He was born in Miami, Florida, and played his college football at Louisville, but don’t expect Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to sweat the cold weather.
Bridgewater will play in his first “cold weather” game when the Vikings face the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Temperatures at Soldier Field are expected to be in the low 30s at kickoff.
While that might be warmer than the low 20s predicted for Minnesota on Sunday afternoon, it won’t be too long before Bridgewater has to face the Minnesota elements this winter.
According to Pro Football Talk, Bridgewater has been documented to be less accurate in cold weather games, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to the quarterback.
“I’m feeling very confident. We’ve been able to experience some cold games in college, but none like I am going to face on this level,” Bridgewater told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s going to be a mental thing and our coaches are doing a great job of preparing us.”
The coldest game Bridgewater said he could remember playing was against Connecticut.
According to Louisville, Teddy Bridgewater's 3 coldest games: 34 home to UConn 11/24/12, 35 at Rutgers 11/29/12, 39 at Cincy 12/5/13
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) November 12, 2014
ESPN notes that Bridgewater’s numbers dipped in games when the the mercury dropped below 50 degrees.
In his coldest game against Connecticut, Bridgewater was 33 of 53 for 331 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. His completion percentage of 56.6 and his Total QBR of 55.5 dropped below his season averages of 68.5 and 77.3
In the only 3 college games Teddy Bridgewater played under 40 degrees, he completed 73-118 (61.9%) for 849 yards with 7 TDs and 3 picks
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) November 12, 2014
“There is a way to block out the weather, you can wear the proper equipment and just block it out and play football,” said Bridgewater.
The Vikings haven’t been going outside to practice this week, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer told reporters it was unsafe to practice outside on Wednesday, but hoped the team would be back outdoors on Thursday.
