Vikings - 31, Bears - 17
A. It's obviously good to end the season with a win at home. Tough start to the game until the last drive of the half, not what we wanted. But the last drive of the first half, and then come out in the second half double dip and get 10 points right there in those two possessions.
And the second half we had as a team was a great way to finish. Obviously would love to be playing next week and disappointed that we're going home.
Wanted to get Justin that record. Also tough to come up 16 yards short or whatever it was. Tried to get him that screen at the end to do it but weren't able to connect. So it doesn't take away from the season he's had and the way he's played and the impact he's had for our offense, for our team.
So hopefully we'll have another chance in the future to go get that record and others, which I'll look forward to. But take any questions you have.
Q. Mike wasn't interested in being retrospective. How about yourself as you look back on the season, what could have been, but the bigger picture about where this team is at? Do you want to be part of it going forward? How do you feel about all that?
A. It is difficult to be retrospective right now coming out of the game and the season so closely removed from it. But certainly a lot of close losses, one-possession games and then disgust, I would guess, and we did feel in so many games we were right there.
It wouldn't have taken much. And I'm sure most teams are saying that who aren't in the playoffs, but I do think this year was unique in how close we were in so many games. That's just the first, off the top of my head, but there's certainly pieces to go with it.
Q. Mike Zimmer mentioned that last night you talked to the team last night about how much the players had meant to him throughout his career. What was that moment like?
A. He communicated his appreciation for us in the way that we come to work. And I would say right back to the coaching staff. They've plated far more hours than we do as players. And so there's a tremendous appreciation both ways.
And when you have a productive game, you realize how much the coach's game plans, how much the coach's play calls, their design, how much they put you in a position to be successful and how much you owe them. He conveyed that to us last night from coaches to players, but certainly it goes both ways.
Q. How do you feel about the rumors swirling around about Coach Zimmer's future? And was there a sense of the players wanting to play for their coach today?
A. I think we try to insulate ourselves as best as possible, try to ignore the noise because we had a job to do today and wanted to get that job done. I think just no matter what happens it's never one person. We all have a hand in success. We all have a hand when we come up short.
Q. Did you get a good look at the future at receiver today, seeing what the depth chart might look like next year, being able to get Ihmir the same part he got and success?
A. Yes, I was thrilled for Ihmir to get a couple of big plays for us. And he's shown going back to OTAs his ability to make the big play. So that was no surprise today to see him do that. It's kind of wired into him. He's really good at that.
I am excited for his further as a player and I was excited for the larger role that K.J. got once how Adam went down and the way K.J. handled it and he showed what he's capable of.
Also, Adam makes a big difference for us when he's out there. And so I missed him, not having him out there play in and play out. And then obviously Justin.
So you continue to develop your roster but you also continue to lean on the guys who have done it for so long.
Q. Can you give us a sense for how much, whether it was pretty important for Justin to get that record? Did you hear anything from him about it?
A. We talked all week, really. I mentioned it At his locker earlier I am aware of it. I didn't want him to think I wasn't aware of it. I want to help him the best I can. He understands as a professional the win comes first; you gotta go play the game. We're not going to go chasing it. But we were close.
And he had other great games. Doesn't take away the fact he had a great game and a great season. I believe he got over 3,000 for his first two years in the NFL. That was something that I wanted to do if he didn't get the record was get over 3,000. As I told him when I talked about the record, I told him, Justin -- we were asked in the spring, what does Justin Jefferson have to do this next year. And I said, nothing different. And you'd be surprised how challenging it is to run it back and do it again and do it again.
I said the great ones don't do anything different, but they do it again and again. And your challenge is going to be, in year three, four, five, six, to look back and still be doing it year in, year out.
There's a lot of variables that affect that but that's really going to be his challenge and we'll see if he can do it, if we can do it. We'll see.
Q. What did you see on the touchdown to him when it seemed like he was open for a while and you just gave him a chance at the end?
A. They brought the corner blitz, and I didn't realize coming out of the play-action fake or the bootleg. And I was trying to go through my progression.
I was expecting him to go across the field, it was actually a post route. But he felt like, I'm gonna stay down the sidelines. Threw me off for a second. Stock [phonetic] did a great job in protection so I could slide up.
I just feel it's one-on-one, it's been a tough day on offense. And we got our best player down in the end zone; let's give him a chance. And I haven't talked to him about it but I think he tried to kind of play dead a little bit, like the ball's not coming to me, so the safety didn't react. If he did that he did a really good job of it because he was kind of able to lazy hands it and make a great play.
Q. The touchdown to K.J., looked like Justin was open on that. Would probably have given him the record. Did you have any thoughts of letting it rip on that side?
A. It happened so fast. I wish it was that easy to just say, oh, you know? But I came out of the fake, they brought the nickel. I just tried to work off the safety. He didn't move.
So I was kind of feeling like they're leaning to Justin, they're likely going to double him. So, odds on favorite would be work K.J. And K.J. was far more covered than Justin was. In hindsight, if I could have hit the reset, I would love to hit J.J. there, get the record and the touchdown for him. But great play by K.J. as well.
Q. You talked about trying to ignore the noise, but it's pretty loud, the noise about there may be coaching changes. Last week, in Green Bay, Pete, too, said he would love to see Zimmer back. Do you think it affected how you guys came out of the gate, and what are your thoughts, now that the season is over? Would you like to see him back? What are your thoughts?
A. The noise, it may be loud for you guys. I think that's your job. Probably should be loud for you. It's real quiet for me. I go to work. I don't do anything. I really insulate myself. I still have a job to do and try to do that job as best I can. And that's that.
Q. A 17-game regular season, seemed like a long grind?
A. We had these meetings in Indianapolis, I remember talking about it, taking it to a vote with the reps from each team and go back and forth. And there were pros to both sides of it. We did what we did. We settled on it. We settled on it right before the COVID pandemic. So the timing was also interesting. You play your schedule. You do what you've got to do. And it is what it is.
Q. What's the difference in your game just turning things around after the rough start today getting a lot of pressure?
A. I think we hit a couple of third downs. Ihmir got us going on the third down conversion. We had a couple of runs able to get going. The bootlegs helped us in a few situations to get us going. And I think we converted more third downs, made a difference.
Q. I know you touched on your future coming up, $45 million cap number, I think it's 21.6 percent of the cap. Are you willing to do anything to potentially alleviate that high percentage that would assure you're coming back or how do you look at that?
A. I say it's hard to have these conversations when I haven't given any thought. I don't know any of those numbers but I know I want to be a Viking. So that's kind of the foundation of it all and from there it's pretty easy to make those conversations happen when you want to be a Minnesota Viking.
Q. The decision to play the starters today, how did you react to that, how did other players react to that?
A. I reacted, you know, excited for the opportunity to go out and play. We wanted to win this game. Everybody did. I think the mood in the locker room after the game kind of reminded us all why we wanted to win it. I knew last year, in Detroit, how winning that last game, what the emotion feels like coming out of the season. We wanted to do that, put our best foot forward. And I think that's what the coaches enabled us to go do.
Q. In the week heading into this game, did it feel like a low-stakes game?
A. I think it felt like a high-stakes game. I think it always does. And I think the Bears defense is so good and it's been such a challenge for me to go against that you always kind of feel like you have to bring it or you're not going to put on a great showing. It felt like a high-stakes game.
I'll just say, again, the season you guys have a job to do. At times it's a difficult job and at times it's emotional and cantankerous and can be difficult, but I appreciate the way you guys do your job and the excellence you put forth, the way you really try to study it and get it right and know what's going on.
I may or may not give you what you need to know most of the time, but appreciate the way you guys do your job and the way you kind of utter voice to our fan base. And hopefully going forward you all and me and our team will be talking in postgame press conferences in pretty big-time games and that would be my goal and hopefully make that happen.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports