Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams faces accusations of reliving his Bountygate past.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer called out Williams on Sunday after St. Louis cornerback Lamarcus Joyner delivered a forearm blow to Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater as he was sliding down after a fourth-quarter run.
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"If we were on the street, we probably would have had a fight," Zimmer said, according to Complex.com. "I do know that there's a history there of their defensive coordinator. I'll leave it at that."
Williams was the Saints defensive coordinator in 2012 when he was suspended for the season for his role in Bountygate, in which the team reportedly paid defensive players for hits on offensive players and for "taking out" opposing offensive players.
Williams was recorded in a pregame talk telling his defense, "kill the head and the body will die." The bounty scandal was highlighted during the Saints' 2009 game against Minnesota, in which the New Orleans defense bruised and battered then-Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.
Zimmer also criticized Williams on a Minnesota postgame radio show, Complex reported.
"I agree that it was a cheap shot," Zimmer said on KFAN-FM. "[Gregg Williams'] defenses are all like that."
Over the summer, Williams talked about his role in Bountygate with a St. Louis radio station, which CBS Sports reported.
"That was a difficult year in a lot of ways because there was a lot of information that was misinformation that got out and I'm the only person in the whole deal that never said anything," Williams said. "I never said a word. Everybody got out there and pushed their information one way or the other and I didn't. ...
"One of the things was it was on my watch, but there was nothing that hasn't been done in the last 50 years in the sport and there was nothing done to try to hurt somebody," Williams continued. "There was never done with anybody trying to injure somebody. I've said this before, I take a look at all these high school programs, little league programs, college programs and you see the decals on the side of the helmet and you wonder, you get those decals because you shake hands and kiss after the game or you get those decals because you rushed for 100 and you threw 17 touchdown passes and you knocked the stuffing out of somebody?"
How the NFL reacts to the hit -- and how severe any punishment the Rams or Joyner receives -- could be a reflection of Williams' past.
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