It's only Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen's second month as a full time starter, and he was rewarded for his early season performance on Thursday by winning NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for October.
Don't think Griffen will be satisfied by receiving the award.
"I'm excited, I can't let this accolade become something that I think I have arrived," Griffen said on Thursday. "That hasn't happened yet. There's still more to come, and I've still got to go out there and keep doing my job each and every day."
Griffen led the NFC with six sacks in October and was the only player in the conference to snag a sack in four games this month. Griffen tied a career-high three sacks against the Bills two weeks ago. He also led all NFC defensive lineman with 20 tackles totals.
While it's an individual award, and the first Vikings defensive player since Jared Allen in October 2011 to accomplish the feat, Griffen gave credit to the defensive line for his accomplishments.
"The whole defensive line, we've been playing well," Griffen said. "We're second in the league in sacks, and we've just got to keep it coming. At the end of the day I'm happy with the award, but it's time to get back to work. Now I've got to go try and get it the next month, keep building on that and don't let this be the ending point."
