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Vikings' Mike Zimmer to miss OTAs following eighth eye surgery

NFL, Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings announced Monday that coach Mike Zimmer will not be with the team during OTAs, which begin this week, saying he will "be taking time away from the team to dedicate to recovering from eye surgery and restoring his health."

The Vikings will not have an acting head coach while Zimmer is out; he has split coaching duties among his coordinator's, and the staff will work as a group during the rest of the offseason program. Defensive line coach Andre Patterson will be in charge of making sure Zimmer's message continues to get across to the team.

Zimmer said in an interview with Minneapolis radio station KFAN on Monday that he will receive practice video, and he expects to give daily feedback to his coaching staff.

The Vikings said in a statement that they anticipate Zimmer returning to the team in a few weeks.

"The doctors all got together, and we had a long meeting about what's the best recuperation of this eye, and they said that I need to try to spend the next couple of weeks just working on my recovery," Zimmer said in the interview with KFAN.

"I just left the doctor's office, got really good news. The retina looks great and the pressure in my eye is really good. At this point now we just need to take it easy and make sure it continues to heal the right away."

Zimmer, who suffered a detached retina last season, has had eight surgeries on his eye since last November. 

In this latest operation, performed Wednesday, Zimmer said doctors removed an oil bubble from his eye and inserted a gas bubble. Zimmer is unable to fly for six weeks after the surgery.

Zimmer's first operation came the day after the Vikings' loss to the Chicago Bears last Oct. 31; emergency surgery caused him to miss the team's game against the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 1. Zimmer returned to coach the Vikings' next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars wearing a patch over his right eye and switching between reading glasses and sunglasses.

ESPN's Ben Goessling contributed to this report.

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