Vikings

What We Learned From Teddy Bridgewater's Press Conference

As we covered on Zone Coverage last night, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback situation still lacks certainty, and that didn’t change after Teddy Bridgewater addressed the media for the first time since his Aug. 30, 2016 knee injury.

He did shed some light on a few issues that are worth exploring, however, during his 14-minute press conference.

Here are the nuts and bolts of what we learned (or didn’t learn).

  • There is no known timetable for his return. Bridgewater says he is taking the rehab “one day at a time,” and he would not elaborate on when he plans to come off the Physically Unable to Perform list. Head coach Mike Zimmer, who spoke after Bridgewater, said that the quarterback was starting to see the “end game.”
  • Bridgewater elected not to speak with the media for 11 months to focus on rehab. “Doing interviews and different phone calls, it doesn’t help me get better,” he said. Bridgewater went 333 days between media sessions, spanning from Aug. 28 to Thursday. As an editorial note, he has matured greatly at speaking with the media and is no longer the camera-shy rookie of 2014.
  • Some reports about the injury may have been exaggerated. Rumors were that Bridgewater’s career was in jeopardy after the injury, and while it’s possible that an injury of that nature could end the career of some, Bridgewater said that doctors never led him to believe he couldn’t play again. That being said, Bridgewater would not share if doctors have told him he can recover to 100 percent.
  •  Bridgewater has spoken to other players who suffered similar injuries. Bridgewater, a Miami (Fla.) native, has spoken with University of Miami alums Frank Gore and Willis McGahee about their own experiences recovering from knee injuries. Gore tore his ACL in 2002, and McGahee tore three knee ligaments in a gruesome 2003 injury. Their advice? “Take your time.”
  • We likely will not hear much from Bridgewater on the contract front. Like most players, Bridgewater would not engage in any talk about future contract situations. The Vikings declined his fifth-year option, meaning Bridgewater could become a free agent next March unless his contract tolls due to time spent on the PUP list.
  • We’re not exactly sure how well Bridgewater can run. Reporters saw Bridgewater at a light jog during warm-up drills in OTAs but haven’t seen him sprint. When asked about this Thursday, Bridgewater said he could run “pretty good” and challenged a certain Zone Coverage reporter to a foot race. It’s confirmed that this reporter would certainly lose.


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