MANKATO — Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has been needling his team to show some fire on the field during crunch time, and Wednesday he wound up getting crunched by his quarterback after a flashy touchdown connection between Sam Bradford and receiver Stefon Diggs.

Diggs hauled in a 20-yard fade to the right corner of the end zone to punctuate a successful 2-minute drill. Bradford responded by shoving Zimmer hard in the back like excited teammates do to each other in celebration.

The head coach tumbled to the turf, got up, smiled and said something to Bradford before Diggs gave him a two-handed joust to the chest.

“I didn’t see him; it was a blindside shot,” Zimmer said of the Bradford hit. “But I told him a quarterback can never hurt me.”

The longtime defensive coach said he was glad his team celebrated after the play at the end of another hot practice at Minnesota State Mankato.

“I’ve been on their ass about not showing enough emotion when we make a good play,” he said.

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Pioneer Press predictions: Then or now, Colts seem to have Vikings’ number Bradford was particularly effective during Minnesota’s first chaotic but successful 2-minute drill of training camp. He completed several short passes and throws to the sideline to manage the clock well before connecting with Diggs.

“He moved in the pocket, found some check downs and got out of bounds,” Zimmer said. “There was too much commotion for my part. We’ve got to be more composed in those situations. Guys on the sideline are yelling this and yelling that. You’ve got to let them play.”

Zimmer also complained about the four pre-snap penalties his offense and defense committed during the intense drive.

“Too many today,” he said. “We had zero two days ago and the day before that. We had four today.”