Bridgewater left Winter Park in an ambulance.
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Bridgewater wasn’t the best player on Minnesota’s roster. Minnesota’s playmaking defense is poised to become one of the most intimidating units in the NFL. He’s got all the tools to be a great talent in the National Football League, but he lacks the #Football smarts that could make him a great quarterback.
“We’ve got some great football players on this team”, Zimmer said. Nobody is thinking that now.
Zimmer called off practice after 25 minutes, and the rest of the team walked off the field while Bridgewater was being attended to.
When asked if his quarterback would be able to return this season, Zimmer said “I don’t know”. Everybody loves him. So today they were disappointed and I didn’t think we were going to get much out of practice today, so we’ll get back in here [Wednesday] and we’ll get back to work. “But I think that’d be the wrong thing to do”.
His backup is veteran Shaun Hill. Though he appeared in three regular season games for Minnesota last season, he has not started a regular-season game since 2014, when he started in eight of nine as a member of the St. Louis Rams.
Hill and former University of Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave are the only healthy QBs on the Vikings’ roster. The Vikings could see the playoff wins down the horizon. He addressed the team in full after practice was called off and said he had also spoken multiple times to Bridgewater’s mother.
Austin Davis is also available, however the Dallas Cowboys will reportedly have him in town Wednesday for a workout. Davis always had the potential of being a real quarterback, but he wasn’t careful enough with the ball.
Let’s take a lot at the Vikings options at QB.
Zimmer said he has already had preliminary discussions with general manager Rick Spielman about adding another quarterback if necessary, but the injury likely puts even more emphasis on Adrian Peterson and the running game. With the next round of preseason cuts almost complete, we are getting one final idea of which players will be available.
Moreover, Bridgewater’s precision during the preseason, his self-assured throws during Sunday’s first-half two-minute drill and the unwavering faith teammates have in the third-year quarterback’s potential for greatness fueled greater confidence. He’s done a phenomenal job.
The determined coach rattled off the names of 10 players that would be key to the team’s success in 2016, driving home his point that “this isn’t a one-man deal”.
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But it really is.
