a little bit better. We’re looking to see if he can do that on more of a consistent basis.”
Brinkley says that toughest part coming of coming back after so much time away is his eyes -- reading plays -- and his footwork.
“I have tried to work on my eyes and my footwork -- that’s the first thing you lose when you have been away from the game for more than a year,” said Brinkley. “And now each week we play a preseason game, it’s starting to come back. It all boils down to my eyes. If I’m messing up than I definitely don’t have my eyes in the right place. Last week was a whole lot better -- light years better than week one.”
Brinkley has two preseason games to get ready for the season, and according to coach Leslie Frazier, they are big weeks for the Vikings middle linebacker.
“They’re big for all of us because we’re counting on him to do a good job,” said Frazier. “I thought he made tremendous leaps from (first week to the second). You could see him begin to get his legs back under him. You could see the quickness and the burst that we’ve been wanting to see.
“We’ll get him hopefully quite a few reps in this San Diego game so he can gain confidence and his teammates will continue to gain confidence in him as well, but this preseason is a big deal for him with all of the time he has missed.”
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