Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said "flags" came up when he met with Johnny Manziel during a private workout. Zimmer, who called Manziel's pro day a "sideshow," admitted some of Manziel's answers to questions raised some concern.
Zimmer and the Vikings staff met with Manziel for a private workout on Friday. They had the opportunity to ask Manziel questions, and some of the quarterback's answers didn't go over well with Zimmer, ESPN reports.
"We asked him all kinds of questions. ... There are some flags that come up," Zimmer said Monday during an interview with 104.9 The Horn, via ESPN. "All of the things that happened out in Los Angeles, the commercials and all that stuff ... the position of quarterback in the NFL is such an important position and the reason these guys need to be a totally football-minded guy is the pressure of the position and being the face of an NFL team and doing everything right.
"That's what you want to know about him -- will he be into work early every single day? Will he be the last to leave? Will he be the guy that is working the hardest to get better?
"There is a change [from college to the NFL], otherwise all of these other quarterbacks that have come up through the years would have made it, from the college game to the NFL game as far as the speed of the defense and some of the complexities of the different defenses. So that position has got to be a position that really eats, breathes and sleeps football where he is going to take it upon his shoulders to win.
"At least the Peyton Mannings, Drew Breeses of the world have done that and really all we have to go on in the NFL is past history."
Zimmer seemed to question whether Manziel would be completely committed to football.
"I guess it maybe brings a few question marks in," the first-year head coach said. "Is he going to conform to typically what the NFL is or what everyone else has done before him including what the great players in the game have done before him, or is he going to try to be the celebrity man guy that he was maybe a year-and-a-half ago?"
Zimmer made headlines last week when he described Manziel's pro day as a "sideshow." By most other accounts, though, Manziel improved his draft stock with his pro day.
