Vikings coach Leslie Frazier has been adamant about not discussing his job security during meetings with the media in recent weeks, but he decided he needed to address reports that he’s on his way out with the team on Tuesday.
Frazier explained to Detroit reporters on a conference call that he felt he needed to address the reports with the team so they don’t serve as a distraction heading into their regular season finale. Frazier said he felt that it was a distraction to the team last week and elaborated on his reasons for going that route now when he met with local reporters.
“It’s like the elephant in the room,” Frazier said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “I just felt like I needed to get that addressed. Looking back at it, I probably should have dealt with it a week ago. I don’t want those guys to be distracted. I want them to focus on the opponent. I felt like we got a little distracted last week. I want to make sure that we’re all focused on one thing and that’s winning this game against Detroit.”
Several members of the Vikings said that they weren’t distracted by reports about Frazier’s future heading into the game against the Bengals, but their play did him no favors as they reversed a trend of better performances by breaking down all over the place in a 42-14 loss. That may mean Frazier is making a farewell address to players at some point in the next week, at which point potential distractions will be a different coach’s problem.