VikesCentric: Vikings are young and a bit restless

The Minnesota Vikings are fifth youngest team in the NFL, with an average age of 25.58 years. They showed every bit of their age last Sunday against the Chicago Bears in losing a winnable game on the road. The good news is the team will age and mature and become experienced. Patience is simply required.

The Vikings are in rebuilding mode, and with the news that came out earlier in the week regarding Adrian Peterson being suspended for the rest of the season, that mode of operations will certainly continue. If you look at the team's starting roster, it gets even younger: they have a rookie quarterback, a rookie starting running back, a second year star receiver and two of the leaders on defense in their first and third seasons.

You can even say the Vikings have a rookie head coach, although he has been around the league for quite awhile. But "young" head coach Mike Zimmer recognizes how youthful his team is. Listening to Zimmer talk about his team after the Bears game, you hear him say the loss had more to do with lack of experience than anything:

"We started out the game, sometimes when we're not having the success that we expect to have, I think guys try to do a little bit too much sometimes and I think that's what happened yesterday," Zimmer told the Star Tribune.

An experienced team might not have panicked quite so quickly (especially since they had jumped out to a 10-0 lead) and start trying to fix the whole game on their own. An experienced player sticks to his assignments, trusts his teammates and continues to follow the game plan.

Certainly Zimmer believes wide receiver Cordarelle Patterson, who came into the league after just one NCAA Division I season at Tennessee, is young. Zimmer said the following when asked if he was disappointed in Patterson's development:

"I think Cordarrelle is a young, developing player that has been in his third offense in three years, hasn't been a receiver for a long time, so we're going to continue to be patient with him and keep teaching him and keep working with him and try to get him to where he needs to be in all of those areas. He does some very, very good things and then some things you don't like as much. I don't think disappointed is the right word; I think youth might be the right word.

Running back Jerick McKinnon shows his inexperience, as well, particularly in the pass protection game. The Vikings have given him plenty of responsibility in Peterson's absence, but McKinnon probably would have sat longer to work on catching passes and protecting his quarterback had Peterson been available.

Linebacker Anthony Barr, who has started all season, actually looked like a rookie for the first time on Sunday, missing five tackles and whiffing badly on some of them.

"He had a couple of alignment errors [Sunday] but the missed tackles were more about over-running it or being in the wrong position. It wasn't alignments," Zimmer said.

Being out of position is certainly an error that can be attributed to youth (or age if you are no longer quick enough to get in position), and Barr, who has only played linebacker for two years, doesn't make that mistake too often. He was exposed on Sunday, but exposed more so as a rookie than anything else.

Regarding quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, starting in his fifth game and second game on the road, Zimmer acknowledged that Bridgewater struggled, but still has faith in him going forward.

"Early in the game, we were talking to him about getting the ball out fairly quick and early in the game, there was a lot of times protection was good and he probably could have waited a little bit longer until something else developed before getting rid of the ball. It's kind of the feel as you go kind of thing."

That kind of feel comes with experience, and Bridgewater is certainly getting experience. The problem that arises with a quarterback is getting the right kind of experience. If he is constantly harassed in the pocket and told to get the ball out, it really doesn't help his development for reading, looking and throwing downfield. The Vikings staff members who can remember, most assuredly don't want Bridgewater to go through Ponder Syndrome (for lack of a better word) and get gun-shy about all the hits he is taking.

But since Matt Cassel is out with a broken foot and won't soon replace Bridgewater, the responsibility for this part of his development (having time to read and react) falls on the offensive line, which isn't exactly the youngest unit on the team (average age is 28.8 years old).

In Sunday's game it looked as though Bridgewater regressed a bit in his ability to feel the pocket and make downfield throws rather than the constant check downs, but the Vikings can't put Bridgewater on the bench to protect him now, it would seem like a demotion. He is in until it is determined he can't do the job, and we have all seen that he has a lot going for him.

Give the kid protection, and he will grow into the position. Open some holes for McKinnon, and he will do the same. Teach Patterson to be a better route runner and how to position his body for receptions (like the Bears receivers demonstrated on Sunday) and he will become the pro everyone anticipates. The Vikings need to find ways to improve their offensive line since the development of their young team depends on it.

The bottom line for this squad is that it is very young and some of the skill position players have displayed a lot of talent and potential. If their playing doesn't create a setback or injury, it should serve as excellent experience that hastens their development.

At 4-6, the Vikings are headed in the direction of an earlier first-round (rather than later) draft choice, which means to expect more youth added to the starting ranks. That means more patience is required from the players, staff and fans. But if the Vikings do things right, that patience should pay off very soon.

Head over to VikingsJournal.com and check out the latest on Adrian Peterson, and the Vikings new running back Ben Tate and then join in the conversation on the Vikings Journal forums, where everything Purple is dissected and discussed.