Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen is getting used to big games, having just set a record for starting a season with five straight 100-yard games.
But he was fired up by a catch that had no bearing on the stat sheet.
Via Peter King of NBC’s Football Morning in America, Thielen was most fired up about recovering the late onside kick, which allowed the Vikings to hang onto a 23-21 win over the Eagles.
“We knew that was going to be the biggest play of the game,” Thielen said. “He kicked a phenomenal kick and it was by far the hardest onside kick of all the onside kicks I’ve practiced against in college of the pros. It was the nastiest thing I’ve seen. It was low, with a side spin. It wasn’t a normal end over end onside kick. It had a nasty spin on it and when I saw it coming at me I just wanted to make sure I could just knock it down then jump on it. Just wanted to get on it and secure it because when it’s a bang bang play like that there’s a lot of guys on you—a lot of pinching and hair-pulling. They were trying to pull my hair. Good thing I got my hair cut. It was not fun under there.”
And yet he hung onto it. As he does so often with flying things, as evidenced by his league-leading 47 receptions, and the 138 catches for 1,865 yards since the start of the 2017 season.