Shortly after suffering the knee injury, an ambulance arrived at Winter Park to presumably take Bridgewater to the hospital, where he will undergo further tests. Players were visibly distraught as they left the field, some hurling expletives into the air and others kneeling in prayer for one of the team’s most popular players. “I got the notification on my phone”, Kendra Hutchinson said standing next to her boyfriend who was wearing a Bridgewater jersey. So I’m not going to feel sorry for us either.
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The team announced that Bridgewater also dislocated his left knee and sustained other structural damage, though he has no nerve or arterial damage. There are a lot of moving parts, with Joel Stave still in early development, second-year passer Taylor Heinicke recovering from injury, Shaun Hill locked in and ready to guide the offense in Bridgewater’s stead and a bevy of options to be added, including quarterbacks now unsigned plus some from other teams who could be candidates to be acquired via trade. The sun will come up tomorrow and we’ll go back to work.
Bridgewater’s leg gave out when he planted to throw a pass during a drill. “He’s like my favorite player too, I was just really sad.really heartbroken”.
“That’s our job: Find a way”, Zimmer said.
The team had hoped Bridgewater was prepared to take a major step forward in his third year in the NFL.
Bridgewater started all 16 games last season for the Vikings, throwing 14 touchdowns.
“Everybody can count us out but I think that’d be the wrong thing to do.”
“We’re gonna grieve today and be upset about it”, Zimmer told reporters later on.
Kelly said Tuesday that Kaepernick will play in the team’s final exhibition game Thursday night in San Diego after missing the first two preseason games with a exhausted shoulder.
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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.
