At a time when a debate has been sparked regarding when and if it’s proper for teammates to go beyond the locker room to complain about harassment, we’re reminded of situations in which external complaints shouldn’t be made.
For example, when players have complaints about substantive football issues.
On Monday, coach Leslie Frazier said he wants criticism of coaching decisions to not be shared publicly.
Such criticism came from players like defensive end Brian Robison and defensive tackle Kevin Williams after Sunday’s late loss to the Cowboys, in which the Vikings yet again blew a late lead.
“I understand the frustration,” Frazier told reporters, via Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “We were all frustrated at the end of that ballgame. But there are so many positive things that occurred before that two-minute drive. But we’ll definitely talk through that situation as a team and just where we are and what we have to do to move forward.”
But Robinson didn’t apologize.
“I don’t take back anything I said,” Robison said Monday. “I’m probably going to get griped at for it. In my honest opinion, I don’t think I said anything out of line. I don’t think I necessarily threw anybody under the bus. I didn’t say anything that I shouldn’t have said. We’ve always prided ourselves on holding each other accountable.”
Here’s what he said after the game: “There’s some things that are going on internally that are not allowing us to close out games.” Robison also reportedly said that the coaches abandoned the plan to pressure Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.
The pressure is now on Frazier, whose team is 1-7 two years after going 3-13.