The Vikings have announced that head coach Mike Zimmer won't be available for Thursday's game against the Cowboys.
Rick Spielman says that Coach Zimmer will not coach tonight and Mike Priefer will fill in as the interim. pic.twitter.com/xnFUcYUWxb
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 1, 2016
Instead, special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will take over head coaching duties.
"We have the utmost confidence in Mike Priefer that he will be able to handle the interim responsibilities," general manager Rick Spielman said in a statement. "We are taking it one day at a time. We want to get through tonight's game and then tomorrow we will reassess where we're at."
Zimmer had "emergency eye surgery" Wednesday night, although no further details were provided by the team.
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Zimmer had surgery on Nov. 1 to repair a torn retina in his right eye, which was scratched during Minnesota's 20-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Halloween. He was told by doctors to take care of the eye quickly and had a follow-up procedure a week later. But instead of taking time off, Zimmer was back at the team facility the next day and was squinting while facing bright lights during a press conference, according to ESPN.
"It's back to work, back to the grind," Zimmer said when asked if he took any time to recover from surgery.
The injuries have piled up this season for the Vikings, most notably to quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, running back Adrian Peterson and tackles Matt Kalil, Andre Smith and Jake Long. The Vikings started the season 5-0 before losing four straight and five of their last six.