Daronte Jones became the Vikings defensive backs coach this year, working with a group that lost veteran starters Trae Waynes, Xavier Rhodes and Mackensie Alexander in free agency and didn't have the benefit of a standard training camp.
Jones, 41, spent the past two seasons as Bengals defensive backs coach. He said coming to work for Vikings coach Mike Zimmer _ who first made his name as a defensive backs guru with the Cowboys _ was a challenge and a reason to join the club.
"I have a great opportunity to learn from a great mind like Mike," said Jones, who coached at Wisconsin in 2015 before making the leap to the NFL as Dolphins assistant DB coach. "It's challenging because you naturally want to do things the right way and do things the way he wants them done. I think it's a great opportunity, so I wouldn't say easier or harder (working for him), just a great opportunity."
The six Vikings cornerbacks _ Kris Boyd, Cameron Dantzler, Jeff Gladney, Harrison Hand, Holton Hill and Mike Hughes _ have an average age of 22.6.
In Sunday's 31-23 victory at Houston, the club started rookies Gladney and Dantzler, with Gladney taking 100% of the defensive snaps and Dantzler 96%.
Jones said one of the biggest challenges was making sure that his young players could find a way to turn what they learned in a virtual offseason into real game action.
"Just getting the guys ready to go mentally and physically with the virtual offseason that we had, it's unlike anything that any rookies have ever gone through," Jones said. "But this offseason they've had a chance to hear the defensive installs several times more. So the challenging part is just carrying it over to the field with the mental reps and the physical reps."
Having a veteran safety tandem in Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris has been a big help, Jones said.
"We're lucky to have them. They're smart, they're intelligent, they're great leaders in how they set the tone in the room," Jones said. "Especially in a young room like we have. You can always use that to your advantage to be able to do some different things schematically."
It would already be a challenging situation if the league was equally fair to defenses and offenses _ and that simply isn't the case. The NFL wants big points, and through four weeks this season games are averaging 51.3 points between both teams, the largest number since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970.
"The rules are the rules, and in life you can only control the things you can control," Jones said. "It's our jobs as coaches to coach the rules and get our guys ready to be successful."
