Domonique Orange’s brief cameo in coverage against the Baltimore Ravens said a lot about where the Minnesota Vikings are right now.
Late in the second quarter of the preseason game, Orange - the 6-foot-2, 322-pound nose tackle his teammates call “Big Citrus” - dropped back on second-and-nine and broke up Joe Fagnano’s throw intended for LaJohntay Wester. For a play that drew laughs and attention, it also revealed exactly what Brian Flores keeps asking of his defense: versatility, awareness and the nerve to try something unusual.
Flores was asked about the call on Tuesday and didn’t try to take credit for it.
“I didn’t call that [play],” Flores clarified on Tuesday. “But I want him to celebrate.
I want him to have fun out there. For a guy his size, he’s pretty athletic, and he showed [his athleticism by] getting into a little bit of space.
If he would have went a little bit flatter, he might have been able to get his hands on it a little bit better, and then we’ve got a real celebration.”
That was Flores in a nutshell: praise first, correction second. And in this case, the correction came with a hint of what might have been. Orange was close enough to make a play, and the idea of a nose tackle snagging a preseason interception was not exactly foreign - Michael Pierce did it for Baltimore last year.
Flores had handed over play-calling duties in the second preseason game to Vikings defensive running game coordinator Ryan Nielsen and senior defensive assistant Mike Siravo, but the philosophy was still his. Minnesota’s defense keeps leaning into player flexibility, and that’s how Orange ended up where a nose tackle usually doesn’t go.
That same approach has helped veterans like Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus and Andrew Van Ginkel thrive. Smith has moved around the formation.
Metellus became a hybrid safety-linebacker piece in the defense. Van Ginkel can impact games in coverage and as a pass rusher, the kind of player who can produce a “Gink 6.”
But Flores’ system has also made life harder for the younger players trying to find their footing. It asks them to think fast, react faster and understand that the job changes from snap to snap. Flores doesn’t describe it as a rigid scheme so much as a series of responses to what the offense shows before the ball is snapped.
He explained that there’s freedom in the defense, but only after the basics are handled.
“There’s an element of freedom that I want all players to have,” Flores explained. “But there’s also this element of, ‘Hey, everybody’s got a responsibility on each play, and let’s take care of that first and foremost.’
“And I would say guys who understand that part, ‘Hey, I’ve got to set the edge. I’ve got to contain.
I’ve got to be middle push. I’ve got to keep my outside leverage.
I’ve got to play the sticks in a third-down situation.’ You do those things over and over and over again.”
That’s the hurdle for the Vikings’ young defenders. Some are being asked to play roles they didn’t have in college, and Flores wants them to learn the principles before they start freelancing. The offense may look repetitive to them, but he wants them to recognize when to jump inside, when to take the edge and when to stay put.
“Offensively, they feel like he’s going to do [the same thing] over and over again,” Flores continued. “Then, you can jump inside every once in a while.
And so, for a young player, does he really know whether he’s doing exactly what he needs to do, play after play after play? Maybe, maybe not.
“That’s part of the learning process, though. And I ask those guys to try to jump inside, see if you can get there.
Or take the edge, see if you can get there. But if you’re by the quarterback, now you’ve learned that you probably shouldn’t do that (because the defender must contain the edge).
Or you jump inside, and they get outside of you.
“Now you’ve learned, and it’s like a little kid with a hot stove. You didn’t know it burns until it burns.”
Flores said the teaching process starts with making the concepts manageable. Players learn the responsibilities tied to each role, then have to sort through the offense’s look and react correctly.
On one snap, a player might be functioning as a safety. On the next, he’s a linebacker.
The mental switch matters just as much as the physical one.
“There are mistakes when you’re going from inside to outside,” Flores acknowledges.
“Sometimes your mind is inside when you’re outside, and your mind’s outside when you’re inside. Our players who play a lot of roles, I oftentimes tell them, ‘Who are you?’
You’ve got to know who you are. If you’re [Josh] Metellus, you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Who am I?’
I’m the nickel. I’m the safety.
I’m a linebacker.
“Now for Ty [Ingram-Dawkins], I’m an edge guy. I’m a 3-technique.
I’m a 5-technique. And so it changes from play to play, but that takes reps and time as well.”
That last part is the crux of it. Flores’ defense tends to reward veterans because they can process all of that quicker. Younger players can get stuck in the middle of it, and that’s been the reality in Minnesota.
But this season, the Vikings may not have the luxury of waiting. They leaned defense-heavy in the draft after moving on from established veterans, which means the learning curve now matters even more. Whether those young players can absorb Flores’ principles and read offenses the way the staff wants will shape how far this team can go.
Orange probably won’t be asked to drop into coverage again. But if he is, he’ll need to know the same thing every other young defender in Flores’ system has to learn: the rules are different here, and the stove only has to burn you once.
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