Mike Zimmer: Teddy Bridgewater ‘working his rear end off’

There’s still no timetable on when Teddy Bridgewater can play football again, but he seems to be heading in the right direction in his rehab.

Bridgewater suffered a gruesome knee injury Aug. 30 last year and missed the entire season. He’s been participating in organized team activities and the Vikings released a video, via Pro Football Talk, of Bridgewater dropping back to pass.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who has had health problems of his own, has been keeping up with the team from his ranch in Kentucky as he recovers from eye surgery.

“I saw that tape, too,” Zimmer told ESPN.com. “He’s throwing the ball well. He’s got good velocity, accurate. He’s working his rear end off. It just makes you proud for him. He’s still got a long ways to go. But he’s progressing as well as anybody could expect, I would think.”

All signs point to Bridgewater starting the 2017 season on the physically-unable-to-perform list. If that happens, his contract will extend into 2018 even though the Vikings didn’t pick up his fifth-year option.

Bridgewater hasn’t been cleared to practice fully, and it could be at least another five months before he plays again. Still, it’s nice to see him throwing the ball on a practice field with his helmet on.