EAGAN, Minn. - One entered this season after neck surgery; The other played elsewhere in 2020 and came back in a completely different role.
Yet once again Minnesota Vikings teammates Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen step onto the field and look at each other before groping the ball—a look that confirms that both are in the process of becoming quarterback's worst nightmares - There is no doubt the skill of moving fast. In five of the last six seasons, when Hunter and Griffen are on the field together, the Vikings' pressure rate (32%), sack rate (8.3%) and yards per game (5.0) led the NFL, ESPN Stats End. according to information.
Neither played for the Vikings last year with Hunter necessitating surgery because of a herniated disc, and Griffen tested the waters as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
After struggling without their top two edge rushers in 2020 and recording a franchise-worst 23 sacks, the Vikings prioritized improvement during the off-season. This included making sure Hunter, 26, was where he needed to be physically and ironing out some contractual kinks before training camp. It also meant having to put Griffen back on the opposite side of Hunter, even though the 33-year-old didn't start.
Through three games, the Vikings are placed fourth in sack (10), with Hunter at the top of the league's leaderboard, four of their own. That included a three-sack performance against Arizona, which is no small feat in Kyler Murray against the league's most slippery quarterback.
It's an impressive start for any player, especially one whose status in the season was a major question mark for the Vikings' defense.
Will Hunter look like the same player he was before the neck injury? With their total of 16 pressures, which are tied for the third-most in the league, it seems the answer is yes.
"It's not about a 32-year-old recovering from an injury and missing out on a year," said assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson. "He's still young, so there was no doubt in my mind that, as long as he was healthy, he'd play the way he played. Plus, the type of person D is, even if he wasn't playing. Was studying himself. He was making me videos of him and how he used to play runs and passes, so it wasn't like he wasn't keeping his focus on football. He was still doing the same thing. That's about me There was no question in my mind."
Hunter was known to be patient in his return, making sure he was completely healthy and in football shape as he weeks at camp. He surprised himself by how well he felt against Cincinnati. After two more games, there was no doubt that he was back to normal.
"I think I'm back," Hunter said. "Definitely in terms of conditioning, I feel great. Go out there and do what I need to do to put my team in a game-winning position. Not just me but the entire defensive line."
In the middle of the third quarter of Minnesota's 30–17 win over Seattle, Griffen overtook the Seahawks, blew away Duane Brown with an inside spin move and turned inside defensive tackles to take down quarterback Russell Wilson. Gaya. He gave Hunter props to his outdoor crowd that helped him perform his first "Sack Daddy" dance of the 2019 season in a Vikings uniform.
This is a new role for Griffen, who is a first rotational pass-rusher since the start of his career. DJ Vonum defensive end starts opposite Hunter, not Griffen who held the perfect defensive end job from 2014–19.
But what is being asked of Griffen, especially his ability to run as a three-tech, has provided this pass crowd with an element that was missing.
"I'm here to help in any way I can, inside, out, just trying to realize that I'm not just a boy studying," Griffen said. “In the past I only studied left tackle. Now I have to study the guard, I have to study the center, I have to study the second guard, I have to study all as I am walking around the whole offensive line. He plays me wherever he goes and wherever he is, I just need to stay in my groove and keep helping this team win. "
Patterson made a conscious effort to get Hunter back strategically so that when the season resumes, there are no restrictions.
He's taking a similar strategic approach with Griffen, whose snap numbers look different but are producing explosive results.
"The wear and tear on your body, every game you've played 60-65 years ago, so I just have to make sure I do a good job of not overplaying him and taking him out because it's a season one. There is a long marathon, and we will need him throughout the season,” Patterson said.