The newest member of the Detroit Lions wasn't exactly thrilled with what his former coach had to say about him.
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Everson Griffen called out his former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, with whom he spent six years. Griffen felt slighted by his categorization by Zimmer as simply a “good” player:
“I'm just a good player? Alright, he’s got a good player coming his way. He’s going to see on Sunday what he got coming for him,” Griffen said. “On Sunday, I’m really looking forward to playing the Vikings and showing them that I am a great player.”
And now, Zimmer is responding.
The Vikings coach wants to make it clear that he didn't intend his comments to be as a criticism, and that he thought that he and Griffen had a good relationship during his time in the Twin Cities.
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“I did [see Griffen’s comments]. I don’t know,” Zimmer said, via Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune. “I wasn’t trying to be derogatory. I think I made him a captain my first or second year here. He’s always been a terrific leader for us, always done everything we tried to ask him to do.
“I thought we had a good relationship. I don’t feel like I was being derogatory at all. I think Everson understands how I feel about him. I thought he did, anyway.”
Griffen, who was traded to the Lions late last month from the Dallas Cowboys, will have a chance to exact some revenge against the Vikings this Sunday when the two divisional rivals meet at 1:00 PM EST from U.S. Bank Stadium.
– – Quotes via Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk Link – –