Tony Sparano, Vikings offensive line still looking for answers

When Tony Sparano was hired, the Vikings were gaining not only a respected offensive line coach, but also someone who had head coaching experience and had been in the NFL for 18 seasons.

But even Sparano, who replaced the fired Jeff Davidson, couldn't have imagined how difficult this season would be on the offensive line.

"It has been a challenge, obviously, with the number of injuries," Sparano said. "But you know, like any other position on the football team right now, we have to have the next guy in line step up. It's forced some younger players to get out and play a little bit, which has helped us down the line a little bit here."

Anyone would have to make the concession that the Vikings offensive line has been hit tremendously hard by injuries. Starting left tackle Matt Kalil and right tackle Andre Smith are on injured reserve, as is Jake Long, who was signed as a replacement for Kalil. Longtime right tackle Phil Loadholt retired before training camp started, and center John Sullivan was released because the team believed he couldn't compete physically on the line.

"I haven't been part of anything quite like this, where we've had eight different lineup changes in the offensive line in nine games," Sparano said. "But that's part of the job. I think making sure these younger players have gotten better along the way during training camp and all this stuff right now has helped us, so they're prepared to play here."

There are few things going right in the Vikings running game, which ranks dead last in the league in most major categories. Still, Sparano said he believes that can change.

"I think running the ball, it's not different than anything else, it's a group effort," he said. "It doesn't just go into five guys, it goes into everybody. It's a different mentality. I think little by little we're making progress here, but we have to make progress a lot faster."

The 2000 Browns, a team that went 3-13, the team finished 30th in the league at both 67.8 yards per game and 3.2 yards per carry. Dallas was 13th in the league in rushing both of Sparano's seasons, at 116.3 yards per game in 2005 (3.6 per carry) and 121.0 in 2006 (4.1). The 2013 Raiders were 12th in the league at 125.0 yards per game (4.6 per carry), but in 2014 Oakland fell to last at 77.5 yards per game (3.7).

Still, that's nothing compared to what the Vikings are doing. They are on pace for 1,116 rushing yards this season, which would be the lowest total in the NFL since the San Diego Chargers rushed for 1,062 yards in 2000. More than halfway through the season, they are averaging only 2.7 yards per rush. No NFL team has rushed for fewer than 3 yards per attempt since the 1994 New England Patriots at 2.8.

"Yeah, I have not been through a stretch like this running the football, but we have to be patient and we have to understand that as long as we keep going out there each and every day and working hard at it, we'll get one of them to break," Sparano said. "Sometimes all you need is one of them to break out of there and all of a sudden you get a little bit more confidence and start running it well."

Sparano added that he doesn't believe this is strictly a personnel issue and that the team should be able to find answers.

"I think it's a mentality, I think you can go out there and we can run the ball and with the right mentality," he said. "The last couple of weeks we've been in some football games where we've had to throw it at the end of ballgames to get in the ballgame or keep ourselves in the ballgame to have a chance to win.

Sparano was asked if the Vikings need to draft an offensive lineman in the early rounds next year.

"I don't know," he said. "That's not a question for me right now. I mean, I just go out there every day and whatever group I have in my room, I coach those guys, and we put the best five guys we can put out there to play the game."

The Vikings have only one offensive lineman on the practice squad at this point, but it's someone who has some experience: Austin Shepherd, who played 14 games with the team last year.

Sparano, who has been a head coach, an offensive line coach, a running game coach, an offensive coordinator and a tight ends coach, was asked if this position is the hardest to coach.

"I think it is," he said. "I've had to hire people before and I've had to hire different positions before, and I think finding the right line coach and a couple other different positions on the staff are critical. They're critical. You have to have somebody that can develop young players, and I think you have to have somebody that is flexible enough to use all the parts in the room. I think it's pretty important. But I'm just coaching the line."

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