By Chris Tomasson

Pioneer Press

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said early last week that the defense is ahead of the offense in training camp.

That didn’t change in Saturday’s night practice at TCO Stadium.

Then again, that hardly was a surprise. The offense was without seven players, including top running back Dalvin Cook and starting linemen Pat Elflein, Mike Remmers and Nick Easton, and nobody was out on defense. And even though Minnesota’s offense is in line to improve with the addition of quarterback Kirk Cousins, it has to go against a unit that last season was ranked No 1 in the NFL in scoring and total defense.

“I mean, they had the same coach for awhile now so their screws are a little tighter than ours, but it’s no excuse for us,” said wide receiver Stefon Diggs, whose unit, with John DeFilippo, is beginning a third straight season with a different offensive coordinator.

Cousins said the offense is a “work in progress,” but that going against such a top defense only can help the unit get better.

“It’s a great challenge for us,” Cousins said. “It’s fun to talk football with them as well, coming up to them in the cafeteria, and saying, ‘Hey, what are you doing there?’ or ‘Why are you doing that?’ “

Even if the defense is ahead of the offense in training camp, Brian Robison said defensive players don’t look at it that way.

“I’m worried about our defense coming out there and doing what I can do to help the team,” said Robison, a defensive end in his 12th season. “We’re trying to get better each and every day. It’s not really a competition between us and our offense. It’s about making sure we’re the best complete team when the season starts.”

WILSON’S BIG PLAY

Linebacker Eric Wilson had the biggest play in the night practice, picking off a screen pass from Trevor Siemian and returning it 43 yards for a touchdown.

“I read my keys and just made the play,” Wilson said. “They were running the screen and I was in the right place at the right time.”

In one motion, Wilson snagged the pass, tucked it away and started to run.

“It was a pretty cool play,” Robison said.

Wilson, a second-year man, is having a good camp. That could prove really beneficial early in the season since linebacker Kentrell Brothers is suspended for the first four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

BRIEFLY — Wide receiver Brandon Zylstra, a Spicer native trying to make the team after two years in the Canadian Football League, helped himself by stretching out for several nifty catches. Diggs said he’s “showing consistency” and “getting better.” — Kickers Kai Forbath and Daniel Carlson, battling for the job, both made all four of their Saturday attempts. That included both making a 53-yarder with ease.