For Vikings' skill-position players, underdog mentality continues into NFC Championship Game

Lindsay H. Jones | USA TODAY

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Their NFC Championship Game opponents and corresponding fan base might be the ones donning dog masks on Sunday, but there is at least one room full of players on the Minnesota Vikings who view themselves as underdogs.

That holds true not just in the matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, but for their entire football careers.

“We are underdogs. We are the guys that they expected not to make the team, or not to stay in the league this long,” Vikings wide receiver Jarius Wright told USA TODAY Sports. “They don't expect guys to last as long as we have, or do as good as we have together. We are all fighters. We all have enough dog in us to be able to get the job done at a high level.”

There is just one first-round pick on the two-deep depth chart of Vikings’ skill-position players: receiver Laquan Treadwell, who has just 20 catches this season.

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Many of the Vikings’ core contributors, from divisional-round hero Stefon Diggs to Wright and first-time Pro Bowler Adam Thielen, arrived in Minnesota with little fanfare. Diggs, a five-star recruit in high school, slipped to the fifth round, in part because of injury concerns (he suffered a lacerated kidney while at the University of Maryland). Thielen went undrafted out of Minnesota State, only to stick in the NFL with his home team. Wright, the third-longest tenured position player on the team, was a fourth rounder in 2012 but the less heralded of the two Arkansas receivers the Vikings drafted that year despite being drafted earlier. College teammate Greg Childs tore ligaments in both knees in his first training camp and never played in an NFL game.

They figure they fit right in with quarterback Case Keenum, a journeyman who was cut three times between 2012-14 and was a fringe NFL starter before finding success this year in Minnesota, and running back Latavius Murray, a fourth-round pick by the Raiders in 2014 whose role with the Vikings expanded this year after a season-ending knee injury to first-round pick Dalvin Cook.

“Everybody in this locker room is capable, and guys just want to play football. They don't care what people say about them. They don't care what's happening as far as being a starter or backup. They just want to go play football,” Thielen said. “We have a lot of fighters in this locker room, and I think that's shown throughout the season and on Sunday.”

Thielen’s rise to stardom has been well documented this year, as he finished in the top eight in catches (91) and receiving yards (1,276). But a last-second, game-winning 61-yard touchdown in the divisional-round win over the New Orleans Saints thrust the spotlight on Diggs – a position that teammates said he more than deserves after having grown into a well-rounded threat with strong study and practice habits.

Wright said he’s watched Diggs mature to become the person who was keeping his offensive teammates focused on trying to win the game even after the Saints retook the lead last week with 25 seconds remaining. It was no surprise to Wright that, after making the catch, Diggs displayed both the awareness to figure out he had a clear lane to the end zone and the agility to regain his balance.

The days – and the attention – that followed were not overwhelming for the third-year receiver.

“He's handled it really, really well, and that's why it happened to someone like that,” Wright said. Sometimes people can't handle that moment, and God gave it to someone that can handle that moment.”

Diggs said he had a couple important conversations about the catch – with his mom, who told him she almost had a heart attack, and his younger brothers, including Trevon Diggs, a cornerback who won a national title with the University of Alabama last week.

After those discussions, and another round of media interviews on Wednesday, it was easy to focus on the Eagles, who allowed just 195 passing yards to the Atlanta Falcons last week and largely eliminated the Falcons’ downfield attack.

“Every week is an opportunity to hit some things. You kind of want to go in with the mindset that good things are going to happen when they’re supposed to,” Diggs said. “You got trust your coaches and trust the guys around you. I always think we have a chance.”

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.

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