Vikings players give Brian Flores reviews after brutal criticism from Tua Tagovailoa

The Minnesota Vikings were one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 NFL season. Minnesota enters Week 8 at 5-1 and recently suffered its first loss of the season with a 1-0 loss to Detroit. The Vikings owe much of their early season success to their defense. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is the architect of the whole thing.

However, not everyone is a fan of Brian Flores. Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa has been a vocal critic of Flores' coaching style, which he criticized in an interview back in August.

Current Vikings players disagree. In a recent ESPN article by Kevin Seifert, they came to the defense of their DC.

“It's just not his 'why,'” said Daronte Jones, the Vikings' passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach. “He deserves to achieve this again and have this opportunity, but that’s not a driving force and it’s not something we ever talk about.”

Safety Josh Metellus also believes Flores has another chance to become a head coach.

“Honestly that might be what the media is worried about, but what we see is a guy who only cares about coaching good football. He’s the Vikings’ defensive coordinator and he wants to win.”

Metellus believes personality differences could be the reason some players like Flores and others don't.

“Personalities vary, of course,” Metellus said. “But you just realize it comes from passion, not nagging or feeling like a coach is on you just to be on you. It comes from a place of “I know what you have and I know what you can do, show me.”

Tua Tagovailoa harshly criticized Vikings DC's Brian Flores over his coaching style in a preseason interview