Vikings’ Teddy Bridgewater Believes He Will Play This Season

After an injury that kept him of the field for almost 14 months, Teddy Bridgewater is slowly making his return to professional football.

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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said he believes he will be able to play in the 2017 NFL season at some point. He was present at the practice field on Wednesday. Bridgewater suffered a non-contact injury to his left leg during practice in August 2016 and hasn’t played football since. The Vikings now plan to slowly introduce Bridgewater to practice, before allowing him to participate in 11-on-11 work.

Vikings’ coach Mike Zimmer said on Wednesday that team wants to take a cautious approach with Bridgewater’s return. He also added that he needs to see Bridgewater’s mobility and check how is he able to deal with the defenders.

Bridgewater himself acknowledged that there is a still long way ahead, but is happy being part of the practice and considers it a “mini-milestone”.

I used it as motivation,” – Bridgewater said. “I use that to tell myself, ‘Hey, I’m one step closer.’ Being out there, running out of that tunnel yesterday just did something to me, in a good way.

Teddy Bridgewater played college football at the University of Louisville and received numerous honors including the Big East Rookie of the Year and being named All-American. During his college career, Bridgewater had 781 completed passes for 9,817 yards and 72 touchdowns alongside 170 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns. Following his junior year, he declared for 2014 NFL Draft where he was viewed as one of the top prospects and even potential first overall pick at one point. Bridgewater ended up being selected by the Vikings with the 32nd overall pick.

After starting his rookie season as a back-up for Matt Cassel, Bridgewater earned his start following Cassel’s injury. He went on to start 12 games for the Vikings and won 2014 Pepsi Rookie of the Year award. In 2015, Bridgewater continued with great performances and earned his first Pro Bowl appearance. So far, he played 29 NFL games in which he had 551 completed passes for 6,150 and 28 touchdowns.

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