The Vikings didn’t need a perfect preseason to walk into Week 1 with real juice. They only needed Matt LaFleur to remind everyone how much Minnesota’s defense gets under his skin.
Green Bay’s coach met with reporters Monday and, in the process, handed Vikings fans a little extra fuel ahead of the opener against the Packers. The conversation turned to Harrison Smith, who was just announced as returning for a 15th season, and LaFleur didn’t sound like a coach caught off guard. When asked if he had expected Smith to be back, he answered simply, “Yes.”
That alone was enough to suggest Smith is already living rent-free in Green Bay’s game-planning meetings. LaFleur then went even further in describing what the veteran safety means to Minnesota.
"He's the straw that stirs the drink," LaFleur said about Smith (h/t VikingzFanPage). "His command, his ability to get them in and out of calls-he shows up all over the tape."
If Smith is the player LaFleur can’t stop thinking about, Brian Flores is the bigger problem. The Vikings’ defensive coordinator has built a reputation as one of the league’s most relentless pressure merchants, blitzing nearly 50% of the time in 2025. That kind of style forces offenses to guess, and LaFleur made it clear he understands the challenge.
“You’re going to get pressure, you know it,” LaFleur said (h/t Jason B. Hirschhorn). “You just don’t always know where it’s coming from.”
That’s the whole Flores experience in one line. Minnesota disguises, rotates, and attacks, and the Packers have already felt it. The Vikings piled up five sacks across their two meetings with Green Bay in 2025, and there’s every reason to think the heat could be just as constant in 2026.
Minnesota’s front won’t look exactly the same this time around after the team let Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen go and dealt Jonathan Greenard to the Eagles. Even so, the basic pressure package remains intact, and Flores has shown he can create chaos with almost any personnel group.
The opener may get even more uncomfortable for Green Bay if its offensive line is short-handed. LaFleur was asked about guard Aaron Banks and tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, and he didn’t have much to offer beyond, “We'll see.”
That uncertainty matters. If the Packers are patching things together up front, Flores can unleash Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel and let the rest of the defense hunt. For Minnesota, that’s the kind of setup that can turn a season opener into a nightmare for the other sideline.
The Vikings stumbled through an ugly preseason, but the matchup ahead gives them a chance to start clean against a division rival that has plenty of its own questions. And if LaFleur’s comments are any indication, he already knows exactly what’s waiting for him.
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