Teddy Bridgewater

Vikings coach has emotional reaction to Bridgewater injury

Published Aug. 30, 2016 8:13 p.m. ET

foxsports

Minnesota Vikings teammates were shaken up when Teddy Bridgewater hurt his knee Tuesday, and when coach Mike Zimmer spoke to the media, he clearly was, too.

Zimmer kept his composure and preached strength in the face of adversity. When asked how he'd heal the team's psyche, Zimmer said he'd talked to his mentor, Bill Parcells, and his late father Bill "in spirit".

"I've talked to Coach Parcells a couple of times today," Zimmer said. "I've talked to — well, in spirit, I've talked to my dad. He always found a way to do it, so we're going to figure out a way."

Pressed about Bridgewater, Zimmer momentarily got a little emotional and fumbled with his words.

"He's a great kid. Let's let him get healthy and get taken care of, and let's not deal with all this stuff, please, OK? I'm just asking 'cause I love this kid and our fans love this kid."

Then, when asked again about his team "grieving a loss", Zimmer made another personal revelation.

"My wife passed away seven years ago, right, but the sun came up the next day, the world kept spinning and people kept going to work, and that's what we're going to do," Zimmer said.

The Vikings announced later Tuesday that Bridgewater dislocated his left knee and tore his ACL.

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Teddy Bridgewater

National Football League