After the Vikings lost to the Cowboys in Week Nine, defensive linemen Brian Robison and Kevin Williams expressed some dismay about the way the Vikings deployed their defense on the final Cowboys drive.
One major bone of contention was defensive coordinator Alan Williams’ decision to drop defensive linemen into coverage instead of sticking with the scheme that was producing pressure on Tony Romo throughout the game. Williams explained Tuesday that he made the decision to switch things up to take away screen passes from the Cowboys and said that he welcomed the input from his players.
“I don’t take that in a negative way at all,” Williams said, via Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Our guys are competitive. They put a lot of work in. Good players ask why: ‘Hey coach, why did you make this decision? What were you thinking?’ I have no problem whatsoever about a guy asking me why. We explain it, we talk about it and we move on.”
Coach Leslie Frazier said that he preferred any dirty laundry be hung in-house, even the rather mild variety expressed by Vikings defenders on Sunday afternoon. The best way to avoid a repeat on Thursday night would be to beat the Redskins because teams that win games usually don’t engage in much criticism, public or private, of their coaching staff.