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During the Vikings’ bye week, there were stuffed cats scattered around the team’s locker room including one festooned with a sign reading “Fat Cats Get Slaughtered” as a message to remind the team not to get complacent after a 5-0 start to the season.

Some of those plush cats wound up with their throats cut and red paint splattered on them, which may have foreshadowed the result when the Vikings took the field in Philadelphia. It’s not clear who decided to go to work on the toys, but coach Mike Zimmer wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t him when he met with the media on Thursday.

Zimmer read headlines from stories suggesting he was the culprit while defending himself against those accusations.

“I want to set the record straight on an erroneous report that I feel like attacked my character and reputation,” Zimmer said, via the Pioneer Press. “I had nothing to do with that. The stuffed animals I did have here were given to charity and Toys for Tots. I just want to make sure we get the record straight because my foundation website is getting things saying, ‘Your dad’s crazy, blah, blah, blah’; all this stuff. I do a lot of crazy stuff but I’ll admit to it.”

We still don’t know who ordered the code red, but it seems likely Zimmer and company will be looking in directions other than the stuffed animal aisle for motivational tools for Monday night’s game against the Bears.