JOTTINGS

• Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford was asked if being with the team all offseason is a big advantage compared with last year, when he joined just before the season opener. "Obviously going through the change that we did kind of halfway through the season, having worked with Pat [Shurmur] and been with Pat before, I think that really helped me just because we have a really good relationship, and I felt like we were able to communicate," Bradford said. "Towards the end of the year I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on things."

• Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck said that some of his players are spending time abroad before the season begins. "We do have most of our players in summer school, I would say 95 percent of them are in summer school, and a lot of them are doing internships," Fleck said. "We have a lot of kids overseas right now, which is really exciting. It's nice to see Emmit Carpenter, our All-Big Ten kicker, he's in Madrid, and doing an internship out there. I love to be able to see our players travel internationally, to be able to use the resources we have at the University of Minnesota, and expand your knowledge not just athletically but this is socially, as well. Get out there and see the world while you can. I'm really proud of our players studying abroad. I'm really proud of our players, especially in the month of May, once you're done with school, those two weeks you have off, we promote our players to get out and go study abroad for two weeks, and very excited about the handful of guys we have doing that this year and look forward to doing that more in the years to come."

• Second baseman Brian Dozier said the Twins' recent troubles at home should not be overemphasized. "It's easy to talk about a lot of the hiccups we've had the past few games," he said after the 1-5 homestand ended Wednesday. "But let us not lose sight that were are still a first-place team going into June. Trying to be as optimistic as possible."