We just chatted with Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer after practice, as we usually do every Thursday. As he walked over to meet us, a PR staffer flagged him down and informed him about wide receiver Jerome Simpson's latest legal issue. Even though the incident happened in July and took place just down the road in Bloomington, Zimmer said it was the first time he had heard about it.

Zimmer said he wouldn't comment on Simpson until he spoke with General Manager Rick Spielman, but he did say that the Vikings, who are still reeling from the child abuse charge against running back Adrian Peterson, are "going to keep guys who care about football."

"We're going to look for high-quality guys," Zimmer said. "We're going to keep guys who care about football, guys who are passionate about playing the game. We're going to continue to get those guys and keep working. There's really nothing I can do about what everybody else says. All I can do is what I think is best at the time."

In football-related news, a rarity this week, Zimmer stood by quarterback Matt Cassel, who threw a career-high four interceptions in the loss to the Patriots. Zimmer again pointed out that Cassel played well in the preseason and Week 1 and said "I'm not going to let one bad afternoon ruin it."

Zimmer also said that outside linebacker Chad Greenway, who missed practice yesterday and today with a broken left hand and a rib injury, "feels a lot better today." The Vikings will evaluate Greenway tomorrow and go from there. Zimmer added that offensive tackle Phil Loadholt, who participated in practice in some fashion today, is going to be OK. "He's tough," Zimmer said.

Finally, Zimmer expressed displeasure that players on both sides of the ball freelanced in the loss to the Patriots. He said it had more to do with the score than it did with Peterson not being active.

"The whole team last week, especially in the second half, we tried to do more than we were supposed to do and it showed up on tape," Zimmer said. "Guys were trying to do their own thing. So we worked real hard this week on trying to get back to basics and understanding that there's times where you make plays in the game but the game has to come to you."