Mackensie Alexander sends a message to the Mike Zimmer haters
By Adam Patrick
Mackensie Alexander is back with the Minnesota Vikings and he recently shared why he wanted to re-join the team that drafted him.
When the news was released last year that Mackensie Alexander was leaving the Minnesota Vikings to sign a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, it was a little surprising.
Some felt Alexander had a good chance to re-sign with the Vikings. But instead, he ended up walking out the door for a different opportunity.
After he left, some wondered if his departure had anything to do with him possibly not having a good relationship with Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer. On Monday, Alexander made sure to let everyone know that this couldn’t be any more false.
Mackensie Alexander happy to be back with the Minnesota Vikings
Since he only signed a one-year deal with Cincinnati, Alexander hit the free-agent market again this offseason. Instead of re-signing with the Bengals or joining another team, Minnesota was able to convince their former corner to return to the Twin Cities for the 2021 season.
Alexander is back with the Vikings and his return should help the team’s pass defense perform much better than the group that allowed the third-most yards per attempt in the NFL last season.
On Monday, the veteran corner met virtually with some of the local Twin Cities media and he explained why he’s looking forward to having the hard-nosed Zimmer be his head coach again.
"“I missed it, of course. [It’s] why I’m back. You want to be coached like that. Somebody that’s going to stay on you. Being back is going to be fun.”"
You want to be coached like that? Wait a minute, there are players that actually enjoy the way Zimmer coaches? That’s not the narrative that some of his doubters like to spread.
Any claim of Zimmer being too old or not being a player-friendly coach has certainly taken a hit this offseason with guys like Alexander and Stephen Weatherly returning in addition to newcomers like Patrick Peterson raving about the opportunity to learn from Minnesota’s head coach.
If not for Zimmer currently being the team’s head coach, the Vikings probably aren’t able to convince someone like Peterson or Dalvin Tomlinson to sign with them this year. Guys want to play for him and this continues to be proven more and more true as each day passes by.