Vikings at Bears Week 15 Final Thoughts

“He’s a very confident returner, and he should be. He’s dynamic, he’s quick, he’s shifty. He’s got all those skill sets that you’re looking for as a returner,” Ficken told Twin Cities media members Friday. “He’ll return it at any part of the field. We saw it last week, where he returned it from the 3-yard line. Against the Raiders, he returned one that was [5 yards] deep in the end zone. We’ve got to make sure we’re covering everything until that whistle’s blown.

“They’ve got really dynamic returners, but they’ve got a great group of core guys. And they play fast, and they play with a lot of confidence,” Ficken said of the Bears special teams. “So we’ve gotta go ahead and match that, too. I think our guys have a lot of confidence, as well, so it’ll be a great matchup. But we’ve gotta make sure we just continue to do what we do best.”

Ficken will be looking for strong performances by kicker Greg Joseph, punter Jordan Berry and of course Minnesota’s returners, as well. Rookie Kene Nwangwu currently leads all returners across the league with two touchdowns on kickoff returns, and he’s averaging 39.5 yards per return. Dede Westbrook, who typically returns punts for Minnesota, was added to the Reserve/COVID-19 list this past week, which means the Vikings may be without him. In that case, it could be K.J. Osborn – or someone else – stepping in.

“You know, it’s whatever player’s going to give us the best opportunity to win that down, win that situation,” Ficken said. “So it could be by situation, but [Head Coach Mike Zimmer] gave the green light, said ‘Hey, use the best guy.’ We’ve gotta make sure we know who the best guy is out there that’s going to be able to achieve what we’re trying to achieve on that specific play.”