Frazier wants to limit Jared Allen

Jared Allen will be getting a lot of rest during training camp to help him towards week one against the Jacksonville Jaguars. These periods of rest are likely to extend towards his playing time during the regular season as well, as new defensive coordinator Alan Williams looks to tweak the defense to his liking.

After the Friday mornings walkthrough, Frazier said, “We have to be smart in how we manage his practice time. We need him playing at his best when we line-up against Jacksonville.”

The notion of Jared Allen resting during training camp is nothing new as he usually takes most of the reps with first team, when not taking a break. The bigger surprise here is that Frazier wants to rotate ends more often during the regular season to help reduce the wear and tear on Allen’s body.

Allen played a ridiculous amount of snaps (more than 90 percent of the total defensive plays) for the Vikings last year, part of the reason he managed a 22-sack season. Only Chad Greenway played more defensive plays (99.8%).

Frazier plans to get the 30-year-old defensive end off the field at certain times during the season. According to Jeremey Fowler, Frazier said, “We’re going to make a concerted effort to try to get him off the field at times” adding, “(But) without hurting the team. We don’t want to hurt the team. He’s our best pass rusher, one of the best in the NFL.”

It seems as if the Vikings are trying to get the younger guys more reps to build for the future. There is no question Jared Allen will be on the field a vast majority of plays, but when he is not, the Vikings will be looking for him to be a mentor and a leader on the defensive side of the ball.

After Friday nights practice, Jared Allen commented on being a mentor to the younger defensive lineman on the Vikings, saying that “If guys are eager to learn, I’m all for it.

Fun fact here: Allen commented on his own accord(without prompting or a question) that this training camp was, “The second toughest camp I’ve ever been apart of”. Minus his days under the legendary Dick Vermeil in Kansas City, Allen went on to say that they had been going “live” every day since reporting to training camp.