An unhappy Mike Zimmer scowled at the podium Sunday after watching his starting quarterback get bounced from the game following an illegal hit.
The in-game reaction of the Vikings' coach was far more NSFW.
Lucky for us, Zimmer was mic'd up for Sunday's contest with the St. Louis Rams. In a snippet of the action, which aired Wednesday morning on NFL Network's NFL HQ, we see the coach complain to refs about an early low hit to Teddy Bridgewater, accusations of dirty play and his immediate gut reaction to the blow that knocked the quarterback from the game:
A far lengthier clip of Zimmer's mic'd up session was posted on the team's official website. It's fantastic. The interspersing of muted claps with flamboyant expletives is Zimmer in a nutshell. The coach's soft-spoken apology to one ref for swearing felt like a young boy remembering his manners after getting a glare from his mother.
I have a particular affinity for the potty-mouthed coach -- he was, after all, my preseason pick for coach of the year -- and watching Zimmer mic'd up, it is easy to see why players have loved him throughout his career.
As for any back-and-forth with Rams coach Jeff Fisher, Zimmer told reporters Wednesday he isn't worried about their relationship being hampered and is ready to move on to Sunday's game versus the Raiders.
