Several prominent players across the NFL have skipped mandatory minicamps this week Kasen Williams Jersey , subjecting themselves to team fines out of concern for their contract status in a league where so little is guaranteed.
Everyone is accounted for in Minnesota, where good vibes from the top of the organization to the bottom of the roster can only help the Vikings in their attempt to better their NFC championship game appearance from last season.
”All these guys, they like to be around each other. So I think that’s part of it,” coach Mike Zimmer said. ”We’ve got a lot of really good guys on this football team who care about not just them, but they care about each other. It’s kind of just the way we do things.”
Savvy salary cap management steered by executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski has allowed the Vikings to put the majority of their stars in mutually beneficial multi-year deals, but outside linebacker Anthony Barr, wide receiver Stefon Diggs and defensive end Danielle Hunter have all entered 2018 on expiring contracts that must be addressed soon unless the Vikings are willing to let them become free agents and potentially price the club out on the open market.
Still, all three of them have been practicing with the team this week, clearly confident enough in their future earnings to opt for full participation over mild protest. Barr, for his part, missed one week of organized team activities last month, an absence he said was to secure an insurance policy in case of a severe injury that would derail the value of his next deal. He said recently his hope was to have a new contract in place by the beginning of on-field workouts in May Denzelle Good Jersey , but that’s the closest anyone has come to even hinting about dissatisfaction.
Barr is among the 2014 first-round draft picks who’ve reached their first career crossroad, playing the fifth option year that the majority of teams have exercised for cost control. Then there are the post-first round 2015 picks such as Hunter and Diggs who’ve entered the fourth season of their rookie deals.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, Tennessee Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan and Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack have created headlines around the league for staying home this week from minicamp.
”My job is to come in to work, just like you come in to work the same way,” Hunter said. ”My job is to come in and get on this field and play football.”
Clearly, he’s been listening to the head coach, as have many of his teammates.
”That’s one thing Zim has taught us since he’s been here: No one player is more important than the team,” Hunter said. ”So I guess that kind of grew into the program. The team is way bigger than one person. In order to help the team, you’ve got to do your job. And we want to be great. We want to be where we need to be. Last year Cody Kessler Jersey , it wasn’t close to that, so we’ve got to work for that again.”
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HOUSTON — While it certainly factored into the sluggish start that greased the skids to their demise in Game 1, the Utah Jazz were inundated with a number of causes behind their loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday in addition to the absence of starting point guard Ricky Rubio.
Defensively, the Jazz were overrun by the Rockets’ exceptional 3-point shooting (17 for 32) and victimized early by some leaky transition defense. Rockets guard James Harden again tormented the Utah defense, cashing in seven 3s en route to a game-high 41 points, and the Jazz lacked energy in the first half following a short turnaround from the completion of their first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder less than 48 hours prior to tipoff.
But the Jazz clearly missed Rubio, despite recording 20 assists on 38 field goals. While rookie guard Donovan Mitchell and veteran swingman Joe Ingles produced five assists each, and Utah received steady play from guards Dante Exum and Alec Burks off the bench, the Jazz didn’t quite have that same verve that Rubio provides with his ball-handling skill and passing acumen.
“I think it makes Donovan handle the ball more than they would like,” said Rockets forward Trevor Ariza, who drew the primary defensive assignment on Mitchell. “He’s their dominant scorer at this point so when he has to handle the ball and get everybody involved in the game, it kind of takes away from him scoring the ball all the time or being aggressive all the time.”
The Jazz also missed the defensive presence of center Rudy Gobert Shane Ray Jersey , despite the fact that Gobert logged 35 minutes in the 110-96 loss. A Defensive Player of the Year candidate and league leader by a healthy margin in defensive real plus-minus, Gobert was a non-factor on that end, failing to record a block for the first time this postseason and just the eighth time overall.
Gobert averaged 2.3 blocks and ranked second in the NBA in block percentage (6.0), yet the Rockets had success attacking the rim with Gobert stationed there to defend it, shooting 8 of 9 with Gobert within three feet of the rim. The key to their success? Doing what comes naturally.
“We just try to be us as much as possible,” Rockets guard Chris Paul said. “I think James said it after last game: We’ve seen just about every defense you can have this past season, so if they switch, we adjust. If you back (up to protect the rim), we adjust. We just keep playing.”
Utah, conversely, can’t afford to maintain the status quo. The Rockets rode robust shooting to a 27-point, first-half lead and continued to exploit a Jazz defense that has stifled almost every other opponent. Harden averaged 34.3 points on 55.4 percent shooting against Utah during the season and looked alarmingly at ease attacking the Jazz off the dribble and from the perimeter.
Rubio Nate Hairston Jersey , out with a left hamstring strain, won’t be available to save the Jazz on offense. Defensively, Utah understands exactly what is required to ensure a superior performance.
“It takes all five guys on the court communicating, that’s for sure,” Jazz forward Jae Crowder said. “But you have to accept it. So, if they’re cross-matching and they’re running back you just got to demand the guy (to defend in transition) and stick with him for that possession and work it out. And that causes every guy on the court to know each guy’s tendencies and what he likes to do.
“So, you have to communicate on the court very well in the situation that we’re putting ourselves, which is in transition and working itself out in the half court and getting these guys in front of us and making it as tough as possible.”
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