Vikings edge rusher Dallas Turner grateful for rookie season despite ‘some adversity’

Edge rusher Dallas Turner emerged from a quiet rookie season with gratitude for being able to participate in a 14-win season that doesn’t come around very often.

“There was definitely some adversity for sure,” Turner said Tuesday as players cleaned out their lockers at TCO Performance Center in Eagan. “But I definitely feel like everything happens for a reason. … A lot of people haven’t been a part of a team like this.”

During a recent team meeting, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels helped players realize that by asking their most veteran players the first time they won this much in a season.

“Someone said Year 8,” Turner said. “Someone said Year 13. Like, wow, you just gotta be grateful to be on a team like this.”

Gratitude wasn’t immediate. Turner, the 17th overall pick, said he went through an adjustment going from being a star at Alabama in college football’s biggest games to riding the bench for much of the season. Turner had 20 tackles, three sacks and an interception in 300 defensive snaps — a roughly 19-snap weekly average that ranked last among the nine first-round defenders drafted in 2024.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has remained bullish on Turner’s future in the NFL, saying there’s an acclimation period for young players against professional talent and understanding his complex scheme. The 21-year-old Turner said he’s also grateful to learn from Flores, who he said treats rookies a little tougher.

“Man, it’s definitely grown a lot,” Turner said of his relationship with Flores, who is expected to interview for NFL head coaching jobs soon. “I’m a rookie, of course. All the traditional organizations in the NFL, they treat rookies the same way, so that’s kind of where it stem from [with Flores]. But you know, it was all love at the end of the day, for sure. He’s definitely a great coach. Learned a lot from him, was a sponge toward him a lot just to be around that type of football knowledge. You hear the stories he’s telling us about his old Patriots stories and stuff like that.”

Turner, listed at 6-3 and 247 pounds, said he’ll prioritize bulking up during his first offseason after struggling to effectively play the run.

“One of my main focuses is physically,” Turner said. “Understanding that this is the NFL, getting the body right, recovering from the season, getting in the weight room, of course. Getting stronger, bigger and faster.”

Linebacker Blake Cashman had strong support for Turner as players said their goodbyes for the season.

“I know from the outside, you can sit there and say he should be playing more,” Cashman said. “Coaches make their decisions, and they have a reason. But he’s one of the most talented players on this team. He’s going to be a monster and a headache for the opponents.”

Edge rusher Pat Jones II set a new career high with seven sacks in the first 10 games this season. But during that 10th game, on Nov. 17 in Tennessee, Jones said he suffered a sprained MCL and PCL in his right knee. He played through the injury for two weeks, missed the Dec. 8 win over the Falcons, and returned to play three more games before Packers tight end Tucker Kraft hit that knee with a low block on Dec. 29. He missed the final two losses to the Lions and Rams.

Jones, one of 26 players who become free agents in March, said he’s “really hurting” because that might have been his last game with the Vikings. He hopes to return to build off what he considers his best year.

“I feel like that was just a little preview,” said Jones, the 2021 third-round pick out of Pittsburgh. “I feel like I’m really just scratching the surface this year, and just really showed people what I’m capable of doing. And I really showed myself.”

Jones said he hopes the NFL considers outlawing low hits to all players and not just quarterbacks.

“It’s a legal hit,” he said. “We’re going to see if they’ll keep it in the game. I think it’s something that needs to be changed. We need to protect everybody.”

The Vikings’ pending free agents include running back Aaron Jones, quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens, and Daniel Jones, safeties Harrison Smith and Camryn Bynum, cornerbacks Byron Murphy Jr., Stephon Gilmore, and Shaq Griffin, and defensive tackles Jonathan Bullard and Jerry Tillery.

Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. missed six games this year because of hamstring and knee injuries, but he still had a career-high seven tackles for losses, three sacks and his first NFL touchdown. Pace, who turned 24 last month, said his most progress came away from the field by acting more like a professional.

“It taught me to grow up a little bit,” Pace said of his second NFL season. “As a rookie, I came in, was a kid a little bit, playing around. Not knowing what was going on. Going into my second year, got some of the vets around me knowing I’m one of the top dogs on the defense and that I got to step up, because people look up to me. … Showing up on time, being in the meetings, focusing, everything.”

Quarterback Nick Mullens, a Woodbury resident, said he has embraced everything about Minnesota over three Vikings seasons, and he hopes to stay with the team. He has been the No. 2 quarterback behind Kirk Cousins and then Darnold since arriving via trade from the Raiders after the 2022 training camp.

“I love Minnesota,” said Mullens, whose contract expires in March. “I told K.O. that I’ll play here as long as you let me. The organization is great, the people are great. Even the cold. Me and Daniel Jones were joking that when you look and it’s 25 [degrees] and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m good.’ That’s when you know you’ve kind of embraced it a little bit.”

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