Getty Vikings kicker Dan Bailey is in the hot seat after missing four kicks last Sunday.
It’s been 24 hours after Minnesota Vikings kicker Dan Bailey missed three field goals and an extra point against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a trial to determine his future may be set.
Coach Mike Zimmer spoke to local media on Monday on Bailey’s future with the team. While Zimmer, who has gone through four kickers in his six years with the team, has gone on the record of saying he “loves” Bailey, the former Dallas Cowboys veteran’s status for Sunday against the Chicago Bears is in question.
“I haven’t made the decision yet [on Bailey kicking against the Bears]. I’d prefer to address the team about these things as opposed to throwing it out there in the media,” Zimmer said, adding that he will talk to Bailey either Tuesday or Wednesday.
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Zimmer Considering Team’s Input
Before that conversation with Bailey happens, Zimmer revealed he will address the team on his decision that will likely be a gut check for the 6-7 Vikings who are now a game out of the playoffs with three weeks left in the season.
Zimmer has reiterated his praise of Bailey the past two days as the 32-year-old kicker entered the 2020 season as the sixth-most accurate kicker all-time. But in the past two games, he’s missed seven of 10 kicks, warranting a conversation with the team for insight on how to move forward.
“Honestly, I love the kid. If we end up making the change it’s just what we feel at this particular point in time. Like I said yesterday, ‘If I cut everybody who made mistakes yesterday, we’d all be out of here, including me. We’ll go with our gut and do what we believe and believe that whichever decision we make it the right one. It’s all you can do.”
The Vikings don’t have many immediate options to ready a kicker in six days, making for the potential of giving Bailey another shot at getting it right after two poor kicking performances in as many weeks.
Zimmer Softens Approach on Kickers
While Zimmer acknowledged the NFL is a “performance business” he touted Bailey’s track record of making 28 of 29 field goals in a span from 2019 to Week 2 this season. The Vikings still showed a lack of faith in Bailey on Sunday, opting to go for it on fourth-and-13 late in the game. However, Zimmer backing Bailey has shown “growth” after past mistreatment of other kickers, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
Cronin shared on the Purple Insider Podcast with Matthew Coller, referring to 2018 rookie kicker Daniel Carlson missed a pair of field goals in the preseason, prompting Zimmer to go for a two-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point.
Zimmer said the call was to “Let him (Carlson) know that if he’s going to miss them (field goals), I’m going to go for two,” Cronin reported in 2018.
Cronin recalled going to Carlson, who was blindsided by Zimmer’s media comment.
Mike Zimmer is cold-blooded
Zimmer’s consulting of the team and refrain from commenting in the media showed the 64-year-old’s growth and acknowledgment of not playing motivational head games with kickers.
Here’s more from Cronin:
(Carlson) had no clue what Mike Zimmer had just said and Daniel Carlson was red in the face, mortified, at this moment. I remember talking with a source that night who works with the team being like ‘Yep. This kid is done and what happened. Not much longer he had an absolute meltdown… and then he gets cut.
I would like to think given the way Mike Zimmer has talked about Dan Bailey, has lauded Dan Bailey… you like to think that the answers he said show some growth in Mike Zimmer as a coach in how to handle kickers.
What he said today… he learned his lesson from 2018.
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- Trevor Squire is a Heavy contributor covering the Minnesota Vikings and journalism graduate from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities. Connect with him on Twitter @trevordsquire and join our Vikings community at Heavy on Vikings on Facebook.