Vikings' Barr not letting rave reviews go to head

By Chris Tomasson
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Vikings coaches and players seemingly have been battling all week to see who can utter the best superlative about rookie Anthony Barr.
Coach Mike Zimmer started out by saying Barr can become one of the “better, better linebackers in this league.” Yes, he used that adjective twice.
Defensive coordinator George Edwards then said Barr is “as good a rookie as I’ve had in the past at the linebacker position.” Edwards is in his 17th season as an NFL defensive coordinator or linebackers coach.
Linebacker Audie Cole said he “wouldn’t be surprised if he is the best defensive rookie this year.” Linebacker Chad Greenway said Barr has “been as advertised” and “he can go as high as he wants.”
Barr is a low-key guy. When told what Zimmer and Edwards said, it wasn’t a surprise that he just shrugged. But Barr’s face lit up when informed of Cole’s early endorsement for defensive rookie of the year.
“Audie said that?” Barr said. “That’s cool. That’s my boy. I appreciate that. I’ll take that.”
No disrespect to Zimmer and Edwards, but it turns out Barr gets more excited when he hears praise from a teammate than from a coach.
“I think when you hear something like that from your peers, it kind of means more to you,” Barr said. “You work with these guys. I don’t know if it means more, but I think I kind of maybe listen to that more than what (a) coach was saying.”
If Barr keeps playing the way he has been, he figures to hear a lot more praise from teammates. The No. 9 pick in May’s NFL draft has been impressive in just his third season playing linebacker.
Barr was a running back at UCLA before moving to linebacker for his final two college seasons. His inexperience at the position is why some thought he might have gone too high in the draft.
But Barr, who is tied for second on the Vikings with 21 tackles and has two sacks, has looked like anything but a project. Just listen to what Greenway, an eight-year veteran, said Friday about the rookie.
“Up to this point, he’s been able to handle everything mentally,” Greenway said. “Physically, he’s extremely gifted and knows how to use it on the field. … He’s an excellent player. He should get all the accolades he’s got coming to him. He’s playing extremely well.”
However, even when the praise is coming from a teammate, Barr said there are limits on reading his press clippings. He insists he still has a plenty to improve upon.
“I could sit here and talk to you all day about what I need to work on,” Barr said. “It’s a long list of things. Pass coverage. Run defense. Rushing the quarterback. All of the above. So I just need to continue to get better.”
Nevertheless, Cole said Barr is looking wise beyond his years.
“If you go out and watch him in practice, he looks like he’s in his fifth year,” Cole said.
OK, Cole might be Barr’s buddy. But Barr does draw the line there.
Barr joked that he would be willing to hire Cole to start a campaign for him to be defensive rookie of the year. But he’s not agreeable to being dubbed anything other than a first-year man.
“I’m a six-week rookie,” Barr said. “That’s what I am.”
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