The Vikings are one of the NFL teams that have not had a significant group of players get together to conduct workouts during the offseason lockout. Quarterback Christian Ponder, the 12th pick in the draft, did attempt to get a number of offensive players together for three days at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Fla., but only about seven showed up.

The New Orleans Saints were a much different case.

Safety Malcolm Jenkins, who has spent recent weeks in the Twin Cities working out with a group of players that is led by Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr., was in New Orleans for seven weeks this spring working with a large group of teammates at Tulane. The workouts were coordinated by Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who paid for lodging for all players.

"It was very valuable," said Jenkins, who estimated that 30 guys turned out each day. "For the young guys, it was more important because we had the film, we had the playbooks and Tulane University helped us out a lot. They let us use their whole facility so we had the meeting rooms, we had player meetings, film rooms and everything. Then we got to do walk-throughs, seven-on-seven. Kind of like a real OTA. That's what we did for seven weeks, and I think it was very beneficial for our team."

Jenkins explained that the work was so detailed that a veteran from each position group led meetings, as if that player was the coach. Jenkins helped run the sessions for the defensive backs.

"Every position group had kind of a leader and we all put together kind of a curriculum of what we wanted to go through," he said. "Scripted plays and everything. So, we did a good job from a leadership standpoint of keeping our team together. ... I had to kind of install [things]. It was fun. It's a lot harder. I know what coaches deal with now with guys not paying attention."