Vikings notes: McKinnon breaks through with big game

Last week, as the Vikings were coming off a game in which Jerick McKinnon got just two carries, coach Mike Zimmer gently challenged the rookie running back to make the most out of the opportunities he did get.

McKinnon did just that in Sunday's 41-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons. On his first carry of the game, McKinnon got a great block from fullback Jerome Felton and hit a big hole behind center John Sullivan to burst into the open field. The Falcons weren't able to corral him until he was 55 yards down the field.

McKinnon, a third-round pick in May's NFL draft, finished the game with 135 yards on 18 carries. He also added one catch for 17 yards.

"Any time I get a chance to touch the field, especially living out your dream, I'm just going to try to have fun, play loose, care for my teammates and do whatever he can," he said.

With McKinnon making Falcons defenders miss and Matt Asiata powering for what he could behind a dominant offensive line, the Vikings rushed for a season-high 241 yards and four touchdowns on 44 carries.

After the game, McKinnon said he didn't imagine rushing for that many yards. When Zimmer got wind of that, the head coach said the electric rookie runner better raise his expectations levels.

"I'll have to talk to him about that," Zimmer said.

"That words that Adrian texted Coach Zimmer, it was very deep," quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said. "One thing that I took away from that message was to play each down like it's your last because you never know when it's going to be your last opportunity. Today, I think the guys got that message pretty well."

Third-year wide receiver Jarius Wright had his most productive game as a pro against the Falcons. He took a screen pass 52 yards on the opening drive and recorded career highs with eight catches and 132 receiving yards.

"I know, that's crazy," Wright said. "It took me three years to finally get this game. You know it came for me, and I'm just going to keep building on it."

Wright, who caught three screen passes on the opening drive and was dangerous on crossing patterns, clicked with rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

"You know me and Bridgewater have gotten a lot, a lot of reps — earlier in the year with [Matt] Cassel being the starter, Bridgewater being the second team and I was also on the second team," he said.

Smith now has 21 tackles, five pass breakups, two interceptions and a sack this season.

"Harrison is a really steady guy," Zimmer said. "He's pretty smart and he is a tough guy and he's a heck of a competitor. He kind of controls things back there a bit."

Zimmer was quizzed by General Manager Rick Spielman on game-management situations during the preseason. But on Sunday, he faced a scenario that wasn't on the test.

Late in the second half, McKinnon appeared to score a rushing touchdown but replays showed he was down inside the 1-yard line. Instead of calling his final timeout to prevent a 10-second runoff, Zimmer opted to let the game clock start at 13 seconds. After an incomplete pass, the Vikings had to kick a field goal.

"We could have took a timeout," Zimmer said. "I thought we were going to run the ball. You're going to take the 10-second runoff, you're going to run the ball and I was going to take the timeout if we didn't score and kick the field goal. We ended up throwing a play-action pass instead."

• The Vikings had four rushing touchdowns in a game for the 11th time.

• Asiata's three touchdowns rushing tied a team record. It's the second time he has done that. Peterson has done it five times.

• McKinnon's 55-yard run was the fourth longest by a Vikings rookie. Peterson holds the record with a 73-yarder in 2007. McKinnon is also the first Vikings rookie to gain 100 yards in a game since Peterson's 116 against Detroit in Dec. 2007.