Don't worry, Christian Ponder said. Upon further review, all the hiccups he and the Vikings offense showed in Friday's loss to San Diego can be corrected.
The offense, which had been developing a preseason rhythm, struggled in the 12-10 loss to a Chargers team that, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said, played some pretty good defense.
Over two-plus quarters Ponder completed nine of 16 passes for 115 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. He struggled – especially early, on third down. And he was sacked five times. And while that stat – along with the Vikings' difficulty finding running room – can be traced in part to the offensive line, there are things Ponder said he has to do better.
For example:
--Stepping up in the pocket to avoid sacks. "After watching [the tape], that's the biggest thing for me," Ponder said after Sunday's practice. "It's something we focused on today, doing some drills. Just hitting the last step in the drop, setting the depth and just moving forward."
--Improving his touch. Ponder said a couple of the key incompletions – including two third-down misses to Michael Jenkins that ended the Vikings' first two drives – came as a result of his throwing the ball too hard. "It was early in the game, I was pumped up, and I just let it go," he said.
That said, Ponder said, don't worry.
"We left a lot of plays out on the field," he said. "We moved the ball, but just had dumb mistakes that came at the wrong time. Completely correctable."
