Kevin O'Connell on his quarterback's play

Vikings head coach on Sam Darnold exceeding 2024 expectations.

Transcript

00:00You were really excited about what Sam Darnold might bring to the team, given how exceptional

00:04he has been as your QB1, has he maybe even exceeded your expectations?

00:10Well I think, you know, I said it a few times during training camp regarding really all

00:15of our quarterbacks, whether it was Sam, J.J. McCarthy, Nick Mullins, Brett Rippon.

00:22I don't really like putting a ceiling or a floor on expectations and all those things.

00:28All I believe in is, you know, trying to coach principles of what I feel are really

00:33important for the position.

00:35Not only just playing it in general, but in our offense, you know, with great weapons

00:40like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hawkinson, Aaron Jones joins the party this

00:45year.

00:46You know, just running the show and being an extension of me as not only the play caller

00:51but the head coach.

00:52And I like to build the relationships with those guys, I like to really have them feel

00:57like I'm right there in the trenches with them, so that they just feel empowered to

01:02try to go chase being the best versions of themselves.

01:04And my goodness, Sam's had a fantastic year.

01:08It just feels like he's continuing to grow and even moments, you know, that maybe we've

01:14had some teachable moments, we've been able to win those football games because of a complete

01:19team effort.

01:20But at the same time, Sam's been, you know, hardest on himself in those moments of being

01:25incredibly coachable, immediately showing the, you know, the traits of being a guy that

01:29can improve and not make mistakes twice, which is such a valuable thing in this league.

01:36When you consider the challenges, Jim, that you have to attack over the course of 17 plus

01:40games.