In a season filled with quarterback questions, the Minnesota Vikings encountered another wrinkle Tuesday morning as Sam Bradford returned to practice for the first time since early October.
It appeared like Sam Bradford’s season was over when he was placed on the injured reserve list on Nov. 8 (left knee injury), nearly one month after a painful-looking first-half performance on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears during which he aggravated an injury sustained in Week 1.
There’s a chance, however, that the once-promising Vikings quarterback may return to the roster, if only in a backup capacity, for the postseason.
“I just want to see where he’s at,” said head coach Mike Zimmer on Monday. “How he’s moving, things like that. I hear he’s moving good. I hear he’s throwing the ball good. But that’s all I do is hear. We’ll just go about it and see how it goes.”
Sam Bradford returns. pic.twitter.com/PF1k75XlvW
— Sam Ekstrom (@SamEkstrom) January 2, 2018
Zimmer will get to observe Bradford on Tuesday and Wednesday before the team takes the rest of the week off. He should also get three practices to watch the 30-year-old at work next week leading up to the team’s Divisional Round playoff game on Jan. 14.
There has been very little concrete information reported by the Vikings about Bradford’s injury, though athletic trainer Eric Sugarman told reporters on Oct. 10 that the quarterback was dealing with “wear and tear in his knee joint” after the quarterback did not look healthy in his appearance against the Bears.
Reports indicated that Bradford attempted Regenokine treatments and other non-surgical methods before succumbing to arthroscopic surgery on Nov. 7.
Bradford has not spoken to the media since the surgery.
If Bradford is activated to the roster, it would likely be as a backup or third-string option behind Case Keenum and probably Teddy Bridgewater. Zimmer indicated that Bradford would likely only be used if “someone gets hurt.”
Because of the way the Vikings feel about current third-string quarterback Kyle Sloter, it’s possible the team could keep four quarterbacks upon Bradford’s potential activation. In that case, they would have to release a player — perhaps seldom-used running back Mack Brown — or send someone to injured reserve, like perhaps banged-up defensive tackle Shamar Stephen.
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