DE Jared Allen went on record earlier in camp saying that it was one of the hardest he has ever participated in. Coach Leslie Frazier was asked if six days in a row with pads was designed to see how the players would hold up physically -- and mentally.
“No doubt about it,” said Frazier. “It was a part of it. You want to challenge them, you want to see who is going to moan and groan and complain. (You want to see) if they’re willing to make the sacrifices that we think are necessary to improve our team and part of that is sometimes doing things you don’t want to do. You have to find out how guys are going to respond to those situations.”
The CBA mandates at least one day off a week from padded practices, so Frazier, while within the rules, certainly pushed his players this past week to determine who is willing to go to battle all season.
“There are going to be moments in games as we all know where things aren’t going to be right and you still have to be able to function and function well,” said Frazier.
Frazier hopes to see evidence of his team ready to fight adversity on Friday night against Buffalo.
Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson
The coaching staff is trying to make up for lost time with CB Josh Robinson, who has sat out much of camp with a tweaked hamstring and missed the trip to San Francisco last week. He has been getting reps with the first team and holding his own. Look for Robinson to get plenty of reps early on Friday against the Bills.
Big Test for Fusco
The coaches are still evaluating RG Brandon Fusco for the starting role, and coach Frazier will be watching on Friday when Buffalo comes to town with a 4-3 defensive scheme.
“With the 4-3, he will get more of a test then he did a week ago with the 3-4 front,” said Frazier. “We are anxious to see how he responds, they have a good defensive front early on, so he will go against some pretty good guys. We want to see how he responds, but he will be tested more this week.”
Ponder the prognosticator
Ponder was asked if he would settle, right now, for an 8-8 record at the end of the season and he said that if 8-8 gets the team in the playoffs, he would take it. Ponder said playoffs are the team’s goal and he feels that is realistic. Asked what he would like to get out of Friday’s game against the Bills, and Ponder said he just looking for the end zone.
“Touchdowns,” said Ponder. “Two field goals on two drives -- obviously we like points -- but we need touchdowns to win in the NFL. So we want to continue scoring every drive, but we would rather take 7 than 3.”
Injury update
Frazier said that RG Geoff Schwartz -- who is out with a sports hernia -- is the only player, as of Wednesday, who might not make it back for the season opener against Jacksonville.
“Yeah, he would be the only one,” said Frazier. “All of the other guys that are a little nicked, we should get (them) back if not next week, for sure the week that we are preparing for the Texans--even if they don’t play in the game (but at least) to practice.”
That means the TE Jeff Carlson (sprained MCL), DT Letroy Guion (sprained PCL) and DeMarcus Love should be back very soon. Love participated in many of the drills at Wednesday’s practice.
For more Vikings news, follow Joe Oberle on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLMIN or @joeoberle.