Darren Sharper Quotations

I would have assumed or predicted that the records would have been a little bit different going into this game. I still might have hoped that Green Bay was 1-4, but I would have hoped we were 4-1. But that's not the case. Both teams are starving for a victory. That's all we're trying to concentrate on now, trying to win a game.

I can't even remember, to be honest with you.

I have about 20 pages, actually. But I tried to consolidate it and slim it down a little bit. Hopefully some of the stuff we can use to help us win.

We made it tougher on ourselves. Now we have to go on the road and try to win an extra game on the road because of that.

He has worked out. He has been taking care of his body and doing the things he needs to do to play at a high level, and I think that's going to pay off.

He's healthy and playing a lot faster and more aggressive than he was last year, ... He looks as if he's enjoying the scheme that they're running.

He had an angle and I saw him with his head down, running, and I thought, 'He's not even looking at me,' so I went ahead and cut back,

Just not panicking, just feeling as though you can continue to play each game week by week and really keep grinding it out. You never know, because the season's so long. Teams are going to drop games, so you never really know how you're going to be in position.

Some of them have things they have to do, but about seven guys will be going with me. I should have thought twice about that, but that's all right.

I said a little bit about going out and playing with pride,

Our goal is to win the division. Each of these games are must-win games, and they are because they are divisional games, and they come back to bite you at the end of the season,

I'm shocked. When I came here, I thought we'd have a chance to win a championship, and right now it doesn't look like we have a chance at all.

I still might have hoped that Green Bay was 1-4 and we might have been 4-1, but that's not the case. Both teams are scrounging for a victory.

It doesn't mean that I have any ill will or any animosity toward Green Bay, because they allowed me to become the player that I am today and to have the career that I've had thus far.

I wasn't on the boat, ... so I don't have any comment.

You know I can't tell you that. It's a lot of things (the Packers) have a tendency to do. Stuff that you can really notice from watching film but also little things that I've seen. Whether it's players, whether it's schemes, just little stuff. Hopefully we can use it to help us out.

When it comes to a game as big as a Super Bowl and plays can go either way, you never want to have that happen. But that's something that you have to live with, as a player or a coach, knowing that it is going to be weighed on a person's judgment. That's why they brought in replay, to try to take away some of the error in judgment by the referees. But you can't go back and fix everything. You really want to make more plays than the other team so you don't have to worry about the referees coming into play.

Wherever I decided to go I had to go somewhere - money or no money - where we have a quarterback that is young and a guy that can lead you to the promised land, ... Playing with Brett, I know what it's like to have a guy who can pull the trigger and always give you a chance to win.

We have had a couple of bumps in a row right now, but I'm still thinking extremely positive about what we can do as a team. There's always a chance we can switch things around.

We still have a chance to improve on that. Right now, we are not performing up to our standard.

We played well early on. The first couple of drives, we knocked them out. But we got a little worn down as the first half went along.

We came in at halftime and a lot of guys had their heads down,

We're not in the proper spots, and sometimes we're confused as far as what we're doing. It's on the players. You have to know where you're supposed to be.

We're going to check our mail, hopefully we don't get anything, because if we do, it's not going to be good,

We still were in the game. When your leader goes out like that, your other guys have to step up and try to make something happen.

Continuity is the best thing for our team to improve. We can win a championship with the staff and players we have here.

I've been shocked from the get-go with this team,

The toughest for me to tackle? Barry Sanders. He was so elusive. And strong. And fast. And small.

The toughest thing about being a defensive back in the NFL is you do your job, you don't get credit, but if you mess up one time, you can be the goat. I always try to play the same style of game no matter who I'm going up against.

The whole season was emotionally trying. We went through so many ups and downs, on such a roller coaster. It was a season that had a lot of scenarios, good things and bad things. But the end result is we had a winning record, and that's a positive.

We were distraught. But we have never gotten down on ourselves as a team.

We need to get back to being more aggressive as far as challenging receivers and their routes. A lot of times, what we're doing underneath allows them to convert on third-and-6 or third-and-7 because we're dropping back 9 yards. We need to get a little more aggressive.

When you have Brett Favre throwing you the ball, you aren't going to get the credit you deserve. No question, those guys deserve more credit.

When you have talented players, it's a matter of time. You're going to start to play well. Early in the season, we didn't have everyone executing what they needed to do. We didn't have a common cord, doing things as one. We have that now.

It would be nice. I think if it came in a better season, it would be a little more enjoyable, but it would still be a nice personal accomplishment. Records are made to be broken, so we'll see.

It was tough for me to hold back some emotion when I saw it on the bottom of the screen. I talked to him, and he says he's going to come back stronger. That's the type of attitude that he has.

We've got youth and we've got experience, so we've got all the ingredients to be a top defense. I think we have things in place now to make a run at the Super Bowl. You always want to add depth and some playmakers, but I think we have the pieces in place to be a dominating defense.

Randy is in his own league. But there are still a lot of good receivers in the division.

Strange, very strange. A lot of new faces over there. I'm looking around at the guys like, 'Who is that?' The main thing is I didn't see anyone wearing (No.) 42, so I'm happy about that.

But saying that, I still have to be sound. I can't expect him to do the same things he did before. His ability to fool you might make you think one thing and do another thing.

That's just what I felt. Now I'm on the good side. It felt a little weird at first, but it's an adjustment that I can make. It felt good to put on the purple and get out there with the fans. They embraced me.

That team was very fluky. They had two games they won on Mike Brown interceptions for touchdowns. This team has won consistently. I think this team they have right here is better.

A lot of people ask me that and I compare it to a marriage,

(Roman) is healthy and playing a lot faster and more aggressive than he was last year, ... I've had a chance to see the other young kid, Collins, a little bit. He looks like he's going to be a good player for them. He wears the same number as LeRoy Butler (No. 36) and is kind of similar to LeRoy as far as build.

This time, I wanted to make sure I didn't come back unless I was able to play to a level where I wasn't going to be hurting the team,

This could be it. Or he could go one more year. I don't see him trying to go too many more after this.

You still have to go out there and play,

You never hope to have an incident like that pull you together, but I think our team did get closer, tighter. But Chicago came in and whipped our tails anyway,

I never believed people saying he wasn't a pocket passer. I saw first-hand from the sideline that year when he came up to Green Bay and basically sat in the pocket and picked us apart.

I never really thought it would come to this day. I don't have any loyalty there anymore. It will be ironic that I have to cheer for those guys, but I have no problem swallowing my pride for about three hours on Sunday and wearing a Green Bay Packer hat.

I may have been on the enemy's side for years, but now I'm on the good side. The Vikings' side.

I'm having a blast, ... I think just having a fresh start, coming to a new team; the energy that this team has and the organization has as far as expectations. The guys I'm around are just great guys. This year I'm having the most fun I've had in any year in the league.

(Slowik) was a real good tactical, break-down-the-offense type of coach. We knew what to expect for games. He also was a good motivational coach. Overall, I feel he was a good coordinator for us. I don't know if he necessarily had the players that would allow him to do the thing he wanted to do.

I'm going to call all those guys and hopefully give them some encouragement.

The new coaches will be the main thing. We've had some turnover on the roster, but we still have the main core of guys left on the team. It's something that the guys are looking forward to, working with and getting to know their coaches.

Not at all, ... Everyone gave their opinion on what they thought, and all of those opinions agreed with me.

It will be like playing ones vs. ones in training camp. The only thing is if I get to blitz I finally get to hit him. He won't be wearing that red jersey.

It was just a relief to finally win a game.

I know I didn't do anything wrong. So I don't worry about it at all.

It has been shocking, because I know that we have the talent out there to perform better. With the careers that we've had and the resumes we brought into this team, we're not performing at that level.

I know one thing. If anyone thought I wouldn't look good in purple. Hah, hah. Look at me now.

I don't really think he has (declined). Last year was a prime example. This year has been pretty much the same thing. I don't really think you can say a quarterback like that can wear down. It's like John Elway or Dan Marino. When you have that rifle arm and knowledge of the game, you can't really wear down.

I really don't even think it's a distraction. Those are things that happen outside the locker room. ... We've done a great job of not letting those things affect us.

The good thing is you're playing in a bad division, ... The bad thing is you are in the worst division in the NFL and you're at the bottom of that division. But you still have 11 games to go. There's still a chance to do some good things.

The good thing is you're playing in a bad division. The bad thing is you are in the worst division in the NFL and you're at the bottom of that division. But you still have 11 games to go. There's still a chance to do some good things.

The main thing you have to do is go out there and concentrate on your job. When you're in the locker room or out on the field, you really can't worry about the outside issues that are going on. Winning also helps out a little bit. It makes you feel a little better. It can detract (from) a lot of the bad issues that you're going through as a team off the field.

You know one thing, he's definitely had a lot of experience. Playing in a Super Bowl, playing in the league so many years, he knows how to deal with crowd noise and he knows the offense. He knows all the reads. I just hope he can go out there and lead us to a win.

That's something we have to improve on. We've got to tighten our coverage up. But we also have to improve at getting to the quarterback.

It's just not where I want it to be, but I've still got five, six days,

We have to figure out how to blow teams out when we have them on the ropes.

It will be a game-time decision, ... We'll probably go out and see how it's going to feel. Test it a little bit.

We just kept fighting, and that shows the strong character and chemistry that this team has, ... We had the attitude of, 'It's us against the world.'

It should because they won in a tough place to play historically,

It should because they won in a tough place to play historically. That should give us the confidence that we can go in and win on any opposing team's field. It's just knowing that you can do it and believing in what you do.

How many sacks did we have last week?

I can't answer that. There were times when to his credit he wanted to play and I wouldn't play him because of the injury. And then (it) finally got to the point where we ended up playing him. But we never put anybody on the field with the idea that they could hurt themselves in future games or years and that wasn't the case last year. But to his credit, he was chomping at the bit to play and we ended up playing him.

I came here thinking we had a chance to win the championship. Right now, it doesn't look like we even have a chance to win, ... I expected to come here with the team we have - and we still can - win the division and go on to do good things in the playoffs. But right now, I don't know what this team is. I don't know what kind of identity this team has.

Being on teams that won in the past I can kind of sense when a team has the pieces in place to win and win it for a while. And, with the youth we have and the depth, the experience and the talent we definitely can win here for a while.