Vikings ax offensive coordinator Ditka: ‘Every day I get stronger’
Former Bears coach Mike Ditka’s health continues to improve after he had a heart attack last month in Naples, Florida, as first reported by Michael Sneed of the Sun-Times.
Ditka, who was released from the hospital with a pacemaker on Nov. 26, told The Athletic that he doesn’t remember exactly what happened, but he’s “feeling a lot better” now.
“I got my ass kicked pretty good there,” Ditka said. “Every day I get stronger. I’m not exerting myself. When I exert myself is when I can feel it. So things are good. If you had asked me two weeks ago, I couldn’t have said that.” From now on, Ditka plans to “take it easy.” “I realize that I have been riding ’em hard and putting up wet for a lot of years,” he said. “Time to slow down. I’m not getting any younger. You’re only going to live ’til you die anyway. So it’s been a hell of a run.”
Ditka has had issues with his health in the past. He had a heart attack while coaching the Bears in 1988 and returned to work 11 days later. And in 2012, Ditka had a stroke while at Bob O’Link Golf Club in Highland Park.
With three games left in the season, the Vikings fired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, who was a candidate for the Bears’ coaching job in the offseason after he made a name for himself as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach in 2017.
Coach Mike Zimmer made what he called an “extremely difficult decision” after a 21-7 loss at Seattle on Monday night.
The Vikings (6-6-1) have been held to under 300 total yards in four of their last five games. They’ve scored an average of 12.8 points in those four games.
Quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski was made interim offensive coordinator, taking over the play-calling duty. Stefanski has been an assistant with the Vikings since 2006, surviving two coaching changes.
This and that
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is nursing bruised ribs but expects to play Sunday against the visiting Patriots. The team also said that an old X-ray machine at Oakland’s Coliseum failed to provide a clear image, which delayed Roethlisberger’s return in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders.
♦ Chargers running back Melvin Gordon (sprained right knee) practiced Tuesday but remains a game-time decision for Thursday’s game against the host Chiefs.
♦ The Lions put defensive end Ziggy Ansah (shoulder) on injured reserve.
♦ The NFL announced that the 2019 salary cap will be around $190 million, up from the 2018 figure of $177.2 million.
♦ The city of Oakland has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the Raiders and the NFL relating to the team’s upcoming move to Las Vegas. It asks for damages to pay off the approximately $80 million in debt remaining from renovations to the Coliseum. The lawsuit calls into question whether the Raiders will play their 2019 home schedule in Oakland while they wait for their Las Vegas stadium, scheduled to be ready in 2020.