Head coach Mike Zimmer sent a message to the special-teams unit during Monday's team meeting.

So what exactly was Zimmer's message and who in particular was it aimed at? Let's ask Mike Priefer.

"It's the mistakes," the special teams coordinator said. "It's the penalties, to be honest. … We were not penalized very often last year. This year we have been and that's been tough. We've lost a lot of hidden yardage, return yardage because of the penalties. That was the big message with the young guys. Those are the ones making the most mistakes, the young guys. That's usually what it is. But when you're an error-repeater, as I've said, you're going to run out of chances at some point. We need to make sure we either get it corrected or we've got to find somebody else to do those jobs."

Rookie defensive backs Antone Exum and Jabari Price were both flagged for penalties in the 19-13 win over the Buccaneers. For Exum, it was his third special-teams penalty in the past four weeks.

So Priefer and the Vikings this week are preparing more players for special-teams roles than they typically would as they consider possibly shaking things up for Sunday's game against the Redskins.

Another problem that cost the Vikings field position was punter Jeff Locke's propensity to boom the ball into the end zone for touchbacks. He booted three touchbacks after having just one all season.

Priefer said that Locke is still trying to figure out the best swings for punts from midfield based on the wind, though the weather was nearly perfect down in Tampa. Priefer said Locke needs to do a better job of gauging the field conditions during pre-game warmups to prepare for punts that count.

"He understands situational football. We preach it all the time. The head coach preaches it. I preach it," Priefer said. "Those were very uncharacteristic mistakes for Jeff and he's going to get better going forward."