EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- After a couple poor games in the first few weeks of the Minnesota Vikings' season, when criticism of him was at his highest, left tackle Matt Kalil got a call from his brother Ryan.

Ryan Kalil, the Carolina Panthers' Pro Bowl center, knew his younger brother would be down, especially after a poor performance in Week 2 against the New England Patriots.

"He knows how I am," Matt Kalil said. "I'm my toughest critic. It was just brotherly advice -- getting my confidence back up. That helped a little bit. I'll be alright."

The Vikings have seen Kalil's play improve somewhat in the last two weeks. He had his best game of the season in a win over the Atlanta Falcons, and didn't allow a sack on Thursday night, though the pressure he allowed from Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews set up Mike Daniels' sack in the first half. Kalil said he's feeling better with his pass sets after missing time in the offseason following knee surgery, and he seems to be regaining some confidence in his own play.

"I'd never really been hurt before or missed any time, really," Kalil said. "I missed OTAs and when I came back to (training) camp, I was still lagging a little bit, and I'd get beat, because I wasn't to where I was (before). I think the confidence kind of diminished a little bit. I've had a few games in a row now, to where I'm building that confidence back up. I got help from my brother and stuff like that. It's good to have a role model like that, (saying) 'Listen, you can't get down; you've got to go to the next play.' Especially at left tackle, you get beat and you get down on yourself, those guys smell that blood. You've got to brush it off and keep playing."

The Vikings have shifted some help toward Kalil in recent weeks, keeping Matt Asiata on the left side of the formation to help in pass protection, and could need to do so again on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, who have what Kalil called the best front four in the league at the moment. But for a player whom coach Mike Zimmer said tends to dwell on negative plays, regaining some confidence might be a big part of the battle.