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Orchard Park, N.Y. – Six weeks ago, Mike Zimmer won his first game as an NFL head coach, swamping the St. Louis Rams and vowing not to celebrate with even a single glass of red wine. He sounded like a man with big plans.
Sunday, Zimmer's team fell to 2-5, losing to a mediocre opponent on a quite-literally-last-second touchdown, 17-16 in Buffalo. Red-faced from cold winds and walking carefully, he sounded like a man in need of local anesthesia.
Including training camp, here is what Zimmer has endured since taking his dream job:
His top free agent got shot in a bar.
His franchise player hasn't played since Week 1 because he whipped his child with a switch.
His starting quarterback got hurt in Week 2.
His offensive line, considered a strength, has been reduced to the football version of a flimsy piñata hacked to pieces by sugar-crazed children.
His tight end, signed to a contract extension because he would be a key to the offense, didn't stay healthy through three full games.
His team has lost five of its past six games.
He discovered that he has kidney stones.
During a normal season, for a typical franchise, the Vikings releasing receiver Jerome Simpson for various legal charges would have ranked as the scandal of the year. This season, it doesn't make the Vikings' top-10 list of pain-inducing events.
When an NFL head coach wins a big game, his team dumps Gatorade on him.
One more loss, and the Vikings should consider dousing Zimmer with Lidocaine.
"I'll be all right,'' Zimmer said.
He was answering a question about his health, and trying not to answer a question about his health.
Zimmer is not the kind to complain, even if he should. He wasn't interested in talking about the kidney stones, and minutes after suffering the most dramatic of his five NFL losses, he spent his postgame news conference praising his team's effort and adaptability.
Whether his praise was sincere or a coaching ploy, what was most noticeable about his tone was that he no longer sounds like a coach intent on, or capable of, performing miracles.
"Look at the things we're working on,'' he said. "Playing the run. The third-down conversions [on defense] were better. Defensively, I think we continue to work toward where we need to get to. And then our guys need to have confidence in themselves that they can make these plays at the end of ballgames.
"We're young, but we're starting to get a lot of experience. We have to continue to do these things. It's more about where we are and where we have to go.''
That sounds more like a concession speech than a rallying cry.
Which means that Zimmer is accepting the inevitable. At 2-5, the Vikings would have to win seven of their last nine games to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs. With two more injuries to offensive linemen on Sunday, they may be one injury away from calling up David Dixon or Randall McDaniel to fill in.
This is the right time for Zimmer to coach with next year in mind. He has a rookie quarterback who wasn't supposed to be playing yet, and a rookie running back who has spent little of his football life running between the tackles, and a rookie linebacker who has been playing the position for about two years.
Zimmer coaches a young secondary that has already improved under his watch, the last-drive collapse on Sunday notwithstanding.
If wins and losses were to determine Zimmer's grade so far, he'd be lucky to get a D. But if his revised goal is the development of the team's best young players — Xavier Rhodes, Josh Robinson, Jerick McKinnon, Bridgewater and Anthony Barr — then Zimmer should get an incomplete, and his praise should make sense.
Barr is everywhere. Rhodes and Robinson have improved. Bridgewater and McKinnon could make big plays together for the next five years.
Whether he'll admit it or not, Zimmer has been forced by circumstance to accept the reality that most coaches face when taking over a team bad enough to get its previous coach fired.
This is both a bad team and a promising team. With that as the context for the next nine weeks, all Zimmer needs to survive is a few bottles of Advil, and a left tackle.
Jim Souhan can be heard weekdays at noon and Sundays from 10 to noon on 1500 ESPN. @SouhanStrib • jsouhan@startribune.com