Jan 1, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer watches a replay in the game with the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings win 38-10. Photo Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer met with the media on Saturday and revealed he underwent another eye operation last week.
That’s the eighth procedure for Zimmer since last Halloween.
Zimmer underwent emergency surgery for a detached retina in his right eye last Nov. 30 and missed the Vikings’ game against the Dallas Cowboys early in December.
“It’s so complicated, but they took the silicone … out,” Zimmer told reporters. “They put the gas bubble in. … Hopefully we’re done. I thought that before. We’ll see.”
Zimmer scratched his eye during the Vikings’ game against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 31 and had the first surgery, for a torn retina, early in November. He didn’t miss a game for that one, but wore an eye patch on the sideline.
“It’s probably a good thing that I scratched my eye during the game, otherwise I may not have caught it in time,” Zimmer said at the time. “But hopefully everything will be all right.”
Zimmer, who said he had two surgeries in April, can’t fly in an airplane for six weeks after the latest surgery.
–Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Dontrelle Inman underwent recent surgery to repair an injured core muscle and will be out until the start of training camp.
The Chargers’ second-leading receiver in 2016 is expected to be out six weeks and miss the rest of the offseason work, according to multiple reports Saturday.
Inman signed a one-year, $2.7 million restricted free agent tender this offseason. He will become an unrestricted free agent next year.
The 28-year-old Inman started all 16 games last season and recorded career-highs with 58 catches for 810 yards and four touchdowns.
–Wayne Walker, an All-Pro linebacker who spent 15 years with the Detroit Lions and was later a broadcaster for 20 years, has died at age 80.
The Lions announced Walker died on Friday. In 2015, Walker said he had Parkinson’s disease.
“Wayne was one of our finest players from the decade of the 60s and will not only be remembered for his career accomplishments as a Lion, but also for his great success as a broadcaster after his playing days were over,” Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford said in a team statement.
Walker died in Boise, Idaho, which is his hometown and where he lived after his retirement from broadcasting.
Walker was a center and middle linebacker at the University of Idaho and was chosen by the Lions in the fourth round of the 1958 NFL Draft. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and was named first-team All-Pro in 1965. He was also the Lions’ kicker and his 200 career games played were a franchise record until that mark was broken by kicker Jason Hanson.
