St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher and the team’s defensive coordinator Gregg Williams have come under fire since a fourth-quarter hit knocked Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater from Sunday’s game.
But Fisher wasn’t backing down on Monday as he returned shots to Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and former NFL safety-turned-analyst Rodney Harrison, who were critical of him.
Fisher w/advice for Mike Zimmer: "I think a good lesson to be learned from this is control your emotion, OK? Immediately after the game."
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) November 10, 2015
According to Pro Football Talk, Fisher’s position is that Lamarcus Joyner didn’t deliberately target Bridgewater when he hit him in the helmet with an elbow at the end of a slide.
Zimmer was also critical of Fisher’s defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, noting Williams’ involvement in “Bountygate” when he was with the Saints in 2009-2010.
Zimmer went so far as to say that if they had met on the street they probably would have gotten into a fight. To that Fisher responded Monday.
“Mike’s and my handshake was very short. He didn’t say a word. I went out to congratulate him. I was going to ask him how his quarterback was and congratulate him on the win, and he was gone. I understand that, but you also need to control your emotions after a game and go look at the tape and then adjust accordingly.”
The NFL decided not to suspend Joyner, though he could still be fined. But Zimmer didn’t back off Monday when he said there was more than one hit he didn’t like.
Harrison, who is now an NFL analyst, went quite a bit further than Zimmer did Sunday, accusing Fisher of targeting him during his playing days.
https://twitter.com/barstooltweets/status/663521314410369024
Fisher also responded to Harrison’s comments.
Wow. Jeff Fisher came PREPARED to his press conference to respond to Rodney Harrison. pic.twitter.com/FPwOFJI73x
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) November 10, 2015
