Harrison Smith stays in the moment with the Vikings, as his 14th season winds down

EAGAN, Minn. — Harrison Smith's 14th year as a steadying presence and energizing force in the secondary for the Minnesota Vikings has hardly been smooth.

The undisclosed health-related matter that sidelined him during training camp was a major setback to his conditioning, putting him in catch-up mode for most of the first half of the season. The Vikings defense was more vulnerable than usual over those early games, too.

Then with the offense struggling through the developmental process with quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings stumbled through November to drop to 4-8 and precipitate their elimination from playoff contention.

But lately?

''I've been playing football a long time,'' Smith said after Minnesota's victory over the Detroit Lions on Christmas Day, ''and I have not had fun like that in my whole career.''

Smith received the NFC Defensive Player of the Week award for that performance in his 206th regular-season game, after logging three passes defensed, two tackles for loss, one sack and one interception. He last won that award in 2018.

With career totals of 21½ sacks and 39 interceptions, Smith is just the second player in NFL history to hit those marks, behind Pro Football Hall of Fame member Ronde Barber, who had 28 sacks and 47 interceptions. Smith is also one of four players all time, with Barber, Brian Dawkins and Charles Woodson, to total at least 50 tackles for loss, 100 passes defensed and 200 regular-season games played. Smith (202) also trails only Jim Marshall (270) and Mick Tingelhoff (240) on the team's all-time list for career starts.

''The fans here have never experienced a Super Bowl. They always show up, and for them to keep showing up ... it just shows how much they love the team, how much they love everything that goes into it," Smith said. ''We're out of the playoffs, and everybody shows up in white. They do their part, and one of these days they'll get it.''

The scene sure felt like a farewell. But so did Smith's emotional postgame remarks after the Vikings were ousted from the playoffs last season.

Could he envision himself returning for a 15th year?

''I can't speak on that right now. I'm a very much in-the-moment type of guy,'' Smith said.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell, who has forged a close relationship with the six-time Pro Bowl safety, has made no secret of his desire to keep Smith in place.

"He has an unbelievable feel of the system. He has an unbelievable feel of what ‘Flo' and the defensive staff really want to do, and he's out there playing a game within the game,'' O'Connell said. ''It's been spectacular to watch. It's been awesome from my perspective to watch what he's able to do at this point in his career mentally, and then physically he's making a lot of plays as well.''

What's in the future for Flores?

The uncertainty about next season for the defense stretches beyond Smith, with other expensive veterans facing the possibility of being released for cost savings with the Vikings projected to be well over the salary cap approaching the 2026 league year.

Then there's Flores, whose contract will soon expire, making him a free agent. Though his landmark discrimination lawsuit against the NFL that's still in the court system nearly four years later continues to loom over any interviews he gets for head coach openings, there's also an opening for another club to try to lure him away with a break-the-bank offer for a lateral move.

O'Connell said this week that he doesn't anticipate such a scenario playing out and hopes to have him as long as he can before he's hired again as a head coach.

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