Mike Zimmer to miss ‘a few weeks’ of Minnesota Vikings OTAs
By Adam Carlson
Following an eighth procedure on his eye, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer will be forced to miss a few weeks of organized team activities.
Yesterday, it was reported that Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer had undergone another surgery on his eye. This was his eighth procedure to try to fix the issues, and it will come with some team-related drawbacks.
The Vikings took to their official social media accounts today to release a statement from general manager Rick Spielman about how Zimmer will be taking some time away from OTAs to recover from the surgery.
Here is the post from the official Minnesota Vikings Facebook account showing the statement as issued by Spielman on May 22, 2017:
Statement from GM Rick Spielman on Head Coach Mike Zimmerhttp://mnvkn.gs/nNaKT1
Posted by Minnesota Vikings on Monday, May 22, 2017
In a recent article on the official Vikings website, head coach Mike Zimmer discussed his feelings on KFAN’s 9 to Noon show about the latest surgery and how it will hopefully be his last:
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"“The retina looks great, the pressure in my eye is really good,” Zimmer said. “So at this point now, we just need to take it easy and make sure it heals the right way.”"
If it were completely up to Zimmer, he would likely be on the field guiding and directing players. However, those players are the ones looking out for him and wanting to be sure everything heals properly with their coach’s eye.
"“Really, the players keep asking, ‘Why is he here?’ ‘Why is he doing this?’ ‘Shouldn’t he be home resting?’ ” Zimmer said with a chuckle. “So they’re the ones looking out for me probably more than [anyone].”"
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The Minnesota Vikings have an experienced and talented coaching staff, so the team likely won’t see too negative of an impact on Zimmer’s absence. However, if things go right, this will hopefully mean the team will have their head coach on the sidelines during the 2017 NFL regular season.