Year of study helps Sherels

Marcus Sherels might have been the calmest member of his family Saturday night.

Sherels is spending his second training camp trying to make the Vikings roster as a backup cornerback. As such, his fortunes rise and fall with every big play, every mistake. So Saturday, when the lowest of lows and highest of highs came only a few seconds apart, you might imagine he got a little emotional.

You'd be wrong.

Think back to the first quarter of the Vikings' preseason game in Seattle. Sherels, the Rochester John Marshall and University of Minnesota product, had a nice, 16-yard return of a punt that ended when he lost a fumble. Then, on third down of the Seahawks' ensuing drive, Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson's poorly thrown pass went off receiver Golden Tate's hands to Sherels, who picked it off and ran it back 64 yards for a touchdown.

Emotional? For the family, yes.

Older brother Mike Sherels, a former Gophers linebacker and now a U of M assistant, nearly lost it watching it on TV over at the Gophers football complex. "I think I was screaming before he even caught that ball," he said. Sherels' mom, Linda Lager, told the Rochester newspaper their house got so loud as Sherels was running toward the Vikings' first preseason touchdown that neighbors thought there was something wrong.

But Marcus didn't get too low after the fumble, too high after the TD. Maybe it's a sign of maturity. Following the game, he deflected questions about the pick-six to talk about how his fumble let the team down. Monday, when describing his score, he gave the credit to middle linebacker E.J. Henderson for funneling the receiver his way.

"You can't dwell on one play," he said. "You have to forget about it and move on to the next one."

Especially with so much on the line. Sherels, an undrafted free agent who spent most of last season on the Vikings practice squad, entered the Seahawks game sixth on the depth chart at cornerback for a team that most likely will keep five. He was behind Antoine Winfield, Cedric Griffin, Chris Cook, Asher Allen and Brandon Burton, the Vikings' fifth-round draft choice in April.

But Sherels has been playing well. He had a strong week of practice heading into the Seattle game, including a pick of quarterback Donovan McNabb in a two-minute drill. On Saturday, in addition to his interception, Sherels had a nice pass breakup and four total tackles.

"He has been flashing," defensive backs coach Joe Woods said. "He is picking it up."

In retrospect, a year on the practice squad might have been the best thing for Sherels, who only played cornerback for two seasons at Minnesota after being moved from receiver, fighting through shoulder and ankle injuries all the while. When he got to the Vikings, the speedy if rather small Sherels (5-10, 175) was still grasping the position. A year working with the team allowed him to work on fundamentals, with Winfield as his mentor, and learn the game.

"He came here, we taught him the corner position, taught him the nickel position, he went through it and learned it," Woods said. "So when he goes out there, he understands his keys, how to play in pass coverage. So now his natural instincts kick in."

The result is a big play like Saturday's TD. Even head coach Leslie Frazier said that play helped Sherels' chances to stick with the team. If Sherels can learn from his mistake on the punt return -- the Vikings gave him first shot at returning punts Saturday, ahead of receiver Jaymar Johnson -- he could help himself even more.

Look for Sherels to take every advantage. He came to camp this season having added 10 pounds of muscle to his frame. Before camp began, Woods tested all his young DBs on things such as offense recognition and coverages, and Sherels scored the highest on every test.

"He doesn't say much," Woods said. "But he had studied. He blew that test out of the water."

Now the key is using that knowledge on the field. The Vikings know better than most teams the value of depth at the position, given the injuries the team suffered through last season. Right now, Woods sees Sherels mainly as a slot cornerback in passing situations.

A few more big plays, and Sherels could find a permanent slot.