Iloka (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) has played the safety position for his entire career.
Former #Bengals and #Vikings safety worked out for the #Seahawks today with the thought he’d serve as a cover linebacker. Iloka hasn’t played since tearing his ACL midway through the 2020 season but has worked on a return to the NFL. Could happen soon. https://t.co/iYSQ6LM1oo
Former Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings free safety George Iloka worked out for the Seattle Seahawks today, according to a report by Mike Garafolo at NFL Network. Apparently, the idea was that he’d be serving as a coverage linebacker.
Iloka (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) has played the safety position for his entire career. He was a fifth-round pick by Cincinnati in the 2012 NFL draft. So far, he has played in over 100 career regular season games, totaling nine interceptions, 365 tackles and 32 pass breakups. Iloka last played in Week 6 of the 2020 season when he suffered a torn ACL.
It’s certainly an interesting idea. Iloka recently turned 32 years old but he’s been an excellent coverage defender throughout his career. Adding him to the mix for certain dime packages might help take some of the load off of Seattle’s star strong safety Jamal Adams, who excels near the tackle box but is less capable in coverage.
Minnesota Vikings DB George Iloka was inconsistent in 2020. Bleacher Report thinks the Vikings should let him walk.
Vikings DB George Iloka filled an important void for Minnesota last season.
When Harrison Smith was ejected from the Texans game, Iloka stepped in at safety alongside Anthony Harris. He had some mistakes, but Iloka made two key tackles in Houston’s final offensive drive to help secure the victory.
Overall, though, Minnesota probably has better options at defensive back. That’s what Bleacher Report seems to think anyways. The outlet tabbed Iloka as a player that the Vikings should let leave in free agency. Here’s what it said about the veteran defensive back:
“George Iloka didn’t play in 2019. He appeared in all 16 games for the Vikings in 2018, but he wasn’t a significant contributor, playing just 11 percent of the defensive snaps. It’s time for Minnesota to find a younger and more consistent option for safety depth.”
I’m not so sure that the Vikings should get younger at defensive back, considering how young and inexperienced that position group already is. That said, Iloka is probably still an expendable asset. He finished with a PFF grade of 36.3. He helped the team win an important game last year, but the team should most likely look elsewhere for a veteran presence.
Do you think Minnesota Vikings DB George Iloka is too past his prime?
Vikings defensive back George Iloka served an important role against the Texans.
With Minnesota S Harrison Smith ejected, Iloka filled in at safety. He wasn’t perfect, but he helped the Vikings get a win.
That’s mostly the extent to which Iloka has impacted Minnesota this season. Bleacher Report thinks Iloka’s best playing days are behind him, listing him as a player who’s past his prime. Here’s what the outlet said about Iloka:
“Iloka was expected to help offset Minnesota’s secondary purge—Mackensie Alexander, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes all departed in the offseason—but he hasn’t exactly been a key contributor. He appeared in just four games before being placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
In his four appearances, Iloka played just 45 total defensive snaps, with 43 of them coming in a single game. At 30 years old, his time as an NFL starter appears over.”
I don’t think it’s entirely fair to have expected Iloka to be a big contributor, but I think it’s safe to say he isn’t one of the better defensive backs on the team. Maybe he’ll have a resurgence once he comes back from the reserve/injured list.
The Minnesota Vikings are reportedly going to sign defensive back George Iloka to the 53-man roster.
With Harrison Smith getting ejected, the Vikings needed a player to step up.
That player ended up being George Iloka. He didn’t always look perfect against the Texans, but he did enough to help the team get the win, including getting a big hit on David Johnson after he briefly lost the football.
He has been elevated twice already, so if Minnesota wanted to bring him off the practice squad for a game once more, they would have had to sign him to the 53-man roster.
If the move comes to fruition, Minnesota will have to make a roster move to free up room.
The Minnesota Vikings are elevating two NFL defensive backs: Vikings S George Iloka, CB Mark Fields.
Minnesota’s secondary has been depleted with both cornerbacks Mike Hughes and Cameron Dantzler being ruled out for Sunday.
The Vikings have called up two players from the practice squad for the Week 3 home game against the Titans, both of whom are defensive backs.
Vikings safety George Iloka and cornerback Mark Fields II will be active for the game. Fields II was mentioned as a candidate for the nickel corner spot in training camp. Hughes usually plays nickel corner, but with him out, Fields could possibly fill in at that role, along with rookie corner Jeff Gladney and others.
Iloka might not play much, considering how many snaps Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith usually play. You never know, though, maybe one of those two go down and Iloka would step up. Safety Josh Metellus played three snaps in the Week 2 loss. Maybe Iloka takes that role on the team, or maybe Metellus stays in that spot.
The Vikings announced that they signed safety George Iloka to the practice squad.
The Vikings need help at safety outside of Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris.
Now, help is on the way.
Vikings announced Thursday that they have signed S George Iloka to the practice squad. Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press reported before Iloka was signed to the practice squad that he could be signed to the 53-man roster before the Colts game.
Of course that could still happen before the game. Minnesota’s safeties on the active roster right now are Harris, Smith and Nate Meadors. On the practice squad, safety Josh Metellus and Iloka are the two options.
Last game, Smith and Harris played all 78 defensive snaps, but it would be nice if one of those options below them on the depth chart stepped up to the point where they could get breaks every now and then.
Minnesota could reportedly add defensive back help by the end of the week.
Harrison Smith even thought it looked “funny” that the Vikings’ initial 53-man roster had just two safeties.
Minnesota signed Nate Meadors, who can play at safety, to the active roster since then, but still, it might help to have more depth at that position.
Well, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, safety help could be on the way if all goes to plan. Tomasson reported that free agent safety George Iloka was in the Twin Cities Tuesday to undergo coronavirus testing, and that Iloka could be signed to the 53-man roster before the Colts game.
Iloka played for the Vikings in 2018, starting three games for the team. Before that, he had a stint with the Bengals. He finished 2017 with five pass deflections for Cincinnati.
He’s probably not a key player for the 2020 Vikings, but he is good depth at a position that currently needs it.
A report out of Cincinnati says Bengals owner Mike Brown “begged” players not to kneel during the anthem in 2017.
A report out of Cincinnati’s WLWT Monday shows how fearful one NFL owner, Cincinnati Bengals boss Mike Brown, was of players on his team kneeling during the national anthem in 2017.
1.September 24th, 2017 in Green Bay. Many Bengals players wanted to take a knee prior to playing Green Bay, but not a single player did so. Multiple sources tell me there was an ‘emergency team meeting’ held with one goal, to make sure players did not kneel. A thread.
“He pretty much says, ‘I don’t want you guys kneeling.’ He said our fans will crush us,” one player who remains anonymous told sports anchor/reporter Elise Jesse.
Another player backed the version.
“He just begged, like really begged. That was my first time seeing or hearing anything like that — very emotional. That was my only time seeing that it was different. The bottom line is that he was begging us, please do not kneel. He didn’t want the backfire that was going to come from it.”
The moment came after Sept. 22, 2017, when President Donald Trump called on league owners to release anyone who got involved in the movement, which was ignited by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick the year before.
The next day, the Cincinnati Bengals got on a flight to Green Bay to face the Packers. As the idea of kneeling that Sunday picked up steam across the NFL, some Bengals players were also thinking of kneeling during the anthem.
Justin Aller /Getty Images
Jesse reported speaking to more than 10 players. many requesting anonymity. However, former Bengals safety George Iloka (pictured above) spoke on the record about a players’ meeting.
“… A lot of people, myself in particular, wanted to kneel,” Iloka said. “It was a big issue and that was weighing heavily on my heart, it was weighing heavy on my mind, and obviously it was weighing heavy on a lot of people’s hearts and minds across the NFL, and across the nation particularly with African Americans. It wasn’t just me that felt some kind away about that.”
… “It was about 50% African Americans and 50% of my Caucasian brothers and it was only about 30 people. The meeting left pretty much just like, the African American players feeling like we want to kneel, and then it was the white players telling us, ‘you guys don’t need to do that.’
“It’s almost like saying ‘Go be oppressed somewhere else and keep it out of my sight.’ That sort of thing. So, you know it was like, I understand that you don’t get how we feel and we are not asking you to join us, but just stop telling us not to.”
The report says other players support Iloka’s version.
Players who were present in the meeting remember Iloka’s courage during an uncomfortable moment as he made his voice heard and began to explain the reasons why he felt it necessary to join the movement and take a knee during the national anthem before his team faced Green Bay.
Timothy Ludwig/Getty Images
One former Bengals player, Preston Brown, was on the Buffalo Bills in 2017. He says had he taken a knee that season, Cincinnati never would have signed him the following year.
“That’s the biggest regret I have is not taking a knee that day because I was just so scared to do it. I know what could happen afterward,” said Brown, currently a Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker. “You have to play this role as an athlete and toe the line to make sure they still like you. I can’t be all the way black.
“… If I were to take a knee that day, I definitely wouldn’t have played for the Bengals,” he said. “It was in OTAs or something like that, we had a meeting of like 20 guys, and they asked me and Cordy (Glenn) because we came from Buffalo where guys had taken a knee, and they said ‘We are not going to do that here. We don’t need that attention. We don’t need that type of display of protest,’ and that was something that was weird to me.”
A former Cincinnati Bengals player has spoken out about events from 2017.
[jwplayer Ms1vBFZx]
The Cincinnati Bengals didn’t kneel during the national anthem in 2017 after San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick did so to protest racial injustice and police brutality, inciting the ire of President Donald Trump.
Instead, Bengals players and coaches — headed up by Marvin Lewis — interlocked arms in a sign of unity.
But former Bengals safety George Iloka has come forth with a behind-the-scenes look at what went down leading up to the sideline display.
According to more than 10 players who spoke with Elise Jesse of WLWT, many Bengals players wanted to kneel during the anthem that weekend of Week 3.
Iloka said the following:
“A lot of people, myself in particular, wanted to kneel. It was a big issue and that was weighing heavily on my heart, it was weighing heavy on my mind, and obviously it was weighing heavy on a lot of people’s hearts and minds across the NFL, and across the nation particularly with African Americans. It wasn’t just me that felt some kind away about that.”
Iloka says a player meeting roughly numbering 30 had split results on the topic. The team then called an emergency meeting the Saturday before the game, featuring a rare appearance from Mike Brown.
Per Jesse:
“He pretty much says, ‘I don’t want you guys kneeling.’ He said our fans will crush us.”
Other players noticed that Mike Brown’s words carried the weight of an emotional tone.
“He just begged, like really begged. That was my first time seeing or hearing anything like that — very emotional. That was my only time seeing that it was different. The bottom line is that he was begging us, please do not kneel. He didn’t want the backfire that was going to come from it.”
Another player told Jesse “he would not expect to get a good contract offer the following year” if he had knelt.
A team spokeswoman issued the following reply: “Mr. Brown met with all players while the team was in Green Bay. A positive and open discussion ensued. Mr. Brown shared with players his preference, but said he was not directing them what to do.”
Viewpoints on kneeling have taken a dramatic shift recently given world events, so Cincinnati’s approach to this wasn’t uncommon at the time. For example, Brown had reportedly asked then free-agent safety Eric Reid whether he’d kneel during the anthem which resulted in a grievance. An arbitrator ruled the Bengals were within their right to ask.
The Bengals remain firm in their stance of action, not words or demonstrations, the latest example being their standing as the last AFC North team to issue a statement concerning nationwide protests — but while issuing a pledge of $250,000 to community initiatives.
Incoming No. 1 pick and franchise quarterback Joe Burrow has been very outspoken, so we’ll see if anything on demonstrating during the national anthem has changed within the walls of Paul Brown Stadium soon enough
