For Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, this offseason offers a beneficial first. After having to sit out much of last year's offseason due to the player lockout that was a by-product of the CBA negotiations, Ponder missed out on valuable time that he could have spent becoming acclimated with the Vikings' offense. Now, Ponder will be able to reap the rewards of a complete offseason.
Courtesy of 1500 ESPN:
"It's huge for me," Ponder said of being able to work with his teammates and the coaching staff. "I obviously need as much work as I can get. The more time you put into it, the better it's going to be. I think not only for me, but for the whole offense."
Ponder has displayed that he is a mature individual capable of handling the pressures of an NFL quarterback off the field; now, he needs to prove that he can handle the pressures on the field as well.
"Number one, for me and the offense, is doing a lot better job on first and second down," Ponder said. "We want to be completing 75 percent of our passes on first down, and I think we were low 60s last year, around 63 percent. (Improvement) is going to help us so much on third down and eventually scoring percentage and points scored per game. That's important for me.
"I have to do a lot better job on that. I have to do a better job of moving around in the pocket and not taking off so early and getting a feel for the pocket and making better decisions."
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