Kevin O'Connell talks Gilmore, Cine and Tua's comments on Brian Flores

Gilmore has arrived while Cine may finally be living up to the hype of being a first-round pick.

Kevin O'Connell with Brian Flores / Minnesota Vikings

Stephon Gilmore practiced with the Vikings for the first time on Monday while fellow cornerback Shaq Griffin could return to the field this week as he recovers from an injury. Meanwhile, Lewis Cine and Tua Tagovailoa are making headlines, one of them making defensive coordinator Brian Flores look good and the other making him look bad.

Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell talked about all of those topics during his 10-minute chat with the media on Monday, saying Griffin could work "back in" at practice "as we roll through the week." He also said Gilmore, the five-time Pro Bowl cornerback who officially signed a one-year deal with the Vikings on Monday, should be ready to go for the season opener Sept. 8 against the Giants.

"I know mentally he'll be able to handle everything, it'll just be physically how we want to handle his workload through this week and on into the weekend," O'Connell said, noting that he's not sure if Gilmore will play in the third and final preseason game against the Eagles on Saturday.

O'Connell declined to provide much of a comment when asked about Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's scathing review of Flores, who was the head coach in Miami during Tagovailoa's first two years in the NFL.

"I don't particularly have a comment on something that took place with another team or I don't like to comment on comments of other players on other teams, but I can just tell you I know the players Flo works with, he's got great relationships here," O'Connell said. "I know you guys (media) have heard a lot of them talk about how much they enjoy playing for him and how much I enjoy working with him every day, and that's all I can really comment on and I'd just like to really leave it at that."

On the flip side, Cine's brilliant performance in Minnesota's exhibition win over Cleveland has made Flores look great after Cine first two seasons in the NFL were marred by injury and struggles with a scheme change from Ed Donatell to Flores calling the defensive plays.

"I think every NFL player goes on a journey regardless of where they're selected in the draft," O'Connell said. "Year 1, the injury was significant and it was significant because it took away time on the grass for Lew just to get comfortable in an NFL defense regardless of the scheme. Has a change of scheme from Year 1 to Year 2 and then working his way back at the same time from that injury. I think it was always going to take some time and moments like Saturday and seeing him put two good days of practice at Cleveland on the books and then come out and play the way he did, I think it's a great of example of Lew continuing to work at it every single day and constantly chasing improvement and it showed up."

Not much more came out of O'Connell's press conference, so the Vikings are moving ahead to another week of preparation before the final preseason game at noon Saturday against the Eagles and then finalizing the 53-man roster on Aug. 27.