Vikings coach Mike Zimmer looks hard and finds the doubters

MANKATO – Mike Zimmer was addressing the media outside Sears Hall at Minnesota State Mankato on Thursday when he raised many a nearby eyebrow by saying, "People are saying we're not even in the top half of the NFC."

A reporter spoke up, essentially calling bullfeathers on the Vikings' third-year coach.

"So, you've already found people counting you out?" someone asked Zimmer, one of only three NFC coaches to win 11 games during the 2015 regular season.

"Oh, yes," Zimmer said as players filed in for the start of training camp. "Lots. I have, and I'll mention it [Thursday night] in the [team] meeting."

And he did.

"It was good," cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said.

But did you believe he's actually found critics so harsh that they envision the Vikings finishing no better than ninth place in the NFC? By the way, ninth place last year went to the 7-9 Detroit Lions.

But ninth place, at best, for the team that had the No. 5 scoring defense, the NFL rushing champ and a 23-year-old quarterback whose modest fantasy football stats shouldn't be allowed to overshadow the fact that his 17 victories in his first two seasons match the team record set by Warren Moon (1994-95) and Brett Favre (2009-10)?

"Hey," said Munnerlyn, now smiling. "He's our coach. It's motivation for us. I look at it that way. I'm sure a lot of guys see it the same way."

Zimmer, of course, wouldn't be the first coach to bend reality to fit an us-against-the-world mentality at a time when most of the world is patting his players on the back. Bill Belichick seems to pull it off no matter how many Lombardi trophies his Patriots raise over their heads.

Years ago, in the moments following another New England Super Bowl victory, then-Patriots outside linebacker Mike Vrabel was addressing a logjam of reporters who had spent two weeks pondering whether the Patriots were the greatest dynasty in NFL history. With a straight face, he said, "Nobody believed in us."

This year, in Mankato, expectations have been set high by the media and a fan base that's eager to see whether the presumed upgrades on the offensive line and at receiver can lift the offense to match the defense's consistency.

"I'm not going to try to psychoanalyze what [Zimmer] says to us," Sullivan said. "I just listen and do what I'm told."

A key to NFL longevity?

"Exactly," said the nine-year veteran.

Left guard Alex Boone was asked if he believed Zimmer had heard or seen critics rank the Vikings in the bottom half of the NFC.

"I don't believe what anybody says," Boone said with a laugh. "I believe what I believe. But I think we both have the same feeling in that we don't care what people say.

Adrian Peterson will see Boone's "awesome" potential and raise it to "championship" potential. Then again, the future Hall of Famer never has been a shy or private goal-setter.

"The expectation is definitely at the highest level," Peterson said. "You play not only to win games but to win championships. I feel like with the coaching staff and tools that we have, there's no reason we shouldn't accomplish that."

As far as the NFC, Carolina is the reigning champ, having beaten Arizona 49-15 in the NFC title game. Seattle and Green Bay were wild-card teams that won playoff openers, while the Vikings and Washington return as division winners.

"I would have to go with the last two teams standing last year — Carolina and Arizona — as the teams to beat," Munnerlyn said. "I don't want to put that bull's-eye on our back right now. But we're definitely in the conversation."

In the NFC North, the Packers get receiver Jordy Nelson back. The Lions lost Calvin Johnson but picked up Anquan Boldin. And the Bears are in Year 2 under coach John Fox, a guy who made dramatic turnarounds in his second seasons in Carolina and Denver.