Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was surprised when offensive coordinator Norv Turner handed in his resignation yesterday.
But at least he could see it, which he wouldn’t have a day earlier.
Via Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Zimmer said the “minor medical procedure” which led him to cancel a press conference Tuesday was for eye surgery. Zimmer had a procedure to fix a torn retina in his right eye, after scratching it during last week’s loss to the Bears.
“First of all, I’d like to apologize for not being here yesterday,” Zimmer said, being polite about something he probably didn’t have to. “I had some trouble with my vision for a couple days, and during the game, I scratched on my eye. So, the doctors, after the game, they checked and had me get in for an appointment and I found out that I had a torn retina. . . .
“They said if you don’t take care of those things that you have a possibility of going blind. So, that’s why I wasn’t here.”
He had the procedure done Tuesday morning, but was back at the office Tuesday afternoon and spent the night there, watching film with two eyes for a change.
“I’ve been watching film with one eye all week or whatever it is,” Zimmer said. “I’ve had to wear reading glasses, so I can write because I can’t see out of my right eye. Fortunately, it’s probably a good thing I scratched my eye during the game otherwise I probably wouldn’t have caught it in time. But, hopefully everything will all right.”
Zimmer has established a clear vision for the Vikings, and if they could fix his roster as quickly as they fixed his eye, perhaps he could see them in the playoffs again this year.