Teddy Bridgewater spoke to reporters on Thursday for just the second time since his grueling knee injury 14 months ago.
When asked if he believes he could play in a game this season, Bridgewater vowed he’ll be under center at some point.
“I definitely believe I’ll play this year,” said Bridgewater to Vikings.com. “But I can’t just sit here and say it. I have to continue to put the work in on the field, on the practice field and show the training staff or the higher authority that I can get back to the player who I was.”
The former first-round pick followed up that he’s not trying to get too far ahead of himself and he’s just happy to be at practice and to be around his teammates again.
Bridgewater has three weeks to practice to prove he can be indeed lifted off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
In the meantime, if Sam Bradford is still ailing from his knee injury, Minnesota will roll with Case Keenum as the starting quarterback with rookie Kyle Sloter backing him up.
Although Keenum has played well enough to put the team in a position to win, his career numbers indicate he’s not a long-term answer.
And if an injury were to happen to Keenum, throwing in an undrafted rookie quarterback is not a recipe for success.
The coaching staff will obviously be careful and levelheaded in their decision-making in getting Bridgewater up to game speed.
With two lesser opponents up next for the Vikings, plus the team’s bye week, Bridgewater will have plenty of time to show he’s ready to be a starting quarterback again.
However, the organization and his teammates have a lot of compassion and optimism that Bridgewater will be playing football again.
