Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell Sees 'Some Encouraging Things' Despite MIN's 0-2 Start

Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell is not letting his team's 0-2 start get to him.

O'Connell told reporters he's seen some "encouraging things" despite the Vikings' issues with turnovers.

"Although the results these first two weeks have not gone our way, I do think that there's some encouraging things about our team right now from a standpoint of certain aspects of how we're playing, whether it be Kirk's performance last night, the way our pass game continues to keep us in football games, despite a lot of things that negatively affect us as far as turning the football over with the fumbling issue," O'Connell said. "Our team's fight to be an onside kick away from having a chance to win that game in a very, very tough place to go win on a short week.

"But there is, no doubt, some major, major areas of improvement from a standpoint of ball security. You just can't be minus-6 after two games in the turnover differential. It goes against everything we do believe with our football philosophy, and we're already in the process of finding new and hopefully more results-based ways of getting back to the basics of drilling and techniques and fundamentals of every rep we take to make sure ball security becomes a premium."

The Vikings have turned the ball over seven times through two games, including four lost fumbles in Thursday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The turnovers have directly caused consecutive losses in one-score games after Minnesota went 11-0 in similar contests last season.

While Kirk Cousins looks primed to be among the NFL leaders in passing, Alexander Mattison has fallen flat in his attempt to take over for Dalvin Cook as the Vikings' leading rusher. Mattison has compiled a paltry 62 yards on 19 carries through the first two weeks of the season.

Defense has been a mixed bag, with Danielle Hunter racking up an impressive four sacks already this season while the front seven struggles mightily against the run. D'Andre Swift rushed for 175 yards and a touchdown Thursday night.