Vikings’ Ed Ingram Raises Eyebrows After Comment on Week 1 Performance

Minnesota Vikings guard Ed Ingram was part of a leaky offensive interior line that struggled in Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ingram may beg to differ.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, September 11, Ingram didn’t express many regrets about his play.

“I thought I played pretty well. I had some slight mistakes but other than that I liked my performance,” Ingram said in a locker room interview.

Kirk Cousins was under duress often against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that blitzed at the second-highest rate (42.6%) in the league last week, according to ESPN.

The Vikings offensive line allowed five quarterback hits and 12 pressures. Ingram, coming off a rookie year where he allowed the most pressures in the league, posted a 40.3 Pro Football Focus (PFF) pass-blocking grade that ranked 58th among guards who played in Week 1.

He allowed a sack, a quarterback hit and two hurries for a team-high four pressures total. He also played a hand  — quite literally – in one of the Vikings’ fumbles where he clubbed the ball out of Cousins’ hands during the snap.

Ingram admitted he was frustrated by the play he called a “freak accident.” Kevin O’Connell concurred with the second-year guard.

“Yeah, watching it, it’s a pretty darn random thing. Ed’s trying to make sure he gets going to try to gain back some leverage. Third-and-short… we’re trying to get the ball in the perimeter and give Alex [Mattison] a chance there, and just sometimes things like that happen,” O’Connell said.

“We try to avoid it with technique and fundamentals, but Kirk did, we call it seating the ball, when he brings it in right away and as he goes to toss that thing just a random left arm punch there by our own, but that was a critical play and that’s kind of how the day went, and we’ve got to find a way.”

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 Ed Ingram’s Spot is in Question With Vikings After Dalton Risner Visit

After selecting Ingram in the third round of the 2022 draft, the Vikings have pushed their chips in his development by giving him as much playing experience as possible.

Ingram, 24, played over 1,200 offensive snaps last season and retained his starting role this year.

But Minnesota has entertained the possibility of adding competition for Ingram’s spot.

The Vikings had veteran free-agent guard Dalton Risner in for a visit on August 1. It proved to be a cursory encounter as Risner left without a contract. The Vikings did ask him an important question regarding if he could move from left guard to right guard — Ingram’s spot on the line.

“His predominant history is on that left side, that’s one of the reasons why you bring a player on a visit, to have those conversations,” O’Connell said in August. “We feel very comfortable about his answer to that question and would put that plan into place as far as his competition to try and earn a significant role on our team.”

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Vikings O-Line Faces Toughest Test of the Season in Week 2 vs. Eagles

Coming off a loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday, the Vikings only have four days to prepare for likely the toughest test for the offensive line this season.

The Philadelphia Eagles defensive line was ranked the No. 1 unit in the league by PFF and gave Minnesota plenty of troubles last season in a 24-7 Vikings loss.

Ezra Cleveland gave up seven pressures, followed by Ingram with three and Garrett Bradbury with a solo pressure. The Eagles don’t blitz nearly as much as Tampa Bay does, but that is no matter considering the pressure Philadelphia can create with just four linemen.

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