4 Vikings Players Still Battle For Starting Safety Spot
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – When it comes to the starting safety spot, the one opposite Harrison Smith, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said he wanted to take a close look at four guys Saturday night against the Cardinals: Andrew Sendejo, Jamarca Sanford, Chris Crocker, and Kurt Coleman.
So what did he see?
The job is still open.
"We need to keep evaluating them," Zimmer said. "Some of them there wasn't a lot of action in some of the plays for them. And that's the one problem with safeties, sometimes you don't get a lot of action."
Crocker and Sendejo each played 18 snaps on Saturday.
Coleman had 33.
Sanford got the most with 38.
But before you read too much into that, keep in mind that Sanford missed the first preseason game with an injury, so Zimmer probably just wanted a good look at him.
And he probably didn't need to see much Crocker. After all, he's played for Zimmer the last seven years.
"Crocker, when he was in there, didn't get a lot of action," Zimmer said of Saturday's game. "Coleman did some good things, (but) he missed a tackle. Sendejo did some good things when he was down close to the line of scrimmage."
Robert Blanton returned to practice Monday, important because he was the guy Zimmer said was leading the pack earlier in training camp.
But that was before he got hurt, and before they signed Crocker.
"So we've got to continue to evaluate them again this week (against Kansas City)," Zimmer said. "And probably the fourth preseason game too."
For now, the reps will remain divided.
But at some point, the evaluation will need to end so the chemistry building can begin.
"As soon as we can," Zimmer said.
