MINNEAPOLIS -- In the weeks since Mike Zimmer had his first eye surgery Nov. 1, the Minnesota Vikings had been planning for a scenario in which the head coach would have to miss a game. They'd decided elevating special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer would give them the best chance to keep the rest of their coaches in their normal roles, and they believed Priefer could handle the extra responsibilities of leading a team.

But when word finally came that Zimmer might need to miss a game because of a third surgery on his right eye, Priefer had less than 24 hours to prepare for the biggest night of his coaching career. Zimmer had emergency surgery to repair a detached retina on his right eye on Wednesday night, and the Vikings announced the coach's status for Thursday night's visit from the Dallas Cowboys was uncertain. Priefer's thoughts, he said, "immediately went to preparing for that [possibility he would have to coach]."

He had a quick conversation with Zimmer on Thursday morning about "game logistics, inactives and that sort of thing," and he watched the coach give an emotional address to the team. Then, it was Priefer's turn.

The special-teams coordinator said he benefited from the two former head coaches on the Vikings' staff -- interim offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and offensive-line coach Tony Sparano -- who Priefer said helped him with no "ego at all." Defensive coordinator George Edwards filled Zimmer's role calling defensive plays, and assistant special-teams coach Ryan Ficken assumed a larger role with Priefer handling head-coaching duties.

Priefer won his one challenge of the evening in the fourth quarter, and didn't face a difficult decision about going for it on fourth down. Players were gracious with Priefer, he said, and veterans praised the coach's work after the game. "I think he did an amazing job," defensive end Brian Robison said after the 17-15 loss.

In the end, it was Priefer's special-teams unit that committed a couple crucial errors. Jeff Locke averaged just 32 yards on seven punts, after an 11-game start that ranked as the best of his career, and fill-in punt returner Adam Thielen fumbled a punt deep in Vikings' territory that set up the Cowboys' go-ahead touchdown.

"I didn’t do a good enough job preparing the two [punt] returners back there," Priefer said. "Cordarrelle [Patterson] looked uncomfortable and that’s part of preparation. Adam took a chance on that one because we felt like we had to get some good field position for our offense. He did that a couple weeks ago, putting his arm out like that, we thought we had it corrected and it reared its ugly head again. … I feel bad for them, my heart goes out to those guys. But we can’t have those type of mistakes against a team that is coming in here at 10-1. You just can’t."

Priefer said he hadn't given himself time to think about what the opportunity could do for his future coaching prospects. Should Zimmer need to miss another game, Priefer would be ready to fill in again, he said.

"I hope I’m not needed in that capacity," Priefer said. "Looks to me I have my work cut out for us for special teams. If [general manager Rick Spielman] and Coach Zimmer think that we need another week for him to keep healing then I would obviously love to do it. I would be honored to do it."