The thoughts raced through Dallas Turner’s mind as he lay awake in his bed.

He reflected on being selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and the highs and lows that followed. He poured over the playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams that was still fresh in his mind roughly 72 hours later. He thought about the many ways he felt like he could have made a bigger impact.

Then he fired off the text message.

On the other side of the country, longtime trainer Javon Gopie saw the notification from Turner flash across his phone screen. They have been working together since Turner was a teenager, so Gopie wasn’t surprised by the timing.

“It might’ve been 2 a.m.,” Gopie said. “All I could do was laugh.”

The message was rather straightforward. Turner expressed how badly he wanted to get back to work. Though he has never spoken publicly about any of his frustrations, he privately let himself be motivated by playing only 302 snaps last season.

“I was ready to get back in the lab,” Turner said. “Just wanted to keep the foot on the gas.”As much as he admired Turner’s hunger, Gopie also understood the value of recovery. He has been doing this long enough to know that rushing the process can sometimes do more harm than good.

“I told him he had to pace himself,” Gopie said. “We had a long road ahead of us.”

When it was finally time to get back on the field, Turner linked up with Gopie, who goes by the nickname Sack Sensei, and also enlisted the expertise of renowned South Florida trainer Pete Bommarito. Together, they came up with a plan to put Turner on the right track, with Gopie handling the intricacies of the position and Bommarito handling everything else.

“Just locking in with those guys,” Turner said. “It put me on the trajectory I’m on.”

The results couldn’t be more clear with a simple look at Turner with training camp in full swing at TCO Performance Center. The muscle he has put on is noticeable — especially in his lower half — and he has managed to do it without sacrificing any of his explosiveness.

“He took it upon himself to get bigger, stronger and faster, to put himself in the best position to come out here and compete,” defensive coordinator Brian Flores said. “He’s done a really nice job.”

The work that Turner has put in to transform his body has stood out among teammates.

“The sky is the limit,” veteran edge rusher Jonathan Greenard said. “Nobody told him to do any of that. It’s all on his own, just understanding what he wanted to get better at and using that as an opportunity to be a better pro.”

When he wasn’t back in Minnesota for organized team activities with the Vikings, Turner was working out at Bommarito’s extraordinary facilities in South Florida, which feature every amenity under the sun. He split his time fairly equally between the location near Fort Lauderdale and the location on the outskirts of Miami.

“We tried to go Monday through Friday,” Bommarito said. “It’s a good mix of being in the weight room and getting on the field.”

There was intention to everything Turner did in the weight room as Bommarito wanted make sure it was going to translate when they got on the field. They focused on the posterior chain muscles, including the glutes, hamstrings and calves.

“As fast as he is, he still hasn’t even reached his potential,” Bommarito said. “That’s why I wanted to put some mass strength in those areas.”

All the while, Bommarito kept Gopie in the loop with what he was doing, and vice versa.

“We both understand what the other was trying to accomplish,” Bommarito said. “It’s a really good relationship.”

The work that Turner put in with Bommarito is plain to see when he’s stretching at the beginning of a practice. The work that Turner put in with Gopie probably won’t show up until he’s playing in a game.

“We went over all the film focused on combos and counters,” Gopie said. “You’re lucky to get a sack by beating a guy with the primary move. You become great by being able to do it over and over again, and that’s where the secondary move comes in. That has been a big emphasis for us.”

As they continued to comb through the clips from Turner’s rookie season, Gopie kept going back to the same thought. As impressed as he was with Turner’s production in limited playing time, he was more impressed by how he handled himself behind Greenard and All Pro edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel.

“I think a piece of it was humbling for him,” Gopie said. “He had so much expectation coming in (after) being taken in the first round. He had to learn that the experience in the NFL is a process and everybody’s path is different. He embraced that part of it and handled it with grace.”

That doesn’t mean there weren’t some highlights for Turner along the way.

There was the sack against against the Chicago Bears when he dipped his shoulder on right tackle Darnell Wright and kept accelerating. There also was the interception against the Seattle Seahawks when he dropped into coverage, read the eyes of quarterback Geno Smith, and instinctively broke on the ball.

“He’s going to get even scarier as he continues to learn his body,” Gopie said. “He’s going to be an absolute terror.”

What might that look like this season?

“I’m predicting double digit sacks,” Gopie said. “That’s solely based on his growth as a player. He has a chip on his shoulder and he’s put in the work. He’s barely getting started as far as who he’s going to be in the NFL.”

Not that Turner is letting himself think that far in the future.

“I’m going to let the work speak for itself,” he said. “Just run my own race and focus on what I can control.”