Vikings' Griffen keeps his focus on doing his job

Everson Griffen should be on the field when the Vikings face Detroit, which would be excellent news for coach Mike Zimmer and his staff after the defensive end showed up ill before the Kansas City game last week and couldn't play.

Griffen has been a great player ever since the Vikings made the decision to not re-sign Jared Allen after the 2013 season. The Vikings instead decided to go with Griffen, a fourth-round pick in 2010 out of Southern California who had shown signs of great potential, as he had eight sacks in 2012 and 5½ in 2013. Still, it was somewhat surprising the Vikings gave Griffen a five-year, $42.5 million deal before he had played a full season at defensive end.

But the contract has proved to be one of the Vikings' best decisions. Griffen set career highs in tackles (75) and sacks (12) last season and was named the NFC defensive player of the month last October. He finished in the top 10 in the NFL in sacks.

Now Griffen is anchoring a young Vikings defensive unit. He was asked if this year could result in even greater accolades, such as a trip to the Pro Bowl or an All-Pro designation.

"If I keep doing my job and doing my assignment on every play and listen to the coaches and just go out there and perform, anything is possible," said Griffen, who has three sacks in the four games he has played this season. "Am I aiming for the Pro Bowl? Yes, of course. But right now my whole purpose is to help this team win."

He said that when it comes to receiving praise for being one of the best defensive ends in the league, he doesn't let it go to his head.

"If [people] say that, then thank you to them," he said. "But I have to go out there each and every week to prove it, so that's my job to prove that each and every week that I am the best."

"I listen, I adapt to what the coaches give me, I can learn on the fly, and I work hard each and every day," he said. "Along with the rest of my D-line, we have the best D-line coach in the whole game, Andre Patterson, he's the best. He got Sharrif [Floyd] right, me right. I'm at this stage because of him and myself working hard with the rest of the coaches putting us in the situation to win each and every week. That's what we want to do each and every week to win. Having him and Linval [Joseph] and B-Rob [Brian Robison], we have a chance to be a pretty good D-line."

Griffen is pleased with his play this season. "I'm just trying to take each day as it presents itself and learn and respond," he said. "That's the biggest thing. Most of the things that happen to you it's how you respond to it. You know so if you respond well and bounce back from it and learn from it, that's how you know you're getting better."

One of Zimmer's central beliefs as a coach is that the Vikings are only going to succeed if players put aside their personal goals and focus on team goals. So how does Griffen avoid simply trying to get sacks?

"They're important, but the most important thing in football should be winning," he said. "Your individual stats should come second to winning. Yeah, your individual sacks should be the last thing you should think about besides winning the game. You should want to win the game each and every week before worrying about getting three or four sacks or making a touchdown or getting an interception. The whole purpose of the game of football is to play as a team, win as a team, and I want to win games."

Griffen said he has enjoyed playing with the young defensive players. He was asked for his impression of rookie Eric Kendricks and the linebacking corps.

"We have a lot of young guys out there that are really developing and showing they can help this team win. That's our whole goal is to help this team win, and he's a big part of that. We're happy to have him and Anthony Barr and Chad Greenway. We have a lot of guys that are contributing to the team. But in order for us to win, we have to do it each Sunday and for 60 minutes."

The Vikings are trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2012. They haven't won the NFC North since 2009, but asked if Griffen believes they have a chance to compete for a division title, he said: "Can we win the division? We're not thinking about winning the division right now. My whole goal is lining up each and every game to help this team win, along with Captain [Munnerlyn] and Harrison Smith and Linval Joseph and Sharrif Floyd, the guys that put out there on the line each and every day. That's our whole team. We have a chance to win, but we have to bring it each and every week."

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