The Vikings have a stated goal for Sunday, to get their hands on Panthers quarterback Cam Newton as often as possible.
Standing in their way will be a guy they know well, even if he says he’s a different player.
Panthers left tackle Matt Kalil has had an up-and-down first season with the Panthers, after signing a five-year, $55 million contract this offseason. And while the Vikings were willing to let him go for a reason, Kalil cited the hip problems which hampered him in past years for any issues he used to have.
So he contends that his former college and Vikings teammate Everson Griffen might remember him, but a different version.
“I’ve played against him a lot, but a lot of those practices I wasn’t 100 percent. I was injured,” Kalil said, via the team’s official website. “So this will be a little bit different from my point of view as far as the things that I can do. I’ll definitely get after it, and I’ll probably be a different guy than they’re used to the past few years.”
Kalil made the Pro Bowl in his rookie year, after being picked fourth overall in 2012. But the hip problems hampered him in year since, and the Vikings were fine letting him walk away to join his brother Ryan in Charlotte, replacing him with Riley Reiff in free agency.
But Ryan Kalil said he’s been impressed with his brother’s ability to put past criticisms behind him.
“He picked a hell of a position to play. That would not be first on my list,” Ryan Kalil said. “You’ve got to have some thick skin to play that position because week in and week out you play against the best of your best. And you’ve got to hope your team is up because if you get behind, you’re in a whole lot of passing situations.
“I watched it here for years with [former Panthers left tackle] Jordan Gross. He gets praised one year, and the next year he doesn’t have it and we need to get rid of him. But really he’s the same guy, and the next year he goes to the Pro Bowl. A lot of it is riding the wave of your team. You’ve got be really good and have a lot of poise to handle that.”
For the Panthers to have a chance, both Kalil brothers will need to be at their best Sunday, against one of the league’s best defenses.
