There’s an eight-year age difference between Vikings locker neighbors Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkel.
It’s one of the things Turner, the 21-year-old rookie outside linebacker, said Wednesday has been the biggest adjustment from college to the NFL.
There’s also 27-year-old Jonathan Greenard a few lockers down, and 30-year-old Jihad Ward in the vicinity.
“I was always the youngest in my family with all my cousins, so I’m kind of used to that stuff,” Turner said. “It’s definitely a lot of adjustments, but I feel like, if you’re built for it, you’re built for it.”
He tied his season high with three tackles and landed a hit on Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins in 26 snaps (35%) played. After the game, Turner told the Minnesota Star Tribune he felt he was “starting to get it.”
“I thought Dallas Turner was really active, and you felt the athleticism and the juice,” O’Connell said while answering a question about fellow rookie outside linebacker Gabe Murphy, who made his NFL debut.