The Vikings announced Wednesday night that coach Mike Zimmer would undergo emergency eye surgery that could cause him to miss Thursday night’s game.

The surgery, which was to take place late Wednesday night, was the third for the third-year head coach this month. The previous two were on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8.

“His status for coaching [Thursday’s] game is uncertain,” general manager Rick Spielman said in a statement. “I have met with the coaches and players and we have a contingency plan in place if Mike is unable to coach against Dallas.”

The Vikings say they will provide an update on his health Thursday morning. Kickoff for their game against the Cowboys at U.S. Bank Stadium is 7:25 p.m.

Zimmer, 60, first underwent a procedure to fix a torn retina in his right eye on Nov. 1, a day after scratching it during a loss to the Chicago Bears. Edina-based opthalmologists Dr. David Williams and Dr. Scott Sanderson performed that procedure, Zimmer said, and he was back at Winter Park later that afternoon.

“They said if you don’t take care of those things that you have a possibility of going blind,” Zimmer, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, said the following day.

A week later, Zimmer revealed that he had “another thing done” and was “OK.”

In the event that Zimmer is unavailable to coach Thursday night, the Vikings, who have lost five of their past six games to fall to 6-5, have a pair of former NFL head coaches on staff in interim offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and offensive line coach Tony Sparano.