Vikings Defensive Backs Seemingly Ignore Coach Mike Zimmer, Which Can’t be Good for Vikings or Zimmer

The Minnesota Vikings defense seems to have gone rogue against coach Mike Zimmer, and it's not a great look for anybody. After Green Bay beat Minnesota on Saturday, Vikings defensive back Xavier Rhodes admitted that not only he, but also his fellow defensive backs straight-up ignored Zimmer's instructions on how to cover receiver Jordy Nelson for most of the first half.

And it wasn't a case of Rhodes using sloppy technique or making poor decisions on the field, but instead an avoidance of Nelson altogether. Statistics show that, for the most part, other players on the Vikings were covering Nelson, contrary to what Zimmer asked of them.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Vikings coaches planned for Rhodes to "shadow" Nelson all over the field, and sure enough, when Rhodes didn't comply, Nelson racked up 145 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions in the first half. Only when another defensive back Terence Newman came over to Zimmer to request that he cover Nelson did Vikings coaches sniff that something was wrong and reassert their authority. So the story went.

Rhodes wasn't going to admit anything when first asked about the coverage confusion, but relented:

"To be honest, I really don't want to answer that," Rhodes started, before explaining what happened.

"A matter of fact, forget it. We felt as a team, as players, we came together and we felt like we'd never done that when we played against the Packers. Us as DBs felt like we could handle him. That's how we felt as DBs that we could stay on our side and cover him. In the beginning, we'd always played against them and played our sides, we never followed, so that's what we felt as DBs. That's what we went with."

Sounds less like confusion than an insurrection of some kind. Later, the narrative evolved when NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Vikes' DBs ignored Zimmer for the game's first series. And while ESPN reports that Rhodes did cover Nelson at times in the first half, the assertion that a switch occurred in the first quarter does not necessarily jibe with the stats:

(All 1st half) vs. Rhodes: 1 target, 1 catch, 14 yds, passer rating of 118.8; vs. others: 6 targets, 6 grabs, 131 yds, 2 TD, perfect rating. https://t.co/TKEXrh9IZB
— Nick Shook (@TheNickShook) December 26, 2016

While it is hard to believe that an NFL coaching staff wouldn't realize for an entire half that one or more of its players was ignoring instructions, the Vikings as a group do seem confused lately. They started the season 5-0 but now need a win in their final regular-season game just to break even this season.

No matter how many players were ignoring Zimmer, and no matter for how long, the Vikings definitely have a problem with players listening to authority, no matter if it's Xavier Rhodes or Terence Newman, or some combination.

Early on Sunday morning, Rhodes tweeted that it's "amazing that people believe everything they hear," and that there's "more to the story." (He also tweeted, "Merry Christmas.") Soon, coach Mike Zimmer will address the media, and it's possible the story will change a little bit more to suit whatever explanation the Vikings are going with now. But either way, this 'confusion' doesn't bode well for team cohesiveness.

UPDATE:

According to a report from NFL.com, it seems that Rhodes' on-field confusion was less an act of team mutiny directed at Zimmer, but rather was Rhodes respecting the seniority of 38-year-old Terrence Newman. When the team hit the field, Newman said that he was able to cover Jordy Nelson, and the two switched back to their usual positions. Rhodes was stuck in the difficult position of having to choose to obey his coach or his team's veteran defender.

Zimmer even came out defending them. From NFL.com:

"I talked to them all yesterday. We changed a couple calls later in the week, I probably wasn't specific enough in the things I was asking them to do," Zimmer said. "The one thing about it is, Xavier and Terence, these guys are as good of people as there is in the world. They're going to do their best every single time. They come out and they work every single day. They study, and they're really good kids. I could have been more specific."

Asked if either Newman or Rhodes ignored the game plan, Zimmer said "they played the coverage that was called, but they might have messed it up," noting: "I can think of one specifically: There was one where we were playing a man within a zone, and both guys played zone, and we turned a guy loose. There's things like that, but that happens every day."

Asked again if his players intentionally went off book, Zimmer emphasized: "No. Never."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯