Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer held his season-ending press conference Tuesday and these are the things that stood out.
1. Does he want Adrian Peterson back next season?
“Well, Adrian is under contract,” Zimmer said. “Adrian has been a tremendous player here for 10 years with the Vikings and he’s under contract, so yes.”
Zimmer added that he thinks Peterson is still a “good back.”
2. Sam Bradford is the starting quarterback
When asked if there could be a quarterback controversy headed into 2017 between Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater, Zimmer gave the nod to Bradford.
“I think Sam has played great this year. I think he’s earned the right to be the starting quarterback,” he said. “Right now, all I’m worried about is Teddy getting better. He comes in here every single day and busts his rear-end. I just want him to to better. We’ll worry about all those other things later.”
3. When will Teddy be ready to play again?
“I don’t know. I’m not the, what do you call it, healer, or something,” Zimmer said.
“Teddy is a guy that will do everything possible to get back as soon as he possibly can get back,” he added, “and he would be a guy that I’d never bet against.”
4. He blames himself for missing the playoffs
“I put this on myself,” he said. “I wasn’t able to pull this team out of that slump. Regardless of all the things that happened, injuries, all that other stuff, they’re just excuses.
“That falls on top of me and I have to figure out the reasons why.”
5. Offensive line injuries were a problem
Minnesota used eight different offensive line combinations this season and Zimmer said the injuries made it “hard to build continuity.”
“Other teams have injuries. As long as I’m here we’re never going to be about excuses.”
6. His eye wasn’t much of a distraction
Zimmer’s surgery to repair a detached retina forced him to miss Minnesota’s game against Dallas, but other than that it wasn’t much of a problem.
“I may have worked one hour less than I normally work,” he said. “There was a couple times that I didn’t meet with the defense and watch some film – maybe a 30-minute session – because I wasn’t supposed to look up. But it was just a couple times.”
7. He believes in Laquon Treadwell
“I do think Treadwell is going to be a good player. I know that he had a rough season. I see too many good qualities from him to believe that he’s not going to be a good player. He’s tough. He works his rear-end off. He’s good in and out of cuts. Catches the ball good. I know he’s disappointed in the way things went.
“These things happen to some of these rookies. I think you always are going to give young guys benefit of the doubt as you move forward.”
8. Will he push for Greenway to return?
“I love Chad. He’s a tremendous player, a tremendous locker room guy. I think Chad is the one that needs to make that decision. I would love to have him back.”
