It’s not a new phenomenon to hear that Vikings players aren’t exactly enamored with their head coach Brad Childress. The events of Monday, after he told his team that he was going to release Randy Moss, may have been a tipping point for player unrest.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said on SportsCenter Monday evening that Childress has “lost the locker room.”
“He really has,” Mortensen said. “The players are not Childress guys right now. There’s a sense there, ‘does this head
coach really know what he’s doing?’ That’s the truth. You talk to people in
that locker room, that’s what you you’re gonna get from
them.”
You have to wonder how strongly the front office remains “Childress guys” at this point. Childress did not tell management about his plan to cut Moss, according to NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi. Childress has control over the 53-man roster, but this seems like a curious, if not self-destructive, time for Childress to go rogue and make a power play.
Moss curiously hasn’t been officially waived yet. Still, it’s hard to imagine any scenario where Moss would return, no matter how much his new Vikings teammates and some members of the organization want Moss back. Jay Glazer of FOX reports that Moss wouldn’t return at this point, even if asked.
Childress and Moss can’t coexist at this point. The question is whether Childress can coexist with the rest of his players in that locker room.