Zimmer wants Vikings to avoid bye week hangover

Mike Zimmer didn't carry his team-issued iPad into the woods when a bye week finally allowed him to go hunting. But he did spend some of the past few nights off lounging in front of the wood-burning stove in his barn, scrolling through cut-ups of game tape of both his Vikings and their upcoming opponents.

While Zimmer's mind didn't stray far from his team, it seems even coaches need a break from the grind, too.

"He told us [last week] his plan was to get away from here and get away from us," safety Harrison Smith said. "Then [he told us], 'Come back and be ready to go.' "

Zimmer, sitting in front of that fire, was eager to see if his young team would listen.

Dating to organized team activities in the spring, he noticed an unwelcome trend with the Vikings whenever they got extended time away from Winter Park. His players lacked focus when they came back into the building, and that wasted precious time because Zimmer had to bring them back up to his speed.

So when the players walked back into the building on Monday morning for the first time in six days, Zimmer reminded them again that he hoped not to see many mental miscues during practice.

"I was curious to find out how they were mentally with their techniques, their footwork, their hand placements, the splits, everything that they did," Zimmer said. "And actually I was impressed today, and I don't get impressed much."

The energy on the practice field and the attention to detail after the bye week was critical for the Vikings, who can't afford any lapses when they travel to play the last-place Chicago Bears this weekend. They entered the bye week with back-to-back victories that buoyed their hopes.

But they will, perhaps unknowingly, be looking to halt another streak at Soldier Field on Sunday.

In each of the previous four seasons, the Vikings lost the game immediately following their bye week. They were outscored 137-47 in those games, the closest being a nine-point loss.

Each of those losses was different, of course, as were the rosters compared with now.

Brad Childress coached the first and Leslie Frazier the most recent three. Brett Favre, Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel started at quarterback at different times. And of the Vikings in the starting lineup back in that 29-20 loss to the New York Jets in 2010, only right tackle Phil Loadholt and outside linebacker Chad Greenway remain there.

So was there a recurring theme in those losses that the Vikings should look to eliminate to avoid more post-bye-week blues?

"I don't really know. I think it's just how teams respond," left guard Charlie Johnson said. "I don't know why that was the case, but I have full confidence that Coach Zimmer is not going to let us be content."

When Zimmer was the defensive coordinator in Cincinnati, the Bengals went 3-2-1 after the bye. The losses were against quarterbacks Matt Ryan in 2010 and Peyton Manning in 2013.

"Sometimes it's who you play. Sometimes it's the quarterback," Zimmer said. "I know it's a stat that a lot of people like to use coming out of byes, this and that. Usually, the good football teams win more than the others. That would be my guess."

Detroit and Green Bay both won Sunday, so the Vikings now trail the first-place Lions by three games and are two games behind the second-place Packers.

There are seven NFC teams with at least five victories, and none of them are from the NFC South, which doesn't have a team with a winning record but is guaranteed a playoff spot. So the Vikings have a few teams to leapfrog to get into playoff position.

The extra week should enable them to get pass-catching tight end Kyle Rudolph back and the rest has players feeling as if the calendar has been flipped back to early September.

The players say the time off has refreshed them, and it showed at the start of practice.

Everson Griffen hooted and hollered throughout the team stretch at its open. Fellow defensive end Brian Robison raced his mates to the blocking sleds when the first horn sounded. And the defensive backs laughed heartily as they competed hard against each other in 1-on-1 drills.

So it seemed the players granted Zimmer's request by coming back to Winter Park ready to go. We'll see if this current group of Vikings can figure out how to turn the time away into a positive.

"He told us that good teams come back, and they don't miss a beat," Smith said. "They pick up where they left off and keep improving, and we did a better job of that today. Him reminding us of that, guys were ready to go today and get this thing rolling."