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MINNEAPOLIS -- After a two-week break from coaching following his latest eye surgery, Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was told he could return to work on his 61st birthday.

Zimmer, who spent the past two weeks at his Kentucky ranch after his eighth surgery to repair a detached retina in his right eye, was cleared to return to coaching after a follow-up appointment Monday morning. He will be back on the field as the Vikings resume organized team activities Tuesday.

The coach, who had his first eye surgery Nov. 1 after having vision issues during the team's Oct. 31 loss to the Chicago Bears, eventually had to miss the Vikings' Dec. 1 game against the Dallas Cowboys because of an emergency operation.

His latest operation, on May 17, prompted the Vikings to send Zimmer on a leave of absence so he could recover away from the stresses of coaching. He was still able to watch film of practice from his ranch and conducted conference calls with his coaches each afternoon.

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Zimmer had a gas bubble put in his right eye to hold his retina in place. He said May 26 that if his retina stayed put once the gas bubble dissolved, "we should be good to go." But even if his eyesight worsened, the coach said, he had no plans to step away from his job permanently.

"Like I texted Kyle Rudolph, I said, 'Hey, I'll be back shortly with one eye or two. Doesn't really matter -- I'm going to be back,'" Zimmer said. "So we can put that me retiring thing or whatever to bed quickly."

Zimmer said in March that doctors have told him he has a "high likelihood" of similar problems eventually developing in his left eye.

The Vikings' offseason program concludes with three OTAs this week and the team's mandatory minicamp June 13-15.

Continued here:
Mike Zimmer given permission to rejoin Vikings after eye surgery recovery - ESPN

This entry was posted on June 5, 2017 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |