Vikings DC Brian Flores on roles for Dallas Turner, Harrison Smith this year

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores held his first weekly press conference of the regular season on Tuesday. As usual, he emphasized the challenge the team is facing on Sunday — he had praise for Brian Daboll, Daniel Jones, and the Giants’ offensive weapons — but it was what Flores said about two notable Vikings players that stood out the most.

J.J. McCarthy isn’t playing on Sunday, but the Vikings still have a first-round pick set to make his highly-anticipated NFL debut. Dallas Turner, the 21-year-old pass rusher out of Alabama, is going to have a role against the Giants, even if he’s listed as the fourth outside linebacker on Minnesota’s unofficial depth chart.

“We’ve got a role envisioned for Dallas,” Flores said. “I’m not gonna give you (the details) right now, but I think we’ll see that play out in-game. That changes. If he’s got the hot hand, we leave him in.”

Veterans Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel are the starters at OLB, and they’ll both play quite a bit. But Pat Jones II and Turner will mix in as well, and as Flores said, the rotation is malleable based on how players are performing. On obvious passing downs, you could see three or even all four of those players on the field together.

Flores and the Vikings have been very impressed by what they’ve seen from Turner since they picked him 17th overall in April. He had a strong training camp and showed off his tools on just a few reps in the preseason opener against the Raiders.

“Very athletic, very smart, tough — nothing but positives, quite honestly,” Flores said. “I think one of the good things for him is he’s in a room with guys like Greenard, guys like Ginkel, and he’s like a sponge with that group as far as extracting information and finding ways for him to apply some of those things with his skill set. Excited to see him play on Sunday.”

Back in the spring, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell talked about wanting to reduce Harrison Smith’s workload a bit this year. Smith, 35, played over 1,100 snaps last season as a true every-down player. He’s averaged over 1,000 snaps over the last six regular seasons.

In theory, the Vikings have the depth to give their longest-tenured player some plays off here and there in 2024. Theo Jackson, their No. 4 safety, is very capable of stepping in alongside Camryn Bynum and Josh Metellus if needed. The Vikings also have four experienced cornerbacks — Stephon Gilmore, Byron Murphy Jr., Shaq Griffin, and Fabian Moreau — who they can use.

In reality, Smith is a hard guy to take off the field, Flores has learned.

“If he’s standing by me, I don’t really feel good about that,” a smiling Flores said. “Maybe that’s the play where he goes in there and makes the game-changing play. So it’s hard to get him out. There’s a plan to maybe get him out of there, a series or two, but that same plan was in last year and I kinda overruled all of that. Put it on me.”

Smith will once again be a central part of the Vikings’ defense in his 13th — and perhaps final — season with the franchise. His 34 career interceptions are two behind former teammate Patrick Peterson for the most among active players, and three behind Joey Browner for fourth in Vikings history.