EAGAN, Minn. – Everything the Vikings do over the next five days or so has a reason and a “why” behind it.
As the team prepares to leave for London Thursday night ahead of their Sunday matchup against the Saints, Vikings Executive Director of Player Health and Performance Tyler Williams sat down with Twin Cities reporters to discuss logistics.
Williams is new to the Vikings organization but quite experienced within the league—and trips across the pond.
Prior to joining Minnesota, Williams was with the Rams from 2007-21, a span during which the Rams traveled to London four different times.
He noted that the Rams did a full-week trip twice and on the other two occasions did a Thursday-Sunday/Monday trip similar to the Vikings plan.
“We did a full week twice, and we’ve done the short trip twice. Just from personal experience, looking at our concepts, our principles and after-action reviews, we thought the short trip puts us at the best for us and our organization,” Williams explained. “Not to say one way is wrong and one way is right. There’s probably eight different pathways to get from A to B; it’s just what we feel like is best for our team at that time point.”
Williams emphasized the priorities considered when tackling such a unique travel situation.
“We’ll always make every decision based first and foremost on the players, maximizing their health and performance,” he said. “And with that said, it’s always the supporting mechanism to football. What we do as a performance strategy or a schedule strategy never trumps the Xs and Os but should enhance it.
“A lot of this comes into education,” Williams later added. “Education and communication with [the coaches and players] on the ‘why’ behind what this does to your body and how to maximize your performance to set you up for success within this travel trip – or any travel trip. It’s important to give them the tools to make a great decision.”
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins reenforced Williams’ message.
“I think players, we all want to know why and we all want to understand the strategic reasons,” Cousins said. “It helps you then to be disciplined and do it. When you know the reason behind it, I think it makes it easier to execute it.”
Here are four main topics Williams addressed in detail during his media session Wednesday:
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