So is everything cool between Brad Childress and his players now or not? Is there still locker room tension after a string of incidents including the Randy Moss release and a dust-up with Percy Harvin that almost ended in a fight, or did Sunday’s come-from-behind win over the Cardinals quiet all that?
To be honest, it still seems that, in spite of the victory, Vikings players are not all that high on Chilly.
After Sunday’s win, multiple Vikings were asked if their rally was motivated by a desire to save Childress’ job. Every player answered by saying they did it “for each other.” Meaning their teammates, and not necessarily their coach.
When asked about this, Childress claimed he was happy with his players’ mentality. “We talk about that all the time — play for each other, that’s the big thing,” Childress said. “Yeah, for the fans, for the … But you play for the guys you’re playing with. You play for each other.”
Still, I’m sure Childress would feel a lot better if at least one player would say they had his job security in mind as they fought back from 14 down to defeat the Cardinals.
And you know what else would make him feel better? An assurance from owner Zygi Wilf that he won’t be fired before the end of the season. Unfortunately, Zygi seems content to let Childress twist in the wind, not knowing how safe his job is from one week to the next.
The players, for their part, don’t seem that bothered by Childress’ probationary status. When asked if he would like to know one way or another about Chilly’s future, linebacker Chad Greenway said, “I think you guys want that, obviously, because you continue to prod at me. But it’s not what it’s about. It really isn’t. What it’s about in this league is stringing a couple, two, three, four, five wins together to be in a position at the end of the season to make the playoffs. That should be the focus. It shouldn’t be anything else. Hopefully, that’s all in the past and we can continue to move forward now.”
Once again, a Viking player is given a chance to speak out on behalf of his coach, and once again he side-steps. Until somebody on the Vikings comes forth with a definitive 100% “I’m on Chilly’s side” statement, we have no choice but to assume there is still a lot of anti-Chilly feeling running through the Vikings’ locker room.
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