There’s no question how important veteran linebacker Jordan Hicks is to what the Vikings do on defense. He wears the helmet with the headset that allows direct communication to defensive coordinator Brian Flores before the snap. Think of him as an extension of the coaching staff on the field.

That responsibility now belongs to rookie linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. After getting reps intermittently to this point, Pace played 100 percent of the defensive snaps for the Vikings against the Broncos last week in Denver, and took on the role of communicator with Hicks on injured reserve for at least the next month.

How did he perform?

“I thought Ivan did a nice job with the green dot,” Flores said in reference to the helmet with the headset. “The communication was solid throughout the night.”

It certainly helped that Pace could lean on veteran players like safety Harrison Smith and safety Josh Metellus if he needed help relaying the call from the sideline.

“They really worked hard last week on the communication,” Flores said. “Our alerts and checks went off without really much of a hitch.”

It’s worth noting that veteran linebacker Anthony Barr got some snaps against the Broncos, as did fellow linebacker Troy Dye. But Pace was the only player in that position group to play 100 percent of the defensive snaps, which suggests he’ll continue to be the front man until Hicks is ready to return.

It’s been a meteoric rise since Pace signed as an undrafted free agent this summer.

“There’s always the story of the undrafted player who’s got the big chip on his shoulder, and takes that failure, as some may call it, and turns it into something that’s a success,” Flores said. “I think in Ivan’s case, he’s kind of writing that story now, and he’s still got a long way to go.”

Chandler grows into role

As young running back Ty Chandler takes on a bigger role for the Vikings, some might start to wonder why that hasn’t happened sooner. The answer seems to be rooted in Chandler’s overall understanding of how he fits into the offense.

Though he has long had the skill set to succeed, Chandler had to learn the nuances of playing the position at the highest level. There’s more to it than simply taking a handoff and beating a defender to the edge.

“He’s grown tremendously from when we had him as a rookie,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillip said. “He’s always been a talented player. We always knew that about him. It’s a different path for everybody.”

DePaola takes center stage

The fake punt the Vikings ran to perfection against the Broncos garnered a lot of praise in the aftermath. With the Vikings on their own 31-yard line late in the game, head coach Kevin O’Connell opted for a direct snap to Chandler, who promptly took it 31 yards for a big gain.

Maybe the most important player of the sequence was long snapper Andrew DePaola. Not only did he have to sell that he was snapping the ball to punter Ryan Wright like usual, he then had to direct the ball diagonally to Chandler, who was much closer to the line of scrimmage.

“You look at the ball placement,” special-teams coordinator Matt Daniels said. “He put it right on the outside number and made it nice and easy for him to catch it and get out with it. It wasn’t behind him. It really was the perfect snap.”

Briefly

After announcing that defensive tackle Dean Lowry will head to injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle, the Vikings signed defensive tackle Sheldon Day from the practice squad to the active roster.

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