Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has bigger issues on his plate than Justin Jefferson’s future prospects – like making the playoffs to avoid the property ax this offseason.

After the star sophomore wide receiver denounced lack of energy and poor play following last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Zimmer dismissed Jefferson’s outcry as poor judgment due to frustration post-match.

“I think Justin was just frustrated,” Zimmer said Dec. 27, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Hey, we’re all frustrated when we don’t win the game. We are all frustrated. We all say things 10 minutes after the game that we wish we didn’t have. … In my opinion, he just wants to win. And part of that is he wants to get the ball if he can. And I don’t think he’s calling anyone. He’s not the kind of person he is.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk dissected Zimmer’s apologetic response as a deviation from a larger truth that Jefferson had shared in the heat of the Vikings losing total control over their playoff chances.

Florio asked the following question: “Why does someone have to be a certain ‘type of person’ to tell the truth? Zimmer isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Is he a bad ‘type of person? “

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Similar ‘slippery slope’ could lead Jefferson to want to leave Minnesota

Zimmer also noticed the lack of energy during pre-game warm-ups and broke a group before the game.

It clearly did not work.

“I tackled the pre-game energy level and tried to make sure they got going and were ready to go out and play,” Zimmer said Monday, per Tomasson. “We just didn’t start well, but we came back and the energy level increased. “

Lack of energy and motivation plagued the Vikings throughout the year. The team lost ahead of the competition, leaving too many games decided in the final minutes.

With Minnesota’s lack of success over the past two years, it’s possible that Zimmer fell out of favor with many in the organization, making him a less inspiring leader than he once was during the days. salad of his term.

And while Jefferson has denounced his teammates’ lack of energy, he continues to say he keeps his head down and does as he’s told.

“I think we should be more aggressive when we get down there [in the red zone], as soon as we’re out there, ”Jefferson said in his post-game interview with the Rams. But I’m not the one calling the coins. I’m just here to do my job and do as I’m told.