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Mike Zimmer to miss time with Vikings after eighth eye surgery

By Collin Kottke

Jan 1, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer watches a replay in the game with the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings win 38-10. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer watches a replay in the game with the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings win 38-10. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Minnesota Vikings announced on Monday that Head Coach Mike Zimmer will be away from the team during some workouts due to his eighth eye surgery.

Minnesota Vikings fans can find when the 2016 season started going off the rails for Mike Zimmer and his squad. A team that started on a tear and had people talking about a deep playoff run, quickly turned to loss after loss, the loss of an offensive coordinator and almost the loss of Head Coach Zimmer’s eye. The problematic eye won’t be seeing the inside of Winter Park soon.

General Manager Rick Spielman released this statement on Monday morning:

"“As the Vikings begin OTA practices, Coach Zimmer will be taking time away from the team to dedicate to recovering from eye surgery and restoring his health. We all agree Mike’s health is the priority and we believe rest and recovery are in his best interest for the long term. We anticipate Mike back on the field in a few weeks.”"

If you want words straight from the horse’s mouth, Zimmer joined Paul Allen on KFAN today and said the following to PA:

"“The retina looks great, the pressure in my eye is really good. So at this point now, we just need to take it easy and make sure it heals the right way.”"

Zimmer also said that his players have been asking the same question that fans were asking during the Jacksonville game: why are you coaching right now? Zimmer’s response:

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"“Really, the players keep asking, ‘Why is he here?’ ‘Why is he doing this?’ ‘Shouldn’t he be home resting? So they’re the ones looking out for me probably more than [anyone].”"

The Vikings official website says that Zimmer was talking with Allen while traveling to his ranch in Kentucky where he will do the resting of his eye.

Coach Zimmer got into some more technical aspects of his now eight eye surgeries on KFAN, which you can check out on the Vikings official website. The grand summary is that Zimmer’s eye looks the best yet, he didn’t want to rest and it might have taken the Vikings to send him states away to keep him away from the office.

"“If I don’t screw it up by going out and yelling at players and doing things that I shouldn’t be doing, I think this is going to be the best result that we’ve had.”"

The Vikings are scheduled to have off-season workouts later this week.

Next: Michael Floyd will be at Vikings workouts!

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