Vikings' McKinnon Adds Weight To Stay Durable
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (WCCO) – The Minnesota Vikings started their three-day mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, their last work before training camp starts at the end of July.
And with two new additions at running back, last year's starter Jerick McKinnon has become kind of the forgotten man in the backfield. So he decided to make some changes.
Jerick McKinnon's nickname is "The Jet." Well, you can call him the jumbo-jet now. McKinnon has packed on some weight. He's up to 212 pounds after playing last season right around 200. The reason?
"When I was 200 or 198, just getting dinged up, as the season goes along, you've got 17 weeks, it gets hard on the body, so I'm trying to just keep it on for that purpose," McKinnon said.
McKinnon says the added weight hasn't slowed him down -- important for a player who relies on his scatback speed. But at any weight, McKinnon's role with the team this fall is still very much to be determined.
With the Vikings signing Latavius Murray in free agency and drafting Dalvin Cook, it's suddenly a much more crowded backfield.
"It's just about not being selfish. I think that's the great thing about just our room in general, no selfish guys," McKinnon said. "We know there's only going to be one starter, but in the grand scheme of things, all of us might touch the ball in a game, so it's just about working with each other, competing and we'll go from there."
It's no secret McKinnon's production was a bit underwhelming last year for the Vikings. Bringing in two new guys who play your position has a way of motivating a player.
"Most definitely. That's tough, but those guys are great, so for me it was just about seeing how they work, and at the end of the day just stacking my game up against theirs," McKinnon said.
And he hopes packing on the pounds will help him stack up.
