Matthew Coller: Amidst Tua controversy, Flores' defense looks ready to lead the way

The Dolphins QB made headlines but the Vikings' defense has had a near ideal training camp...

Brian Flores / Minnesota Vikings

EAGAN — Under normal circumstances, the first question for Brian Flores during his Tuesday press conference would have been about the addition of cornerback Stephon Gilmore. But having been called a “terrible person” by his former quarterback, Flores spent the first eight minutes of his back-and-forth with the Twin Cities media addressing Tua Tagovailoa’s comments The Dan Le Batard Show that accused the Vikings’ defensive coordinator of mistreating him when they were together in 2020 and 2021.

“I'm human, so that hit me in a way that wasn't positive for me,” Flores said. “But at the same time I've got to use that and say, 'Hey, how can I grow from that? How can I be better?’”

Prior to the press conference, safety Josh Metellus and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips stood aside him to show their support. After practice, Phillips and former Dolphin Andrew Van Ginkel strongly stated their respect for Flores.

“He’s the reason I’m the player that I am today, I’m just going to leave Tua’s comments to himself,” Van Ginkel said. “I wouldn’t be here without (Flores) at this point in my career.”

Now that each side has said its piece, the Tua vs. Flores controversy is likely to quickly fade into the background of the ramp up to Week 1.

The less eye-catching but more relevant headline to the Vikings’ 2024 season regarding Flores is that his defense has come together over the past few weeks of camp. After dominating the Cleveland Browns’ offense in joint practices, seeing several promising young players emerge and adding Gilmore, they appear to be in position to lead the way on a team that has uncertainty at the quarterback position.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Flores said. “I think some of our young players are really showing up positively. In practice, in games, they are taking to some of the messages that we have given them from the meeting to the walk-through to practice and then applying it game. You’re really seeing it.”

Outside of losing Mekhi Blackmon on Day 1 of camp to an ACL tear, training camp and preseason have gone ideally for Flores’ defense. They have been largely healthy and seen the biggest question mark areas either be addressed by personnel moves or resolved by players stepping up.

The cornerback position in particular was depleted after losing Blackmon and Shaq Griffin went down with a non-severe injury that took him out of camp for several weeks. In the interim they added veteran Fabian Moreau and young corners like Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans were given a chance to step up. However, neither took the reins and Booth Jr. was sent packing in a trade to Dallas. It wasn’t until the Vikings signed Gilmore that the unit suddenly looked like it was on more stable ground.

“Definitely excited about Steph being here, obviously I have some history with him,” Flores said. “His career speaks for itself. The accolades and the talent but Steph the person…he’s a great human being, great teammate, he’ll be great for the young guys in our group, his maturity, his toughness and his global understanding of the game.”

Now the starting corners will be Gilmore and Byron Murphy Jr. with Griffin working in when they are in a base defensive package. Last season Gilmore played 999 snaps for the Cowboys and allowed just a 83.3 QB rating on throws into his coverage. If he performs anywhere close to his 2023, he should move the needle significantly from where it was even a week ago. The former MVP’s presence allows Murphy Jr. to move into the slot more often as he did during his best statistical year of 2021.

Gilmore shouldn’t need much ramp up because he has worked with Flores in the past.

“He’s aggressive, offenses are scared to go against his defense, he disguises pretty good and he’s always had a pretty good defense no matter where he went,” Gilmore said.

The front seven had questions entering camp as well. Would anyone emerge on the interior of the D-line? How would first-rounder Dallas Turner look and where might he fit in? Would any other situational rushers appear to be difference makers.

On the inside, Jerry Tillery has fit in, giving them more depth than last season when Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard were asked to carry a heavy load. They have also seen a young potential role player step up in seventh-rounder Levi Drake Rodriguez.

“There’s a jolt of speed, athleticism, quickness that Levi brings,” Flores said.

Within the edge rusher group, Turner has been part of a rotation with the two big veteran signings Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard. Rather than leaning on one pass rusher as they did last year with Danielle Hunter, they have more options because Turner has looked the part.

“Any time they can rush the passer it makes our job a whole lot easier,” Gilmore said of his new front seven.

Another under-the-radar veteran addition was former Giant Jihad Ward, who has added extra juice to the third down package. That especially showed up during the practices against Cleveland.

“[Ward] is energetic, he brings about as much energy as anybody I have been around,” Flores said. “That’s just him in a meeting and locker room setting. On the field he’s disruptive. He’s got versatility, he’s played inside, he’s played outside. Really everywhere on the defensive line.”

Speaking of emerging players, safety Theo Jackson has had a very strong camp and appears in line to fit into some type of role amidst the three other talented safeties Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus and Cam Bynum.

Linebackers Ivan Pace Jr. and Blake Cashman will make up one of the stronger ILB duos in the league if they perform like last season.

The joint practices with the Browns were the culmination of the defense starting to gel (and, pure speculation here, but maybe the showing in Cleveland was some inspiration to offer Gilmore a dollar figure he could refuse).

“It was good to see them come alive in that setting and play well and communicate,” Flores said. “It was a really great two days and then the game.”

As camp winds down, it’s clear that the Vikings have a deeper roster defensively than they did last season and the squad has been curated more to Flores’ liking than it was when he arrived.

But what about that other part? The thing that Tua was talking about?

Phillips said that when Flores first arrive he wasn’t sure how he was going to work with the team in terms of the culture and connection with their coach. The veteran defensive tackle explained that a get-together after the new DC was hired started the bonding process right away.

“It really brought us together,” Phillips said. “Coach Flores’ statement… is ‘you can’t have unique results without unique relationships.’ He’s done a really good job of developing those unique relationships where you have a Stanford kid from Nebraska sitting on the bus next to an inner city kid from Louisiana and we’re just buddies because of the defense that coach Flores has.”

“My experience has been extremely positive [with Flores],” Phillips said.

Maybe that has been part of the growth that Flores referenced or maybe Tua’s experience with him was simply under vastly different circumstances than his current position in Minnesota. What matters to the 2024 Vikings isn’t something that went on between coach and QB three years ago, it’s how the strongest roster on defense since 2019 plays when they get to the regular season.

While there is belief that QB Sam Darnold can be better than he’s ever been before, the Vikings’ schedule in the first seven games of the season features CJ Stroud, Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love and Matthew Stafford. Even Week 1 opponent Daniel Jones has more playoff wins than Darnold in his career and has a new set of dangerous receivers. The Vikings’ defense will need to drive the bus in ways we haven’t seen in the past in order to keep the Vikings in contention. As they head into the Week 1 preparation phase, Flores’ unit looks ready for that challenge.

“I was ready to go two weeks ago,” Flores said.