Zimmer: I’ll be back

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has had a lot of time on his hands this week while sitting at home on his Kentucky ranch as his team went through optional practices in the Twin Cities.

Zimmer was under strict orders to leave the team and rest his right eye, which has needed eight surgeries to try to repair a detached retina. The lingering issues have led some to wonder if he would be forced to shorten his career.

The hard-nosed coach has heard the speculation all week long, and he said he has reached out to some of those doubters personally.

“I’ll be back shortly,” Zimmer vowed Friday during a conference call with reporters. “One eye or two, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be back. We can put that retiring thing to bed quickly.”

Zimmer, who missed one game last season due to the problems with his eye, said he was told to skip this week’s practices and go home to allow his eye to recover.

“It’s not much fun,” he said. “Usually I love it down here in my place here. But I don’t love it too much this week. It was kind of a forced situation. But for the long run it’s the best thing for me.”

He has still kept close tabs on the operations at Vikings headquarters. He has access to video of practices and has held an afternoon conference call every day with his assistants to share his assessments.

Running back Jerick McKinnon joked earlier this week that practices have been quieter without the fiery Zimmer around. But the coach said he has texted players often to deliver messages about what to improve on. If all goes well, Zimmer plans on returning to Minnesota on June 4 and meeting with doctors the following day.