Roughly an hour after numerous reports shed more light on Everson Griffen’s alarming behavior Sept. 22, head coach Mike Zimmer addressed reporters about his star defensive player’s status.
He confirmed Griffen would not be traveling to Los Angeles with the Vikings.
“The only thing we really are concerned about for Everson isn’t anything to do with football,” Zimmer said. “It’s about him getting better. In the five years that I’ve been here, I’ve always loved Everson and the effort that he puts out, the work that he does, the chance to count on him in game time and even in practice. He’s always been a really, really good model for us, and obviously he’s going through some tough times now.”
Compiled by KARE 11, the latest information stemming from Minnetrista police reports indicates that Griffen’s wife was concerned last week about his well-being and reached out to law enforcement to get him help. She reportedly said that Griffen may be delusional after not sleeping for days.
On Saturday, Griffen was involved in an incident at Hotel Ivy where he threatened harm to hotel employees if he wasn’t let in his room, but he was not arrested. Things reportedly got stranger later in the day as Griffen, at various times, broke into a teammate’s home (which has been refuted in a statement by Trae Waynes), climbed into a stranger’s truck and yelled about people trying to kill him.
After being confronted by police, the report goes on to say that Griffen was taken by ambulance to get examined but attempted to jump out of the ambulance during the drive. He eventually settled down and was taken to Fairview Hospital.
There have been conflicting reports about whether the Vikings mandated a mental health exam for Griffen prior to Saturday’s incident.
Unclear where the breakdown in communication was here, but I’m told there was no such letter from the #Vikings to Griffen and his agent. The team did tell him to focus on his personal situation for the weekend. Mike Zimmer said today Griffen wasn’t playing anyway because of knee. https://t.co/5lPCqb0U8u
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 25, 2018
Zimmer said the team will help Griffen and his family in any way possible.
“Quite honestly, we have a very, very good support program,” Zimmer said. “Our owners do an unbelievable job of giving these players all the resources that they need. If we have to bring in experts from some other place or he has to go see other people, our owners are outstanding with that. So we’re going to do everything possible that we can, not only for Everson, but to help everybody on our team. And, quite honestly, with their families, as well. This organization is really good with that.”
The Vikings are flying to Los Angeles Tuesday night to get acclimated before their Thursday night game against the Rams. They’ll be without one of their defensive leaders, whose timeline to return is uncertain.
“This league will test you in a lot of different ways,” said quarterback Kirk Cousins. “I guess I’ll just say that it’s part of what going through this league is like: being a teammate and going through a tough grind of a season … you have events like this and so you learn to just be supportive and do your best and try to help one another by playing well on the field.”
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