The drills are part of a circuit the Vikings' defensive backs go through daily to practice forcing fumbles and figuring out how to dislodge the ball from an opponent's grip.

For Griffin, the drills are coming to fruition. The third-year cornerback has forced two fumbles in his past two games, and his four this season lead the team. The fumble he forced in Sunday's victory over Jacksonville spurred the Vikings' second scoring drive that put Minnesota up 14-0 less than two minutes into the game.

"It's just as good as an interception," Griffin said of causing fumbles. "It may not look as glamorous as an interception, but it's a forced fumble. It's giving the ball back to my offense and allowing them to put points up for our team."

Griffin's eye for interceptions (he has none this season and only two in his NFL career) isn't brilliant, but he was largely responsible for shutting down Texans star wide receiver Andre Johnson during Minnesota's win over Houston this month.

Griffin's success, defensive backs coach Joe Woods said, comes from his size (at 6 feet, 203 pounds, Griffin is a big cornerback), his athleticism and his aggressive nature.

"He's big, and that's why we got him, just in terms of the scheme of our defense," Woods said of Griffin, a second-round pick in the 2006 draft. "When we were looking at different players in the draft, he had the size, he liked to play physical, he had the athletic ability. And those are the type of corners we like to have within our scheme. He takes it out on the field every day. He tackles, he hits, he does it all."

Griffin forced five fumbles in his four years at Texas, recovering two of them, and he forced two fumbles in each of his first two seasons with the Vikings. Woods started running the defensive backs through pre-practice fumble-forcing drills in training camp, and Griffin said the routine has made him more mindful of jarring the ball from an opponent's hands.

"They put so much emphasis on it right now," he said. "They're always talking about getting the ball out, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, and that's something the coaches want and something I'm trying to do for them."

The stripping techniques are key, but also essential, Griffin said, is the ability to hit with conviction. Griffin's forced fumble Sunday came on a Jaguars kick return. Griffin was behind Jacksonville kick returner Brian Witherspoon but out of his sightline, and when the ball carrier doesn't see him, Griffin said, he focuses on hitting him as hard as he can, rather than aiming to strip the ball.

"It's a lot about hitting hard. That's when you're catching a receiver off guard. But when you have the receiver or the running back in your sights, you have to go for technique rather than hitting hard," he said. "If I see a receiver and I have a good angle on him, I try to wrap around him, bring my other arm around and try to punch (the ball) out. If he doesn't see me, I'm going to try to hit him as hard as I can and get the ball out like that."

No matter how Griffin knocks the ball loose, Woods said, the 26-year-old's game revolves around one characteristic.

"He's a very prideful player in everything he does ... whether it's tackling, whether it's coverage, whether it's trying to create turnovers," Woods said. "He's been doing a nice job."