Just when it looked as if things couldn't get any worse for the Minnesota Vikings, it appears there may be something of a mutiny in the locker room.
After the Vikings dropped a 38-25 decision to the Green Bay Packers - ending their remote playoff hopes - cornerback Xavier Rhodes confessed to reporters that he and his fellow defensive backs decided to eschew coach Mike Zimmer's game plan to have Rhodes shadow Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson in the first half, choosing instead to do it their own way. The Vikings' DBs choice to ignore their coach resulted in seven catches, 145 yards and two touchdowns for Nelson in that first half, as the Packers cruised to a 28-13 lead.
"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," said Rhodes after the game, per the StarTribune. "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."
In the second half, Rhodes and company had second thoughts, and the fourth-year pro out of Florida State stayed with Nelson as instructed. Nelson ended up with two catches for nine yards after halftime.
"That's what he was supposed to do the whole game," Zimmer said of Rhodes, adding that he realized something was off when veteran Terence Newman approached him on the sideline asking to have a run at Nelson. "I said, 'Do what you're supposed to do.' "
Newman clammed up after the game, telling reporters, "I have no idea," when asked about the players' decision.
Zimmer saved the harshest criticism Saturday evening for himself.
"I need to do a better job. I haven't done a good enough job this year," he said. "After the season, I'm going to sit down and evaluate everything, not just the players and not just the evaluations that we do on players, but everything - myself included."
After the Vikings dropped a 38-25 decision to the Green Bay Packers - ending their remote playoff hopes - cornerback Xavier Rhodes confessed to reporters that he and his fellow defensive backs decided to eschew coach Mike Zimmer's game plan to have Rhodes shadow Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson in the first half, choosing instead to do it their own way. The Vikings' DBs choice to ignore their coach resulted in seven catches, 145 yards and two touchdowns for Nelson in that first half, as the Packers cruised to a 28-13 lead.
"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," said Rhodes after the game, per the StarTribune. "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."
In the second half, Rhodes and company had second thoughts, and the fourth-year pro out of Florida State stayed with Nelson as instructed. Nelson ended up with two catches for nine yards after halftime.
"That's what he was supposed to do the whole game," Zimmer said of Rhodes, adding that he realized something was off when veteran Terence Newman approached him on the sideline asking to have a run at Nelson. "I said, 'Do what you're supposed to do.' "
Newman clammed up after the game, telling reporters, "I have no idea," when asked about the players' decision.
Zimmer saved the harshest criticism Saturday evening for himself.
"I need to do a better job. I haven't done a good enough job this year," he said. "After the season, I'm going to sit down and evaluate everything, not just the players and not just the evaluations that we do on players, but everything - myself included."
