The Minnesota Vikings are cleaning house, and now the skeletons are starting to come out of the closet.
According to USA Today via several anonymous Vikings players, Leslie Frazier lost the team when he tried to paint Josh Freeman as a quarterback that could get the Vikings over the hump.
“You could tell Josh did not know the offense,” said one of several Vikings players who spoke to USA TODAY Sports about the situation Tuesday. The players spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they weren’t supposed to discuss team business publicly.
“Practices did not really go that well that week. But Coach Frazier was in the team meetings like, ‘Oh, I think this is the best week of practice we’ve had all year.’ And everyone’s like, what? What are you talking about?”
Did the Vikings feel the need to rush Freeman into play to justify paying him $3 million for half a season? Several players called the decision a mistake, one referred to it as a debacle.
“Debacle,” a second player said of the Vikings’ quarterback situation this season. “When they started Josh in that Giants game, we were as confused as anybody.”