The first day fans could attend training camp, Jonathan Greenard ravaged the Vikings’ backfield for a sack and tackle for loss on consecutive plays. Two days later, he ended their first padded practice by sacking J.J. McCarthy in a two-minute drill.
On Wednesday, in the practice where the Vikings’ defense perhaps stole the show the most, Greenard and Dallas Turner teamed up to mimic former Vikings pass rusher Danielle Hunter’s sack celebration, each pretending to kick down a door as they leaped in rhythm.
“You’re either gonna hear me,” he said, “or you’re gonna feel me.”
The Pro Bowl edge rusher delivers the mantra with an edge that lets you know he’s not just thinking about himself when he says it. He remembers the somber faces on that dark, lonely flight back across the Rocky Mountains the morning of Jan. 14, hours after the Rams had dispatched the Vikings from the playoffs with a 27-9 wild-card win. Had the Vikings beaten the Lions nine days earlier, they would have been home preparing to open the playoffs in the divisional round as the NFC’s top seed. Instead, they made a tractable exit from the postseason, ceding their spot among the conference’s contenders with none of the violence and verve that had marked their 14-2 start.
As the Vikings cleaned out their lockers later that morning, Greenard posted a message on his social media account that began with, “More is required,” typed in capital letters. By the time the team returned for offseason workouts, having committed more than $300 million to improve the roster in free agency, the three-word slogan was on T-shirts.
Early in training camp, Greenard is practicing as if he’s trying to make it come to life.
“I mean, doing your job isn’t enough,” he said, pausing to offer high-fives to the kids leaving the practice field on Wednesday. “I think that if we want to just do our job, they can find anybody. They brought everybody in for a reason, to make the play, to elevate the level of everybody’s play. And that’s what we’re gonna need to go win the big one. So I’m not seeing nothing less, but taking our next step so that we can get there. So every day, like I said, you’re either gonna hear me or you’re gonna feel me. And that’s the emphasis on everything.”
Through his offseason workouts in Georgia’s viscous summer heat, it meant recruiting a little more power, chasing a little more flexibility in the weight room. Both defensive coordinator Brian Flores and coach Kevin O’Connell (who said Greenard has gone to “another level”) say his increased comfort with the Vikings’ protean scheme has boosted his productivity in Year 2. He pairs it with the “relentless style of play” that O’Connell said first attracted the Vikings to Greenard before free agency last year, but after putting himself on the map as an edge rusher in Houston, Greenard understands the various roles he’ll play in Minnesota.
