Postgame thoughts: Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell on preseason win over Browns

The Minnesota Vikings moved to 2-0 on the preseason with Saturday’s win over the Cleveland Browns.

Several players had nice days for the purple and gold, including many jockeying for roster spots.

Related: 5 takeaways from Minnesota Vikings’ preseason win over Browns

After the game, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell shared his thoughts on the win. Here’s what he had to say.

On Dwight McGlothern

Undrafted rookie free agent Dwight McGlothern seems like he might be the next great UDFA find by the Vikings.

He had an interception — nearly a pick-six — on Saturday, plus a tackle and a pass breakup. O’Connell said the rookie’s play vs. the Browns was “no surprise to any of us.”

“Dwight’s been basically every other day or so you feel like he’s making a play, significant play like that,” the head coach said.

It’s looking more and more likely that McGlothern will make the team out of camp.

On Ed Ingram

Right guard Ed Ingram was one of the few starters who played on Saturday, seeing extended time.

He’s started each of his first two years but has definitely struggled at times, particularly in pass protection.

“I just think these reps are so vital. … So I wanted to see Ed go out there. Thought he did some good things in the run game, pass pro was good for the most part, got beat on one TE stunt there on third down but those are great, great reps for Ed to go out there,” O’Connell said.

The guard spots were supposed to be an open competition but Blake Brandel seems to have the left spot locked down and Dalton Risner has been injured lately, so he again seems like the frontrunner.

O’Connell said he would’ve like to see Risner play, too, but noted that he wanted Ingram to get more work regardless.

On the QBs

Veteran Nick Mullens suddenly became a lot more important to the Vikings following rookie J.J. McCarthy’s season-ending knee surgery.

Now the top backup, Mullens played the first half on Saturday, going completing 11 of 21 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown.

He was solid and moved the offense a couple of times, although he also took three sacks. He maybe could’ve avoided a couple of those but he also seemed to be focusing more on ball security, something O’Connell noted after the game.

“It’s great that we have the trust in him to know our system and it’s great the preparation that he is and the value in the QB room but Nick knows we also value his ability to step in and move the team, which is what he’s really always done, but I loved seeing some of those throwaways, know when the down’s over, know when we can live to fight the next down. Coming off of last year, I thought that was a big, moving-forward, get-better point for Nick is just, ‘You do a lot of really go things, we just gotta make sure we possess the football as much as possible at the end of the snaps that we do have, especially the ones that maybe don’t go our way.’ … At this point in his career, that’s what I’m looking for.”

Meanwhile, the head coach said he thought Jaren Hall “was really good for the most part.”

“Rhythm, timing, ball coming out accurate, and then that throw to Jeshuan (Jones), you know, that’s a ball on a keeper that once or twice a season that ball might get thrown there so Jaren to have the awareness, eyes up, attacking with the ball up, showing his athletic ability and then throwing a dime right over the top there, it was really cool,” O’Connell said of Hall.

He also acknowledged a mix-up on the play that newest quarterback Matt Corral ended up getting a safety on but said he wanted to get him on the field and they’ll get him acclimated in the coming days.

On the trenches, edges

O’Connell highlighted the physicality of both the offensive and defensive lines in Saturday’s game, saying he was pleased by it.

O’Connell has said this summer that physicality was something he and the coaching staff were really going to focus on to better prepare the team heading into 2024 and the early returns seem encouraging, although it’s tough to draw too much of a conclusion without seeing starters play.

He also highlighted the group of edges and the depth that unit suddenly has.

Andre Carter II, Owen Porter, Bo Richter and Dallas Turner all had some nice moments against the Browns.

“When I look at that group, I’d like to see a deeper room in football. … I think (Mike Pettine) is doing a great job, I love the scheme, the way (Brian Flores) is mixing looks and allowing those guys to do different jobs but we’re going forward a lot at that position and guys are impacting the game.”

On assistants calling plays

Finally, O’Connell talked about having his assistants call plays for the Browns game.

Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips called plays on offense for the entire game while inside linebackers coach Mike Siravo and defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Daronte Jones split play-calling duties for the defense, the coach confirmed.

While they may not be the primary play-callers in the regular-season, O’Connell was happy that they got to experience handling those duties and liked what he saw.

“I thought they did great. Wes had a great flow … it felt clean, the operation. Wes called a great game, really mixed it well, some good third-down calls and put points on the board,” O’Connell said.

On the defensive guys, he added, “It’s always interesting when you’re gonna have two separate guys call plays with what their one style is gonna be versus the other but I though they played off each other well. I challenged the defense at halftime to not give up another point and they didn’t.”

You can watch O'Connell's full postgame press conference below.