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http://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-...ry-the-hatchet-after-hit-on-teddy-bridgewater
Ben Goessling
ESPN Staff Writer
MINNEAPOLIS -- As Mike Zimmer walked to midfield at U.S. Bank Stadium on Thursday night, concluding the preseason with a 27-25 win against the Los Angeles Rams, he found coach Jeff Fisher for a handshake and hug. The meeting, suffice it to say, was more cordial than their last postgame exchange.
That came in November, when Zimmer walked off the field seething after a violent, visceral 18-15 win against the Rams. The Minnesota Vikings were playing outdoors at TCF Bank Stadium then, the Rams were still in St. Louis and the tenor of the game couldn't have been much different than a sleepy preseason game between backups. The Nov. 8 matchup was between two playoff hopefuls with physical defenses, and that afternoon, as the Rams hit Teddy Bridgewater in the knee outside the pocket and Lamarcus Joyner knocked the quarterback out with an elbow to the head while Bridgewater was sliding, Zimmer thought Fisher's team had crossed a line.
He made that point clear, both in postgame comments that hinted the teams would be fighting had they been in the streets and in a NFL Films clip that became wildly popular for Zimmer's profanity-laced rebuke of the referees after the Rams' hits. Zimmer's ire was directed more at defensive coordinator Gregg Williams than it was at Fisher, though, and the head coaches made up at the NFL owners meetings in March.
On Thursday night, Zimmer said, Fisher had some words of encouragement in the wake of Bridgewater's season-ending knee injury.
"I have gotten a lot of calls from a lot of people about what happened to Teddy, from other coaches," Zimmer said. "As a matter of fact, Jeff Fisher said a lot of nice things about it tonight."
So the two are good now?
"I wasn't really mad at him," Zimmer said. "I was mad at his team. Shoot -- I shouldn't have said that."
Ben Goessling
ESPN Staff Writer
MINNEAPOLIS -- As Mike Zimmer walked to midfield at U.S. Bank Stadium on Thursday night, concluding the preseason with a 27-25 win against the Los Angeles Rams, he found coach Jeff Fisher for a handshake and hug. The meeting, suffice it to say, was more cordial than their last postgame exchange.
That came in November, when Zimmer walked off the field seething after a violent, visceral 18-15 win against the Rams. The Minnesota Vikings were playing outdoors at TCF Bank Stadium then, the Rams were still in St. Louis and the tenor of the game couldn't have been much different than a sleepy preseason game between backups. The Nov. 8 matchup was between two playoff hopefuls with physical defenses, and that afternoon, as the Rams hit Teddy Bridgewater in the knee outside the pocket and Lamarcus Joyner knocked the quarterback out with an elbow to the head while Bridgewater was sliding, Zimmer thought Fisher's team had crossed a line.
He made that point clear, both in postgame comments that hinted the teams would be fighting had they been in the streets and in a NFL Films clip that became wildly popular for Zimmer's profanity-laced rebuke of the referees after the Rams' hits. Zimmer's ire was directed more at defensive coordinator Gregg Williams than it was at Fisher, though, and the head coaches made up at the NFL owners meetings in March.
On Thursday night, Zimmer said, Fisher had some words of encouragement in the wake of Bridgewater's season-ending knee injury.
"I have gotten a lot of calls from a lot of people about what happened to Teddy, from other coaches," Zimmer said. "As a matter of fact, Jeff Fisher said a lot of nice things about it tonight."
So the two are good now?
"I wasn't really mad at him," Zimmer said. "I was mad at his team. Shoot -- I shouldn't have said that."
