Brosmer focused on playing ‘slow’ ahead of second career start Thursday

With J.J. McCarthy set to miss Thursday's game against Detroit, Kevin O'Connell is, once again, handing the keys to the Vikings' offense to Max Brosmer.

"I thought he did a phenomenal job for us and was a big reason why we were able to win a tough, tough football game under those circumstances," O'Connell said of Brosmer's game against the Giants.

The 24-year-old undrafted rookie was called upon in the second half on Sunday after McCarthy was ruled out with a hand injury. With a narrow 13-10 lead on the road, Brosmer did just enough to keep the train on the tracks and see out the win. That included engineering a 17-play, 47-yard drive late in the fourth quarter to set up a game-winning kick by Will Reichard. Overall, Brosmer completed 7-of-9 pass attempts for 52 yards.

While he didn't throw a touchdown on Sunday, Brosmer also didn't throw an interception. The two quarters of play in New York were a noticeable upgrade from his first career start, in which he tossed four interceptions in a 26-0 blowout loss in Seattle.

"My dream has been to play in the NFL for a long time. For me, mentally to define myself by one game wouldn't be fair to the younger me watching the NFL," said Brosmer when asked how he moved on from his tough first start.

Despite the difficult debut, Brosmer said the Seattle game didn't shake his confidence in his ability to play at the NFL level.

"It's a mental stability thing, where you get to build from that game," said Brosmer. "Because there's going to be games throughout the rest of your career where you're going to have a few picks, you might lose a game where you could have done something better yourself, but I'm going to use that and continue to build. Whenever that comes next in my career, I'll be ready to handle that."

On what changed for him from the Seattle game to the New York performance, Brosmer said he told himself to "Be slow."

"That's what fixes me being ahead of things, is just thinking about being slower," said Brosmer. "I felt like the outcome was a little bit better. It's all about finding little ways to improve on your craft and to improve with the guys that you're playing with. That was a rep in Seattle, and a rep was in New York."

Brosmer now faces the difficult task of getting prepared to start against a tough Lions team on a short week. Minnesota hosts Detroit at U.S. Bank Stadium on Thursday afternoon in front of a national television audience. While the Vikings have already been eliminated, the Lions still hold a slim chance of sneaking into the NFC playoffs, but that requires them to win both of their final two games.

"Yeah, the good news is he had a preparation week before he got the start against Seattle," O'Connell said when asked about the process of getting Brosmer ready to start again.

O'Connell was highly complimentary of Brosmer's performance in New York, noting the undrafted rookie kept his fundamentals in rhythm and that Brosmer went through his progressions well.

"Everything was very sequenced up and timed up with his feet and had some really nice plays from a standpoint of progressions, finding completions here or there," said O'Connell. "Then obviously that massive third-down throw to Justin (Jefferson). Great anticipation, great location giving Justin a chance to go get it."

"What was a really, really cool thing was a young player who has gotten a chance to play on the road previously, did some good things, learned a lot in that game, and then gets a chance to go back into that number two role," continued O'Connell. "Sometimes the best thing you can do is not get too much of a chance to think about it, put your helmet on, and go out there. "

On what he sees in the Lions defense he'll face on Thursday, Brosmer noted Detroit's physicality up front and their athleticism across the board. However, Brosmer said that he's more focused on what the Vikings are able to do and keeping the ball in Minnesota's hands.

"For us, it goes back to our preparation and what we're going to put on tape," said Brosmer. "It's going to be physical football. It's going to be smart and efficient football. And staying on schedule is the recipe. Keeping the ball in our hands and staying on schedule."

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