Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer * *After watching the tape last night and again today, we really made a lot of mistakes. Didn't play well enough to win. A lot of the critical areas we've been talking about we didn't take care of, so we got beat. But it is a good time to refocus, get a good sense of urgency back and get back to work.

Q: Did you get more blitzes than you figured going into the game maybe because of how short you were on the offensive line?

A: No, about the same.

Q:  How did you feel about the offensive line and all the moving parts?

A: Quite honestly, we didn't execute in a lot of areas. Some guys played well, some guys didn't play well. Collectively as a group, we didn't execute well enough really on either side of the ball.

Q: Some of the guys brought up communication with that offensive line. Was that much of a factor with what was going on?

A: I don't know. If they said that then it probably was.

Q:  Do you feel like some of the issues with protection were more missed assignments or people getting beat physically?

A: I feel like it was a little of both. Some guys got beat that don't normally get beat. We had some mental errors, we might have been late pushing out to a guy or something like that, but that's mostly what it was.

Q: Do you think you'll be able to be at full strength Sunday?

A: I don't know. Today is Monday.

Q:  In terms of the offensive line, how much of a product is it of the three guys being out injured and guys shuffling around?

A: When you have injuries, you're going to have backup players play in there. We're not going to make an excuse for this game or for players that come in or anything else. We'll take ownership of what we did Sunday and we'll move forward.

Q: What have you learned about the extent of Riley Reiff's ankle injury?

A: It's a lot better than what he thought it was going to be.

Q:  Does that mean it's not broken?

A: No, it's not broken.

Q: Sprain?

A: I don't know. You can call anything a sprain, so whatever you want to call it.  

Q: Does Riley Reiff have a shot of playing Sunday?

A: Today is Monday. I'm not going to talk about injuries. We're not going to go there. There is no sense in starting already. I'll know more Wednesday when they practice.

Q: What did you think of the day Case Keenum had?

A: He did some really good things and he did some poor things. He made plays. I keep hearing about, because I get these little things from Bob, "He didn't throw the ball deep". Well, he got about a 50-yard touchdown with Adam. We try to take what the defense gives us. I thought he made some really, really good plays on a couple third downs. He made a couple bad throws.

Q: Is Case Keenum still your starter moving forward?

A: Yes.

Q: Are you more likely to play if safer, especially with your offensive linemen, to make sure they're ready for the playoffs?

A: Come on. Come on. You didn't seriously ask me that did you? If guys can play, they're playing. That's just how it'll be. We're not in the playoffs and we need to go out and play.

Q: What do you think was the difference between Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray?

A: I think the biggest thing was that they were plugging up the middle, so we trying to get the ball out to the perimeter a little bit more. Jerick had a few more runs to the perimeter.

Q: They had a lot of blitzes early, how did that affect what you were trying to do on the ground?

A: It didn't' really much. Most of their blitzes were from the outside. If they caught us going to that side they might have knocked us back a little bit. If it was going the other way, if they pinched down, if they caught a guy that was a little late on the step or something like that, but it was five man rushes, cover three most of the day.

Q: Case Keenum was fairly aggressive a couple times. Were you satisfied with his judgement?

A: Yes. I mean Case is still working on some things. One of them he went head first and it was second and 18 or something like that, so hey, let's get the first down. I'm all for it.

Q: Were you frustrated with the explanation on the Adam Thielen touchdown reversal?

A: No, I just think the whole thing is messed up. I've been doing this for 30 years and I know what a catch looks like. So, the ball moved a little bit, yeah. But, he caught the ball.

Q: What explanation did you receive on Case Keenum's fumble?

A: Yeah, we didn't get on the ball a couple times when it came out like that. I didn't get an explanation, they just said it was a fumble. Actually, the plays I turned in a week ago, I didn't get an explanation from either.

Q: Have you received explanations in the past?

A: Yeah. They must have forgotten. 

Q: Did you send in too many?

A: No, I don't send in too many.

Q: Was there anything you saw in the two long runs given up?

A: The first one, we got knocked down a little bit and then we overran it with two guys. So we missed the gap. Even with the other one, guys were trying to farm somebody else's land, basically.

Q: When you say Case will start moving forward, is that still a week-to-week thing?

A: You guys keep asking me this. I never said Sam Bradford is our starter for the season. I never said Joe Berger is our starter for the season. I've never said Pat Elflein is our starter for the season. So I'm not going to say it. Clear enough?     

Q: But this Sunday?

A: I already said that, didn't I? Well, thank you. Now we've clarified it.   

Q: What happened in the red zone?

A: Against us, they ran the ball effectively, they got it down in there. Us against them, I think they did a good job on the routes. Adam [Thielen] dropped one in the endzone, Case [Keenum] had a ball he threw back behind. Again, poor execution. We didn't execute good enough.

Q: Your thoughts on facing the Bengals for the first time in the regular season?

A: No thoughts.