Mike Zimmer’s bizarre motivational tactic did not help Vikings

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer tried to do what he could to ensure his players were properly focused ahead of the team’s bye week, which preceded Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He even tried to use some stuffed animals as a visual to help share his message, but it did not work.

According to the Star Tribune’s Matt Vensel, prior to letting his team go for the bye week, Zimmer set up a bunch of stuffed animals around the locker room. The stuffed toys had their throats slashed, they were splattered with red paint, and some of the stuffing was coming out. What was the purpose of the message? To convey that “fat cats get slaughtered.”

It was quite a graphic way of telling his team not to get too complacent during their week off just because they were 5-0.

Unfortunately, Zimmer’s message did not hit home, as the Vikings looked terrible in a 21-10 loss to the Eagles. Zimmer called the loss “embarrassing” and said his banged up offensive line looked “soft” in the game.

Whether the loss was due to the team getting complacent during the bye week or not, they sure did not look good and will have to improve next Monday against the Bears in Week 8.

H/T Deadspin