Whenever the Vikings are allowed to return to the huddle, a sturdy defense under head coach Mike Zimmer will look to newcomers, many of them rookies, to help replace more than 4,500 snaps vacated by free agency.
Those Vikings rookies, from first-round cornerback Jeff Gladney to seventh-round defensive end Kenny Willekes, joined the team this past month in expanded classroom sessions, which ended this week. With tentative plans for a late July return for training camp, co-defensive coordinators Andre Patterson and Adam Zimmer know only actual practices will gauge the progress or the ground to be gained of a remade Vikings defense.