Danielle Hunter underwent successful surgery to repair a neck injury, which obviously turned out to be much more than the “tweak” head coach Mike Zimmer described it as before the regular season began in September.
Zimmer began his virtual press conference on Wednesday by addressing his initial rating of the injury, saying: “When you guys give me crap about this thing being a tweak, when it all started he woke up, he thought he slept on his neck wrong so that’s why it was a tweak.”
Zimmer said he didn’t learn that it was a more severe injury that would ultimately end Hunter’s season before it started “sometime during training camp” after Hunter underwent an MRI.
How Hunter injured his neck remains a bit of a mystery. Zimmer indicated that it happened during a training camp practice, calling it “hardly anything.”
“When we went back and looked at the tape from the previous, I don’t know what it was, a week later, I mean, it could’ve happened to anybody at any point,” Zimmer explained.
Hunter tweeted from a hospital room on Wednesday saying the surgery was successful.
Surgery was a success. I appreciate all the support during this process and want to give thanks to everyone who has helped me out. Now let’s get back to work. #2021 pic.twitter.com/p32g8bbbzX
— D Hunt™ (@DHunt94_TX) October 28, 2020
No timeline for Hunter’s return has been set, but Zimmer indicated that the Pro Bowl defensive end would be ready for the 2021 season: “I don’t know exactly the timetable but yeah he should be back playing football again.”
Meanwhile, Zimmer noted that running back Dalvin Cook, who missed Minnesota Oct. 16 against Atlanta because of a groin injury, was back at practice Wednesday and is expected to play Sunday when the Vikings face the Packers in Green Bay.
“I assume that he’ll be ready,” Zimmer said.
