• e-mail

Mike Zimmer is someone for whom the phrase 'a man with a short fuse' could have been invented. 

It comes with the territory as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, the long-standing masters of misfortune.

Mike Zimmer oversees practice ahead of a make or break season in Minnesota

Zimmer has had eyesight-saving surgery, lost a franchise quarterback to a life-threatening injury, been onboard as the team plane skidded off a runway and recently saw last year's first round draft pick indicted for felony assault.

But now, ahead of a make or break season, his eighth in Minnesota, Zimmer faces his most exasperating challenge.

The NFL announced that over 90 per cent of its players are vaccinated against Covid, the Washington Post revealed the Vikings to be the NFL's least vaccinated team. Just 65.4 per cent of their players are fully inoculated with 70 per cent having had one jab.

‘There are quite a few guys that are just against it,’ Zimmer said. ‘I’m not going to be able to change their mind. It’s like half the country, I guess.’

Zimmer has continually urged his players - and everyone - to get vaccinated against Covid-19

'These guys, some of them just won't do it. I shouldn't say it, but some of the things they read is just, whew, out there. I don't know if it's misinformation. It's their belief, so whatever they've heard or read or been told.'

‘I just don’t understand. I think we could put this thing to bed if we’d all do this, but it is what it is,’ he rued.

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins remains unvaccinated.

Entering his fourth year in Minnesota, Cousins is the most divisive player in the NFL. Equally capable of astounding throws or boneheaded decisions, the 33-year-old will earn a base salary of $21million guaranteed, while carrying a cap hit of $31m.

In July, Cousins explained to Kyle Brandt that he was taking a ‘survival of the fittest’ outlook to the pandemic, adding: ‘If I die, I die.’

After missing five days of minicamp due to his close proximity to backup quarterback Kellen Mond – also unvaccinated – Cousins attempted to explain his stance.

‘I think the vaccination decision is a private health matter for me, and I’m going to keep it as such,’ he said. ‘I do believe that as a leader of the team it’s very important to follow the protocols to avoid this close contact because that is what it’s going to come down to. Did you have a close contact? So I’m going to be vigilant about avoiding a close contact.’

Kirk Cousins returned to Vikings practice at US Bank Stadium after isolating

With unvaccinated players subject to greater testing and much less personal freedom, Cousins went further down his personal rabbit hole.

‘I’ve even thought about, should I just set up literally plexiglass around where I sit so that this could never happen again? I’ve thought about it. Because I’m going to do whatever it takes. So we’re going to avoid this close-contact thing and I look forward to making sure I’m playing for every game this year.’

Cousins, who said he has undertaken his own research, then admitted he hasn't been in touch with the NFL’s chief medical officer, Dr Allen Sills, about Covid-19.

Cousins’s leadership was missing from Vikings training camp for five days after he came into close contact with fellow unvaccinated quarterback Kellen Mond, a third round pick from this year's draft, who contracted CovidThe .

Quarterback Cousins is contracted to the Vikings until the 2023 season

Zimmer's message on Covid has been typically straightforward: get vaccinated to help the team.

The Vikings went 7-9 last season but a defensive rebuild and the presence of Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen on offense has raised expectation.

And while Cousins, Mond and reserve quarterback Nate Stanley were forced to miss practice this week, Zimmer hinted that the stakes may be raised if a playoff place is on the line.

'Maybe if some leaders miss games because of it and we end up losing games because of it, that might. Guys that are leaders of your team and they don't play and you lose the game, that might. Hopefully we don't have to find that out,' Zimmer said.