What Kevin O'Connell Said About the Carolina Panthers

Want to know what the opposing head coach says about your Carolina Panthers each week? We got you covered. Here are a few quotes from Minnesota Vikings header Kevin O'Connell on this week's matchup with Carolina.

Initial thoughts on the matchup

"It will be a tough challenge going down to Carolina, a road environment. Good athletic team flying around on their home field. We're going to have to play well and my hope is we continue to improve."

Carolina's pass rush

"We've had some pretty significant pass rushers on the edges from Week 1 to Week 2 to Week 3. It's been a challenge after challenge and with [Brian] Burns and with [Justin] Houston, it's the same thing again this week."

Familiarity with Ejiro Evero/how good the Panthers' defense is

"I think he does a great job. He did in L.A. in his role there and then when he got a chance to run it in Denver, they were a really good defense flying around. You turn on the tape and you see so many good characteristics of quality defense and a scheme you can tell the players have total ownership of. I know they've kind of dealt with some injuries here and there, but you can see he is doing the same thing there. It's going to be a challenge for our offense. All three levels of their defense have really talented players that play really hard and the scheme is always going to be a challenge."

Facing Adam Thielen

"Very thankful that I got a chance to coach him. I couldn't be a bigger fan of Adam Thielen the person and it's not a surprise to me one bit that he's gone down there and is having a huge impact. He's got 11 third down receptions. He's been really targeted and you can tell the quarterbacks no matter who is in the game have confidence in Adam to make the plays, separate, and making contested catches."

Thoughts on Bryce Young

"Very accurate, sees the field. I spent a lot of time when Bryce was coming out evaluating him and getting to know him, and I was a big fan of his. I expect him to have a really strong year."

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