Cornerback Shaq Griffin couldn't stop smiling after one of his first Vikings practices.
Griffin, a 28-year-old veteran who signed a one-year, $4.5 million deal in free agency, has stepped into a starting role during spring practices. When he looks around at his new teammates, coaches and a playbook that includes more man-to-man coverage, Griffin said he sees the recipe for him to return to a Pro Bowl form he once showed with the Seahawks.
"Yeah, I love it," Griffin said after a recent practice during organized team activities. "I think it's a perfect fit, a great opportunity, I love the defensive scheme that they have. I feel they put me in the right spot to be able to play my game how I'm used to playing it."
Griffin is also enjoying a full offseason of good health. He said that during 2022 training camp with the Jaguars he tore a back muscle, then played through the injury for five games, taking cortisone tablets that wore off by the fourth quarter. When he couldn't feel his leg, he decided to undergo surgery to address the issue around his L5 and S1 vertebrae.
He was cut by the Jaguars in March 2023. He signed with the Texans last year but said he wasn't the same player. He had been sidelined for six months and couldn't stay in shape. He felt he was still getting his legs under him during camp, when he had a backup role, as well as after injuries vaulted him into six starts last season.
Griffin said he has no such reservations this time around.
"Moving really well now," he said. "Way faster than I did last year."
Griffin ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the 2017 combine before the Seahawks drafted him in the third round.
He also stands 6 feet tall, has started 83 NFL games (including four playoff starts) and has a history of making plays on the ball. That fit the Vikings' search for an experienced, big and aggressive man-to-man cornerback.
Last year, defensive coordinator Brian Flores leaned heavily on three safeties, instead of three cornerbacks, in the team's primary nickel (or pass-focused) defense. During two spring practices open to reporters, the Vikings have deployed more man-to-man coverage with three cornerbacks — Griffin, Byron Murphy Jr. and Mekhi Blackmon — on the field.
"This year they kind of want to do that a little bit more," Griffin said. "So they brought me in to kind of be that guy to push that edge when it comes to getting everybody to dial in on playing more man. We're playing more man techniques; we're learning more about press."
Earlier this offseason, Flores said he was looking to diversify the call sheet. When Flores was Dolphins head coach from 2019-21, Miami had among the highest man-to-man coverage rates in the league.
"We just got to keep spinning a dial and try to keep them off balance as best we can," Flores said. "So yeah, I would say that's going to be man coverage as a part of that. But so is [cover] two, three, and four and every other coverage and every other pressure we've got."
The Vikings are young at cornerback. Just two players, Griffin and Murphy, have seen a 26th birthday. Griffin's experience, particularly what he learned from former Seahawks teammates Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas, has been valuable to his younger teammates.
Griffin said he first learned how to jam a receiver at the line of scrimmage by watching Sherman execute the "step-kick" technique, which involves a patient step backward followed by an aggressive punch into the receiver's chest paired with a kick in the direction the receiver chose.
"Everything Sherm taught me," Griffin said, "I'm just preaching to the younger guys."
Even Murphy, a former Cardinals starter entering his sixth NFL season, has his notebook ready.
"That's one of the guys I've been watching," Murphy said of Griffin. "He was in Seattle [when] I went to [the University of Washington], so I watched his film in college. So I've kind of known him since. … But to just get the knowledge from him — he played a lot of ball — so just to have me and all the young guys getting knowledge from him is the best part."
Griffin is also thrilled to join one of his favorite players and people, Aaron Jones, who has become a sort of family friend. Griffin's relatives include many Packers fans.
"I'm not a Packer fan," he protested.
But Griffin's siblings, aunt and cousins are diehard Packers fans. They first connected with Jones, a former Packers running back, through Griffin's twin brother, Shaquem, who relayed a message from their younger cousin who was a Packers fan. It's a relationship involving two sets of twins; Jones' twin brother is Alvin.
When Jones was still with the Packers, he sent the Griffins' cousin a greeting video.
"It all kind of came full circle" when they both signed with the Vikings this offseason, Griffin said.
"I think they wanted to get a hold of Aaron Jones first," he said. "Before I even got signed, [Shaquem] talked to Aaron first. He's like, 'Yeah, I think my brother is going out there,' and he ain't even talked to me yet. So, yeah, I think they're pretty excited. And I'm grateful for the opportunity."
