Vikings DBs going rogue reportedly wasn't as bad as it seemed

GREEN BAY, WI - DECEMBER 24: Xavier Rhodes #29 of the Minnesota Vikings tackles Jordy Nelson #87 of the Green Bay Packers in the second quarter at Lambeau Field on December 24, 2016 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

The Minnesota Vikings were absolutely torched by Jordy Nelson on Saturday, surrendering nine catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns to the wide receiver. Regardless of whom he was being covered by, Nelson had success on his way to a career day.

After the game, Mike Zimmer shed some light on why Nelson may have had such an impressive outing. He hinted that Terence Newman and Xavier Rhodes freelanced, deciding themselves who they would cover.

"In the first half, Terence Newman came over and said something to me like, 'I can cover this guy; let me have him,'" Zimmer said. "I said, 'Do what you're supposed to do.'"

Apparently, though, that situation was blown way out of proportion. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the incident only occurred on the first series of the game. On that drive, Nelson had one reception for 15 yards and it ultimately ended in a punt.

In the second half, Nelson had just two catches for nine yards with Rhodes in coverage, which Zimmer said "he was supposed to" be doing all game.

Rhodes spoke out on the situation in question after the game, saying the defensive backs as a unit thought they could shut down Nelson. Clearly, that didn't happen.

"We felt as a team, as players, we came together and we felt like we'd never done that when we played against the Packers," he said. "Us as DBs felt like we could handle him. That's how we felt as DBs that we could stay on our side and cover him. In the beginning, we'd always played against them and played our sides, we never followed, so that's what we felt as DBs. That's what we went with."

So, while it's certainly concerning that Newman and Rhodes freelanced on the opening drive, it wasn't nearly as bad as Zimmer made it seem after the fact. It wasn't a matter of insubordination or disrespect to their head coach -- they simply believed they could cover Nelson in their own way.