Most of the Vikings' starters will get the night off in Thursday's preseason finale at the Metrodome. A few of them, such as right guard Anthony Herrera, may see a series or two for some final fine tuning. And some backups, such as running back Toby Gerhart, also will sit or see limited reps.
Then there's Everson Griffen, who will have two plates (linebacker and defensive end) that will be full.
"He's going to probably play 50 percent at end and 50 percent at linebacker," defensive coordinator Fred Pugac said. "He's going to be playing a lot of football on Thursday."
Griffen, a 6-3, 273-pound defensive end, was switched to linebacker or at least a temporary experimental basis on Monday. Pugac said the coaches have been talking about the move for a week or so.
Griffen struggled on Tuesday. Linebackers coach Mike Singletary made Griffen repeat an individual drill several times. In the drill, a linebacker is supposed to stay low while moving laterally back and fourth over three pads. The player has to stay low or his helmet touches a net that's above the pads.
Singletary called Griffen "Eric" several times before someone in the linebackers group corrected him. In other words, this is a process that could take some time and hard work on Griffen's part.
"Everson's a great athlete," Pagac said. "He has good knowledge. Before it's all said and done, he's going to be a good defensive end. He might end up being a heck of a linebacker, too."
Other highlights today:
