St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher on Monday criticized Vikings coach Mike Zimmer for how he reacted to Teddy Bridgewater being knocked out of Sunday’s game with a concussion.
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Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season against St. Louis (29 carries for 125 yards), and he is the league’s leading rusher entering Week 10 with 758 yards. As Bridgewater began his slide, meaning he was giving himself up, Joyner spun his body and threw his left shoulder into Bridgewater’s head, thus driving it into the turf.
Despite this, Joyner’s diving shot to Bridgewater’s head, as the quarterback completed a 5-yard scramble, turned into the primary topic of conversation.
“I grew up across the railroad tracks from him”, Joyner said of his and Bridgewater’s shared Miami roots.
“If we were on the street we probably would have had a fight.” . “It felt good, a tough win for us”, Peterson said.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher flippantly remarked that Bridgewater isn’t the first quarterback to be hit while sliding.
LB Audie Cole, who started at middle linebacker in place of injured rookie Eric Kendricks (ribs), fracture his ankle in the fourth quarter Sunday and is out for the season.
It’s certainly fair for Fisher to wonder how much credibility we should give to a player widely known for being dirty, but Harrison makes a pretty good point: If anybody knows what dirty looks like, it’s him.
“I don’t know yet”, Zimmer said.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer wasted no time addressing the hit after the game-it was the first thing on his mind as he stepped to the postgame podium. Every time we play them it’s that way. After all, this is the same Gregg Williams that could be heard on the audio released by documentary filmmaker Sean Pamphilon telling his players to intentionally injure members of the San Francisco 49ers in a profanity-laced tirade.
Joyner was assessed a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness, and afterward Zimmer and several of his players called the hit a cheap shot.
“I hope Teddy Bridgewater is OK”, Fisher said. “Just because others don’t doesn’t mean we won’t too”.
“It says a lot about the character of their team, trying to hurt guys after the play”, Vikings offensive tackle Matt Kalil said. So, for Rodney to come out and say that I did something like that is absolutely absurd. He played at Florida State and was selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Rams last season.
Immediately after the hit, Bridgewater was motionless on the field and appeared to have his eyes closed for a short time.
Bridgewater, who was replaced by former Rams backup Shaun Hill, finished 13 for 21 for 144 yards.
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The Vikings jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, getting a 34-yard field goal from Walsh and a six-yard run by Peterson less than 10 minutes into the game.
