Vikings co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson said he's bounced back from a tough bout with COVID-19, as the 61-year-old coach continued to conduct virtual meetings during an eight-day quarantine despite battling a cough and other symptoms that required medication.
"I'm feeling a lot better now," Patterson said Wednesday in his first comments since returning last week. "It wasn't a lot of fun. It hit me pretty good."
Patterson, the longtime defensive line coach and confidant of coach Mike Zimmer, said the Dec. 26 loss against the Rams was the first game he'd ever missed in 40 straight years of coaching at the college and NFL levels. He wanted to send a message Wednesday about the potential dangers of COVID-19.
"People need to understand how serious this deal is," Patterson said. "It's not about you personally – it's about the people around you: your children, your parents, your grandparents. You don't want them to go through this and have to deal with the effects that come with it once you even get rid of it."
"A lot of times in life," he added, "we've got to make sacrifices for the people we love and for our community and surroundings. So, to be protected from this deal, I think it's very important; I'm vaccinated, I had the booster, the whole 9 yards, and I still got it. And it still knocked me down pretty good. It's scary for me to even think what would have happened to me if I hadn't been vaccinated."
Patterson said defensive linemen would reach out after virtual meetings to check in on their position coach.
"They could hear the difference in my voice," he said. "They could hear the coughing, they knew I was struggling with it, so after meetings were over and after practice was over, I'd get constant texts from all of them. I think they saw the seriousness of it."
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