Coach Mike Zimmer, naturally, wasnt ready to declare a starter for Sunday.
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“Yeah, when I decide, ” Zimmer said.
There are few members of the Philadelphia Eagles that wanted Sam Bradford to remain with the team more than Jordan Matthews.
Bradford took part in second practice with the team Monday, two days after the trade with Philadelphia that was triggered by the massive injury to Teddy Bridgewater’s left knee.
For now, Zimmer said the two quarterbacks will be splitting the first-team reps. He publicly expressed confidence on Thursday in Shaun Hill to take over for Bridgewater, but the 15-year veteran Hill has only been a starter as an injury fill-in and has limited arm strength with which to stretch the field for Adrian Peterson and the rest of the offense. He went through his second Monday, and spoke afterward to reporters.
“That’s the goal, to progress to that point to where I feel comfortable enough to get out there and play if I’m needed to”, Bradford said.
“I watched every game Sam played last year, and the last three games, I thought he was playing as well as anyone I saw last year”, Spielman said.
I still have the Vikings in the playoffs, based on them beating Dallas in the regular season. Bradford is hoping to put those injuries behind him and prove that he was worthy of being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Just win. Then get out of the way. The uncertainty in Minnesota will have to continue for a couple more days.
Bradford won’t slow down before Sunday. And if Peterson were to repeat last season, leading the league in rushing again before the Vikings bowed out in the first round of the playoffs, he’d have the same number of rushing crowns and the same playoff record (1-5) as Sanders.
Bridgewater suffered a season-ending knee injury August 30 in practice and reportedly will undergo surgery today to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament and other structural damage. “We rallied around the guys in the locker room”.
In a recent interview with Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press, Lions defensive tackle Haloti Ngata discussed Detroit’s competition in the NFC North. Ngata said he fears the Vikings offensive line heading into the 2016 season. They have a few defensive playmakers that come together to make things very hard for opposing offenses, and they have multiple offensive playmakers that give them the ability to put up points against any defense.
Vikings’ general manager Rick Spielman has acknowledged Bridgewater’s recovery timetable is murky.
“Obviously [the lack of time is] not ideal”, Bradford said. Granted, Vikings fans have endured a lot of tough losses, but this was definitely top 2, top 3 all time. “I mean, you prepare like you’re going to be the one to go out there and start on Sunday”. But as he said in the Eagles’ training camp last month, he has seen plenty of change in his National Football League career.
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“I’ve had to learn new offenses in the past, ” Bradford said.
