Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer will take a leave of absence from his coaching duties after undergoing what is being reported as emergency eye surgery. Reports started surfacing last night this would be a possibility, and now it is confirmed.
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will take over as interim head coach until Zimmer is ready to return to the sideline, according to the NFL Network.
BREAKING: After having emergency eye surgery Wednesday, Vikings HC Mike Zimmer will miss #DALvsMIN. Mike Priefer will serve as interim HC. pic.twitter.com/UmWU9XuCku
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) December 1, 2016
The surgery was conducted on Wednesday night. At the time of the report from Viking Update, it was unknown if Zimmer would be able to coach tonight’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Zimmer reportedly had eye surgery four weeks ago to repair a torn retina in his right eye. That operation did not cause him to miss any time doing what coaches do, as he was back with the team the next day. This time, however, things are a little bit different. For whatever reason, Zimmer’s vision was not improving, and that is a scary thought.
Mike Zimmer’s vision became worse after walk-thru. He had surgery for a detached retina. Out tonight. DC George Edwards will run the D.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 1, 2016
If there is one thing you do not want to mess around with, it might be your vision. It is actually one of the things I am most scared about, and I can only imagine how scary it might be to start losing your vision after undergoing these types of procedures.
