KJ Osborn, Minnesota Vikings

Inside Radio Row getting you set for Super Bowl 57 and now joining us. We talked to this guy last year and this is why our show is different. We tell you the stories that are going to be the stories for this upcoming football season and KJ Osborne was just one of those fantastic stories in the NFL and I remember last year we were talking and we had a wonderful conversation.

Now you come around here and so many people want to talk to KJ Osborne of the Minnesota Vikings. How you been? I've been well. I've been blessed.

I can't complain. It's good to be back out here. Again, time is flying. Look how much things have happened in that year. I'm glad to be out here seeing some of the other guys in this offseason.

It's been cool. We talked about it last year. It's all about improving each and every year. What do you think you showed people this season? Oh man, that I can be consistent.

Whether I target a game or ten targets a game. I'm going to make the most of my opportunities. Whatever our coaching staff asks me to do, that I can handle it.

Whether it be a catch in the fourth quarter or a game winning catch as time expires. I can be a consistent player but also still hungry. Definitely not the player that I want to be yet.

I think I'll do that for myself. It'll be enough for everyone else. If everything goes right for KJ Osborne in this continued climb, what kind of player will you turn out to be? Oh man, explosive. A pro bowl player.

Who knows? An all-blow player. I don't want to put any limit on myself. I want to be an all-around receiver that can stretch the field.

That can be consistent. Third down or clutch situations that can block. Be a chess piece. Be a leader off the field. Helping bring guys along and a spark plug for my team. A great person.

That's the kind of career I would hope to carve out. To continue to be a good son and a brother to my family. As well as all my goals on the field. What did you learn from Kevin O'Connell this year? Mike Zimmer did a really good job in Minnesota but it was time for a change. It seemed like this group was really able to move the way that you guys were headed to this year because of a change in the head coaching spot. Oh man, I think immediately was the relationships and the genuine relationships that we have in the building with KO.

The whole new staff, the training staff and all the assistant coaches. I know that it is business but it's okay to let us be family. To have fun and to smile and laugh. There's a time to work and a time to enjoy being around each other. When it's time to go, it's time to go. That was one of the biggest things. He'll take care of our legs in practice and with the schedule and things like that.

When it's time to strap it up, it's time to strap it up. KO is the ultimate competitor. Anytime we ever lose or ever lost, you can hear it in his voice. His determination that nobody is going to work harder than him.

That situation didn't happen anymore. He's an excellent leader in his first year as a head coach. I thought he did a great job. I'm excited that he's leading us and I'm excited for year two of KO. On a scale from Mike Guseki to Justin Jefferson when it comes to the Gritty.

Guseki actually being all the way on the bottom and then Justin Jefferson being at the top. Where's your Gritty at? I can't say I'm right up there with Jess because he's the creator but whatever level is under him, I feel like I'm right there. I don't really Gritty that much. I try to let him do his thing. I've definitely pulled it out before. I'll do it with the team celebration but I kind of let Jess do his thing. My Gritty is definitely good. I'm definitely a tutorial. I think you may be better than Justin Jefferson at the Gritty is what you're saying.

I can see the headline now. KJ Osbourne says Justin Jefferson sucks at the Gritty and he's better. Never. How could you ever beat the creator? That could never happen. I could never say that. Inside that locker room, how tight of a group are you guys actually?

Because it's just natural in this business. Alright, you have Jefferson. You've got Thielen. You've got Atkinson. You've got Cook. Alexander Madison is a very underrated player.

You have you, KJ Osbourne. Is there at all a little jealousy, at all selfishness in that locker room just because you're trying to get to where you want to go and sometimes you don't get all those touches? At the end of the day, we're a family. We're very unselfish and we're winning. In other locker rooms, I don't know how they operate. It could be different because they may be losing but we're winning. For us in the locker room, who gets the touches? We see the way our offense is designed, the way that defenses play us, things can change.

I can have one target. There's a game that has 16 targets based on how they play JJ, based on how they play TJ. If our run game is popping, that's the benefit for us having all those weapons. We're definitely very unselfish and as long as we're winning, it was never any problems, never any tension or anything like that.

That's why I love playing with these guys. Kirk Cousins, always polarizing, always some of that ends up being debated. Where do you stand on your quarterback in Kirk Cousins? Oh, 100%. Ten toes down, man. That's our guy. I say it every time. Are you just saying that because he's your quarterback?

No. If you look at the numbers, Kirk, his numbers are always right up there with everyone. Whatever people try to come up and say about him or the nitpicking or what time he plays or whatever, all he's done is come out there and continue to be consistent. Lead us in the most comeback drives.

I don't know if it was NFL history or Ty with it or something like that. He led us in these drives. He led us in these games and being able to be a great player for us, consistent leader and somebody that the team can rely on.

It was in his first season as well with a new coach and a new offense and his dedication and leadership, having us meet up in the offseason, coming in early to watch the extra film, being on cue. I always say Kirk's preparation inspires me. I see his truck there so early every single day.

If I have a late time in the facility, I'm walking out. His truck is still there. He's always writing notes and it inspires me in my preparation. How can I not ride with a guy like that who pours his all into the game? You guys make the playoffs. I know an unfortunate end to the season, the wildcard round. How do you look back at what happened up against the Giants? They definitely made more plays than us at the end of the day. They had a good plan for us. They had a good D-line and things like that. Their offense was able to have a lot of success. They beat us that day. I don't think the better team won.

I think the better team won that day. They played better than us in that 60 minutes. The two things to me that stand out about that game is you had the false start on Darisaw and then the next drive the Giants on 4th and short were able to convert it. Unfortunately, the defense did not play well. That defense I thought was solid early on, but throughout the season the defense started to slide in the wrong direction. There was a lot of chatter about our defense, but as a team we have each other's back.

Any situation that the defense could be in, we could have possibly put them in a tough situation in a field position or things that we could have done different. They have our backs. If we have a low scoring game, they're stopping guys time and time again. If we have to have a shootout, we know we have our backs. I think that's the family and the brotherhood. We talk about our way, our process, our team and our building.

It doesn't matter. If the defense gives up a lot of points, then we have to score one more than them. They're going to have our backs if we can only get a field goal.

It's a 63 game. We let all that stuff happen outside the building. We try to come out and play our best control we can control.

We'll trust the people in charge of that to do that. I saw you guys brought in Brian Flores to be the defensive coordinator. Do you guys feel like, with what you just did last year, that you guys are close?

You're walking around. It's great that you're here on behalf of Sleep Number, but I know you want to be playing Super Bowl Sunday. Of course.

I definitely would like to be playing Super Bowl Sunday. That was our goal in our building right outside of winning the division. Which I give you credit for. You joined me before the start of the season. I'll tell you when I'm wrong.

I said, I think the Packers are here with the division. You go get your popcorn ready. You had the popcorn ready. You had your fingers in popcorn butter all over them. You were right. I was wrong on that one.

I even wore purple for you today. We're excited. Bringing Flores in.

The brief things that I've read about him. I think that's something that our defense is going to capitalize on and be able to thrive in his defense. I'm excited for it.

I'm excited to compete against them and see what the rest of the world wants to see. Hopefully next year we won't be having this conversation. Maybe it's after the Super Bowl or something like that. You better not forget about me. You're in the Super Bowl next year.

You're doing one interview with the radio show. Before we let KJ Osbourne run, this game this weekend, what do you think it comes down to? This game is hard to say.

They match up so well. I think it's going to come down to really up front. The Eagles d-line is monsters. If you see the way Chris Jones wrecked the game last week. Holmes, you have to see if he's all the way healthy. He looked pretty fine last week.

I really thought two weeks ago, you said it. Chris Jones was the story of the AFC title game and the NFC title game. It was Asan Redick. Yes, Asan Redick came out blazing from strip sacks and they knocked the quarterbacks out of the game.

They were causing havoc back there. I think that's what it's going to come down to up front. The guys on both sides, they match really well with secondaries and receivers and quarterbacks.

Who makes the most plays and things like that. I think that's what it's going to come down to. Do you hope Rogers stays with Green Bay or do you just want him out of the division? Ideally, I would rather have him out of the division. I don't really care.

It doesn't really matter to me at all. If anything, if he can get out of Green Bay, we would love that. It seems like the NFC North is changing. You guys win the division.

Fields had a good season. The Lions, what a story they've been. The NFC North continues to get better. Not just you guys, the rest of the division.

Outside of Green Bay, they were bad as shit. I think it's good. It's healthy for our division. It's going to allow us to compete.

It's going to be some big time games. They've seen the Lions the last two years and the momentum they had under that coach. You see us trying to change the direction and the future of the NFC that we want to run the North. The Vikings.

You see Justin Fields and the things that he was able to do. They're trying to bring in Claypool and other guys to help that organization. I think it's definitely going to be fun in the future. I love me some Sleep Number. Tell me about what you're doing with them today. I'm partnering with Sleep Number.

They're also a partner of the Minnesota Vikings. I am a huge Sleep Number advocate. I'm not just saying that because I'm speaking on the behalf of Sleep Number. If you can ask any of my friends or family, I have a strict bedtime. I'm a guy that I can't stay up all night. If my sleep is affected, it's going to affect my performance.

You're not playing video games late at night like Tyler Murray. I can't because I'm going to be wondering in practice while I'm sore why this is off. I can feel it. I know my body really well. It's something I look at the app every morning and I wake up and see how long it took me to go to sleep.

I'm learning about RPMs and all the cool details that they have. It's been huge. I'm a huge advocate.

I think it's very important. Great to see you. Keep on kicking ass. We'll always be rooting for you. Thanks so much for doing this. Of course, man. Hopefully we do it again next year at Super Bowl. You're booked. 100%. We're going to hold you to that.

I'll be a cockroach like a pain in the ass on that one. We have the audio. You'll be on old takes. Freezing cold takes, whatever they call it if you don't join us.

Appreciate it, man. Evan Matt talks with Matt Hardy. There's nothing like a wrestling fan, you know, for better or for worse. How do you handle that? We're talking about people talking about your family, what they don't know about your family or your brother or you. How does one handle that from a day to day basis? Something I joke about with the young bucks all the time. I said, if you would vanity search Matt Hardy on Twitter, I said, after you got through 100 replies, you want to quit the business and never never be seen again. It's just you just learn to deal with it.

You know what I mean? It's the kick rocks wrestling podcast with Evan T. Maxx. Subscribe now on the Odyssey app or ever you get your podcast. Your Odyssey get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today.