Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks Shaun Hill, left, and Sam Bradford warm up during practice Monday Sept. 5, 2016, in Eden Prairie, Minn.
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This week, I caught up with Matt Vensel, who is in his third year covering the Vikings for the Star Tribune.
In order to get Bradford up to speed with the playbook, he’s been putting in long days working directly with quarterbacks coach Scott Turner. “So, I’m sure him being experienced has helped and been in a couple different offense”.
“It’s not an extreme difference for what we’re doing this week, to be honest with you”.
Bradford went through his first practice Sunday, but that was closed to the media. He didn’t deny being caught off guard at first when Zimmer told him about the acquisition of Bradford.
Newton said Carolina doesn’t see it as a rematch, but he also said he took the loss “extremely personal”, so it’s hard to believe it’s just another game. Really, their specialty is pocket passing – and they can get out of the pocket … but that’s not what they’re there for.
“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.
Now, odds in Las Vegas have returned to the same point they were at with Teddy Bridgewater and people are realizing that this is a good team when led by a capable quarterback. Bradford, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, has had a shaky start to his NFL career and has struggled to stay healthy dating back to his college days at Oklahoma. Who do you think will start on Sunday against the Titans, and is there a chance they might both play?
Everything changed when Bridgewater suffered a dislocated left knee and torn anterior cruciate ligament on the practice field. Minnesota sent a 2017 first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick to Philly in exchange for Bradford. With many young guys surrounding veterans like Adrian Peterson, Terence Newman, and Captain Munnerlyn, the Vikings know they are a competitive team this year, and wanted to fill a big hole, even if it meant making a big move.
“That team started having some quarterback issues when one of them went down”, Matthews said.
With just days before the opening Sunday of the National Football League season, Bradford must adjust quickly. Well, it’s another situation with Minnesota ties but this one goes back to 1993 and takes place in Dallas Texas.
In the middle of the piece, in what mistakenly could read as a throwaway line, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman admits the unknown nature about the serious nature of Bridgewater’s frightening knee injury.
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Bradford, though, has a lot to learn in the short span of the next few days to be trusted to start against the Titans – instead of Hill, who knows the offense.
