It was Zimmer’s time working as the Bengals’ defensive coordinator under Marvin Lewis that got the attention of the Vikings when they were looking to fill the vacancy left by firing Leslie Frazier.
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“It brings back a lot of good memories”. “With all of the things we’re seeing health wise, I don’t think an 18-game season is beneficial for anybody”. There were a lot of great people in the administration. It will be fun.
“He’s a really good athlete, ” Zimmer said. A year ago, they were excited to go against Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr., and they got the better of the matchup.
Zimmer has been friends with the Bengals’ Marvin Lewis since their days as college coaches.
“I’ve been playing my whole career”, Palmer says, “to be in a situation like this and play for an owner (Michael Bidwill) like this and a GM (Steve Keim) like this”.
Smith said the chance to play for Zimmer was the primary reason he joined the Vikings. His presence helped them improve to 7-9 and place third in the NFC North in 2014.
The Bengals are the most northern National Football League team without a covered practice field.
They were teammates at MS and there were eyes made when the Vikes picked Treadwell at No. 23 just before the Bengals picked No. 24.
The Bengals’ defense didn’t fare all that well against the Vikings’ offense in the combined practice, either.
Waynes practiced with the first team in Monday morning’s walkthrough.
“I don’t want to let coach Zimmer down, ” Smith told the Pioneer Press. “That’s the good part about getting back there”. “I think both teams acted in a professional manner”. He actually invited the Bengals’ staff over to his ranch for barbecue dinner tonight.
“I’m honestly not anxious about (brawls) and all that because I know our guys and I know their guys”, Zimmer said.
A few minutes earlier, there had been a fight between guard Brandon Fusco and one of the defensive linemen, and even though the Vikings have only been at training camp for less than two weeks, it was time to move on. “I knew what it meant”.
“I think (the practices will be) good”. Usually, the day before a preseason game you don’t get any work done.
Mike Zimmer is not a sentimental guy, but the sometimes-gruff Vikings coach admitted that returning to Cincinnati this week could get emotional. His defenses were regularly ranked in the top 10 in various categories. The difference? Treadwell caught 82 balls for more than 1,100 yards previous year with 11 touchdowns while Core went 37, 644, four.
In the secondary, 2015 first-round draft pick Trae Waynes will get an opportunity to start Friday night as 37-year-old Terence Newman recovers from an undisclosed injury that surfaced over the weekend. Still, he will always be remembered fondly in the Queen City. “But I’ve got to change mine, too”. “I’m building a house over there in Kentucky”.
So you can be assured the Lewis and Zimmer have talked about this all before and the Vikes aren’t going to bang on A.J.
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Despite being snubbed by Iloka, Zimmer still had plenty of fun with him before practice.
