Zimmer helping Bradford see the game from a different perspective

The Minnesota Vikings’ defensive-minded head coach has been helping his quarterback pick up new habits that could help during the 2017 season.

When Mike Zimmer was hired by the Minnesota Vikings back in 2014, he was mainly brought in for his expertise on the defensive side of the ball. As a defensive coordinator in the NFL for more than a decade, Zimmer’s defenses were normally among some of the league’s best.

However, with each season that has gone by with the Vikings, the head coach is continuing to get more involved in how his team’s offense operates as well.

It began last offseason when Zimmer added Pat Shurmur to Minnesota’s coaching staff to try and improve the team’s passing game. This year, the head coach has been communicating a lot with Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford and helping him better recognize what the defense is doing out on the field.

On Thursday, Zimmer shared some of the specifics of the defense he has been help Bradford with this offseason.

"“When I was down in Kentucky (Bradford) would text me every night and ask, ‘What did you see? What can I do to get better?’ and things like that. Typically I’m giving him (feedback) from the defensive perspective. ‘Did you see how deep the safety was here? Did you see the rotations start going?’ and things like that.”"

Entering his seventh year in the NFL, Minnesota’s quarterback also spoke on Thursday about how he has been enjoying his recent conversations with one of the best defensive minds in the league today in Zimmer.

Minnesota Vikings

"“It really started when he was away those couple of weeks with his eye. We would text almost every day after practice and he would just give me some thoughts about what he saw from us on offense, what the defense was trying to do, things that we could take advantage of, things that they were trying to take away. Just having those conversations with someone on the other side of the ball, especially with someone like coach Zimmer who has that much knowledge, and to really be able to talk defense and understand conceptually what it is they are trying to do, I think I have learned a lot the past couple of weeks about coverages, blitzes, really everything that a defense tries to do to stop an offense.”"

Judging from what Bradford said, it seems as though Zimmer is one of the few, if not the only, defensive coach to help the quarterback understand the game better from the other side of the ball (so shocking Jeff Fisher never tried something like this).

Next: Who will be the Vikings' best offensive player in 2017?

Will it help Bradford perform better in 2017? Only time will tell, but the quarterback is definitely eager to help improve his chances of being one of the NFL’s best at his position this season.