Vikings' Jonathan Greenard on 'energy vampires' and planning to get 'punched in the mouth'

Greenard emphasized the Vikings' culture when discussing how the team has been able to weather storms over the past couple seasons.

Sep 14, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard (58) celebrates a sack during the second half against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Through just two weeks of the 2025 season, the Vikings have experience both the extreme highs and the extreme lows a team goes through during a 17-game grind of a schedule. After the comeback win in Week 1, the Vikings followed up by laying an egg on national television, in their home opener. That was followed a day later by the news that young franchise QB J.J. McCarthy will miss at least one game due to an ankle injury. The Vikings are facing adversity, but star linebacker Jonathan Greenard believes the Vikings are built for the challenge.

"Our mindset and our mission is to keep playing," Greenard said Tuesday morning during a guest appearance on KFAN's Power Trip Morning Show. "Everybody prepares as if they're going to be the starter. ... It's a great opportunity for somebody else to step in and make the plays and get there name out there."

McCarthy wasn't the only player to leave Sunday night's loss with a knock. Greenard himself looked to sustain an injury midgame, needing to be helped off the field by trainers. The 28-year-old pass rusher didn't miss a beat however and was able to rejoin the defense shortly after being looked at by the training staff.

"I'm good. Just a little nick. I'll be alright. You saw I came back out. Just a little bruise. We'll be back there so I'm not too worried," Greenard said Tuesday.

On how the team is moving on after a letdown performance in front of their home fans on Sunday, Greenard admitted the loss "sucks" but the players are focused on what's next.

"We hate to have these losses. We understand nobody wants that. But we also understand it's part of the game and understand that what we've put on tape, last year and things of that sort, teams are going to be giving us their best," said Greenard. "They understand that they're going to have to strap their stuff up whenever they come to play us because we do so many dynamic things on offense and defense. We have to expect that."

Avoiding energy vampires

When it comes to dealing with the roller coaster of emotions the NFL season puts one through, Greenard emphasized the importance of a good culture and not focusing too much on the lows.

"I've been on teams that only won four games. I've been on teams that only won three games. And then obviously I've been on the team that won 14. Just understanding the qualities and recipes of a good team, you have to make sure the energy is always high. You can't have energy vampires and I think that's the biggest thing that I haven't seen here," Greenard said.

"I think this is a good test for us, early on as well. We have a lot of guys that were on this team last year and understood how it just kind of became a norm for us to continuously win and deal with success. But as we all know, we all have to plan to get punched in the mouth and I think that this is a great opportunity for us to bounce back and show our maturity, show how we respond back to adversity. It's the league. We're going to continuously deal with it."

On Sunday, the Vikings struggled to move the ball while the defense did enough to keep the team in the game. Unlike Week 1 though, Minnesota wasn't able to engineer a comeback.

"Some teams, they're not going to let you come back," Greenard explained. They're watching that same game to understand how these guys are a fourth quarter team so when we do get that opportunity to get up, we have to keep that foot on their necks. Same things we're trying to do to other teams, they're trying to do to us."

The Vikings now prepare to host a Bengals team that is experiencing an injury crisis of its own.