The Vikings lost their coach Mike Zimmer for at least one game after emergency eye surgery Wednesday night, but his absence might provide the extra motivation his players need to upset the NFL’s best team.

When news broke Zimmer would miss Thursday night’s game against Dallas, sports TV personalities began changing their tone about the final results.

Skip Bayless said on his Fox Sports 1 morning show he got to know Zimmer during his days in Dallas and “He is a players kind of coach. … I think there is love for him in that locker room, so they’re going to play even harder tonight without him. I think it will be a rallying point. … And [U.S. Bank Stadium] has become one of the loudest, if not the loudest place, in the National Football League.”

Nate Burleson, the former Vikings receiver and NFL Network analyst, said on Good Morning Football Thursday “For [players] it doesn’t impact the game too much because when we’re on the field and one of the coaches is missing, we kind of look at it as a player missing with the next-guy-up mentality. Most teams prepare themselves for this situation.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s another thing they have to play for, another thing they have to work for, and it’s another thing they put on that list and say ‘We have to win for it.’ ”

The reaction on social media shared a similar tone with many well-wishes for Zimmer:

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National media sees Vikings as 'a very desperate team that needs a win'

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