10-26-2017, 02:31 PM
https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/10/26/week-8-minnesota-vikings-mike-zimmer-quarterbacks-sam-bradford-case-keenum-teddy-bridgewater
There was a point in the Vikings’ 2016 season when things went from rough to ridiculous.“When our head coach missed a game,” recalled tight end Kyle Rudolph, over the phone Wednesday night, as he got ready to board a redeye for London. “It was just hard. You know how much it means to him, and how much he wants to be out there with us. And talking to him that week, I could see how much it bothered him. It’s one of those things you can’t control. That was definitely the low point.”
Mike Zimmer’s absence for that Thursday nighter against Dallas came after—and pay attention, because there’s a lot here—the Vikings lost Teddy Bridgewater to a freak, non-contact injury in August, lost their two starting tackles for the season, saw the tailback who was the face of their franchise go down for the year in September, and switched offensive coordinators in October. Then, there was the aforementioned eye problem that forced Zimmer to wear an eye patch on the sidelines and endure a string of eight surgeries.
Few who went through it could remember a more bizarre, star-crossed season. And yet, it became one that set the stage for everything that’s come as the Vikings have navigated a similarly strange 2017. Through half of this year, and since the opener, Minnesota’s gone into just about every week without knowing who the quarterback would be on Sunday. And it hasn’t knocked them off course one bit. The Vikings are 5-2.
“What I love about coach Zim is I know that’s not even a conversation,” said tailback Latavius Murray, signed as a free agent last winter. “Coach Zim’s method is ‘Why speak about it and even let it become a distraction?’ I’m not saying it doesn’t matter who’s lining up at quarterback, but whoever lines up at quarterback, we believe in him. So to bring it up—‘O.K., Case will be starting this week,’ or ‘Sam will be starting that week,’ it doesn’t come up, because we believe in everyone here.
There was a point in the Vikings’ 2016 season when things went from rough to ridiculous.“When our head coach missed a game,” recalled tight end Kyle Rudolph, over the phone Wednesday night, as he got ready to board a redeye for London. “It was just hard. You know how much it means to him, and how much he wants to be out there with us. And talking to him that week, I could see how much it bothered him. It’s one of those things you can’t control. That was definitely the low point.”
Mike Zimmer’s absence for that Thursday nighter against Dallas came after—and pay attention, because there’s a lot here—the Vikings lost Teddy Bridgewater to a freak, non-contact injury in August, lost their two starting tackles for the season, saw the tailback who was the face of their franchise go down for the year in September, and switched offensive coordinators in October. Then, there was the aforementioned eye problem that forced Zimmer to wear an eye patch on the sidelines and endure a string of eight surgeries.
Few who went through it could remember a more bizarre, star-crossed season. And yet, it became one that set the stage for everything that’s come as the Vikings have navigated a similarly strange 2017. Through half of this year, and since the opener, Minnesota’s gone into just about every week without knowing who the quarterback would be on Sunday. And it hasn’t knocked them off course one bit. The Vikings are 5-2.
“What I love about coach Zim is I know that’s not even a conversation,” said tailback Latavius Murray, signed as a free agent last winter. “Coach Zim’s method is ‘Why speak about it and even let it become a distraction?’ I’m not saying it doesn’t matter who’s lining up at quarterback, but whoever lines up at quarterback, we believe in him. So to bring it up—‘O.K., Case will be starting this week,’ or ‘Sam will be starting that week,’ it doesn’t come up, because we believe in everyone here.