Vikings coach sends stern warning to struggling rookie kicker

The Minnesota Vikings may have a minor problem developing at kicker.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer admitted that he elected to go for two after scoring a touchdown during Friday’s preseason game because rookie kicker Daniel Carlson had missed a 42-yard field goal earlier in the quarter.

“Just let him (Carlson) know that if he’s going to miss them, I’m going to go for two,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.

Carlson admitted that he hadn’t gotten the message, and the reasoning wasn’t clear to him at the time.

“I think that was just one of those things they wanted to work on in the preseason,” Carlson said. “Obviously at the end we didn’t want to go to overtime, so we went for it again. That worked out. A little surprised, but obviously I’m just cheering for the team, and whatever they need to work on this preseason to get ready for the season, I’m in support of that.

“I’m not going to let any one kick define me, good or bad. I’m just going to keep my head up and keep working each and every day and continue to do what I’ve been doing and learn from this and move on.”

The ploy didn’t pay immediate dividends, as Carlson missed a second 42-yarder later in the second quarter. They were his first two misses of the preseason after an excellent showing against Denver, making two field goals and four extra points. The job is still very much his, as the Vikings cut veteran Kai Forbath earlier in the week.

Minnesota has been known to play mind games with their kickers before in an effort to motivate them. We’ll see how Carlson responds.