Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans' challenge: Relearning how to tackle to save his career

Of all the things Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans had to learn this season — a new scheme, a different set of coverage techniques in Brian Flores' defense — there might be nothing more essential than the video defensive pass game coordinator Daronte Jones sent him.

Evans' rookie year ended after a Dec. 4 injury against the Jets sent him to the NFL's concussion protocol for the third time. He made two starts last season — the Jets game and the victory over the Bills on Nov. 14 — and left both games because of concussion symptoms. The Vikings, concerned what another concussion could mean for Evans' future, placed him on injured reserve in December. Instantly and inextricably, the promising cornerback's career and livelihood were linked to his ability to protect himself on the field.

Jones remembered all the dated (and dangerous) tackling techniques he had learned in his own upbringing as a defensive back in Maryland, about putting your head in an opposing ballcarrier's chest. Some of them had survived into Evans' youth football education in Missouri two decades later. Jones cobbled together a video of the rugby-style tackling methods that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll popularized and Jones learned as a young coach at Hawaii. If Evans could rewire his approach to tackling, Jones hoped, he could be on his way to both a productive career on the field and a safer life away from it.

"He was just a victim of old-school teaching: head across the bow. You know, we all were taught that," Jones said. "... Under stressful situations, sometimes you kind of do what you're used to doing. He got put in some bad situations on the field of play. To study that in the offseason, it's one of those things you have to home in on and change those habits. Coming back here, you can see it's a focus of his."

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There are opportunities for Evans. The Vikings covered 617 opposing passes last season; only one of the 10 cornerbacks they have in training camp (Byron Murphy Jr.) has played that many coverage snaps in his career. Former Patriots player Joejuan Williams is the only other corner who has played 10 games in a season. It's largely up to General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's young draft picks — rookie Mekhi Blackmon, Evans and his fellow second-year player Andrew Booth Jr. — to help transform a defense that gave up the second-most passing yards in the league last season.

Through two weeks of work in training camp, primarily with the Vikings' starting defense, Evans has shown some of the traits required to play man coverage for Flores: the speed to stick with receivers downfield, the length to break up a Kirk Cousins pass in the corner of the end zone during a goal-line drill. The 6-2 cornerback's athletic ability pushed him into the fourth round of the 2022 draft, where Minnesota took him 118th overall, and he has paired it with some of the reliability the Vikings badly need.

"Akayleb is a sharp man," Jones said. "He has the ability to take the drill work into our combo work, into our half-line work, into the team periods, and he's just continued to progress. He's been consistent. That's all you can ask for."

Mom-approved safety measures

Evans' first trip to the concussion protocol last season, during the Vikings' Oct. 9 victory over the Bears, came 10 days after the injury to Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that triggered changes to the NFL's medical procedures. Evans said in May he didn't believe he was concussed against the Bears, adding that the Vikings "were just being safe" after "the whole Tua thing happened."

The next two concussions, though, were easy to explain and difficult to ignore.

On the first, he lowered his head while attempting to tackle Bills running back Devin Singletary in Buffalo. He did the same while trying to hit Jets receiver Garrett Wilson in the middle of the field, and absorbed a midair collision from safety Harrison Smith. It turned out to be the final play of Evans' season.

He had conditioned himself not to let the risk of injury deter him on a hit. "I was always like, 'Whatever happens, happens at the point of contact," Evans said.

By December, he knew he needed to change.

Evans drilled the cues he had learned from former Vikings teammate Patrick Peterson about keeping his face up when tackling, and worked with new inside linebackers coach Mike Siravo during the team's offseason program to get in proper position. Though the Vikings aren't tackling in training camp, coach Kevin O'Connell said the team can monitor Evans' body position as he approaches contact and build tackling drills for him as a result. Jones sometimes has his defensive backs hit a shield pad without a helmet, to reinforce the technique of keeping the head out of the tackle.

"You can still generate enough power with your shoulder," Jones said. "You have some kickbacks with it, in terms of [how] guys can fall forward for extra yards. But at the end of the day, the safety is what counts. And if you can still generate enough power with your near foot and near shoulder, that's how small beats big. If you have enough pop, you can stop that momentum and make a sound tackle, as well."

Evans is planning to wear a new helmet from VICIS, whose helmets scored better than any other manufacturer's in this year's NFL/NFL Players Association laboratory tests. The helmet's extra cushioning makes it heavier, Evans said, but during his offseason workouts with trainer Chad Marr in Dallas he focused on building his neck and shoulder muscles to handle the additional weight.

"It's been very beneficial so far," Evans said. "Putting on pads and feeling that contact was good, so I'm not worried about it at all."

He has also experimented with a Q Collar, a device whose manufacturers say can protect players from sub-concussive hits. The device, worn around the neck, applies light pressure that's meant to increase blood flow to a player's head and reduce brain movement upon impact. While Evans said "it's up for debate right now" about whether he'll wear the device during games, he added that his mother has made her preference clear.

"I was talking to her about it the other day. She was like, 'You better have it on,' " Evans said. "I'm like, 'Yeah, we'll see.' I'm just testing this out and seeing how it feels, but I might put it on."

Playing smart football

When the Vikings drafted Evans, he chose to wear No. 21 because Peterson, his favorite player, had worn it in Arizona. He attended the weekly dinners and study sessions Peterson hosted for corners at his house last year, compiling a file of notes about how the eight-time Pro Bowl player led the group.

Peterson is in Pittsburgh now, and Evans, who turned 24 in June, is in a cornerback room where no player is older than 25. He stuck out to Jones in the 2022 draft because of his size and speed; Evans' Relative Athletic Score was the 88th-best out of 2,001 corners drafted from 1987 to 2022.

His tall frame and 32-inch arms could help him press receivers in Flores' defense, especially if he can show the flexibility to stay with them out of their breaks. Evans played press coverage in college, Jones said, and "sometimes, when you haven't done something for a year, it's getting back into the groove: feet, hips and hands. He's coming along."

The Vikings also hope he's built a foundation that will keep him healthy.

"It's the NFL; our team's going to need us out there," Evans said. "Not every tackle has to be a big collision out there. It's playing smart throughout the game: not ducking my head when I tackle, because I have a life outside of football."