When a player joins a new team, he doesn’t need to know the entire playbook. He just needs to know the moves that will be used in the game being played.
New Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs knew that on Sunday.
“Everything that was installed this week, I knew,” Dobbs told PFT by phone after Sunday’s 31-28 win. “When I knew they had representatives, but I knew. I knew the concepts, the pieces and everything. So everything that is on the call sheet. I told the coaches that I was good at everything, and from then on, like along the way, I learned to make situational decisions and things like that. It could be a two-minute decision like the last trip. There were some decisions that were on the decision list, but we talked about them on the sidelines and I was ready to go if they came up during the game.”
Part of the process included constant advice and guidance via trainer Kevin O’Connell’s headset.
“I was like, ‘Hey, if you name anything on the paper, I can understand it pretty well,'” Dobbs said. “And of course there is communication from there about it, just in case there are a lot of plays on the call sheet. Just in case I missed something, but we were able to share it. My goal is always, no matter the circumstances, I don’t want it [mess] I’ll join the team when I’m out there, you know? I want to go out there and give the team a chance to win. I prepare like this. I put a lot of time and concentration into it so that, no matter what the circumstances are, I am ready to go and can give the team the chance to act and win a game.”
When it came to familiarizing himself with the plays used in the game, Dobbs said he got help from the other quarterbacks on the roster – Sean Mannion and Nick Mullens. Dobbs also received help from quarterback coach Chris O’Hara, but Dobbs’ preparation was secondary. They had a rookie starting his first NFL game.
“Obviously they get Jaren [Hall] ready to play, but Grant [Udinski]“, another coach in the QB room, I spent a lot of time with him,” Dobbs said. “I think we spent two and a half hours after practice on Friday going over the entire game plan and talking about, you know, the plays, the calls, what I knew, what was a little unclear in my head, what he didn’t should announce.” . It definitely helped a lot to go through that with him.”
The time spent preparing Dobbs was for emergencies only. There was no game package for Dobbs if Hall was able to finish the game.
“I only played when something happened to Jaren,” Dobbs said.
Something happened on the first trip. That’s where Dobbs’ limited preparation came into play. And he ultimately did enough to give Minnesota its most unlikely win of the 2023 season.