Teddy Bridgewater’s Minnesota Vikings continue to look like the favorite in the NFC North while the quarterback recovers from a devastating knee injury.
Bridgewater went down before the season with a brutal non-contact issue that brought an ambulance to Vikings practice. Shortly after, the team traded for Sam Bradford to save the season while Bridgewater began the long recovery road.
Doctors, though, shared some disappointing thoughts with ESPN’s Adam Schefter on NFL Countdown (via CBS Sports):
Teddy Bridgewater continues to rehab in Minnesota and he is making progress. Nearly two months after he dislocated his knee, Bridgewater is making strides and Vikings officials are pleased with where he’s at. But other doctors around the league know there are no guarantees Bridgewater will be able to return to the type of quarterback he was, if he makes it back to the NFL at all.
As one doctor who’s worked with NFL teams said this week, ‘If he didn’t make it back, it wouldn’t surprise me. This is a bad injury, about the worse knee injury a player can have.’
Granted, this quote comes from a doctor outside of the case. But it speaks to the significance of the issue and it’s not what anyone wants to hear at this point for the 23-year-old quarterback. Over his first two seasons, Bridgewater completed 64.9 percent of his passes with 28 touchdowns to 21 interceptions while leading the Vikings to a divisional crown last year.
While impossible to predict how every individual reacts to injury, this latest development doesn’t bode well for Bridgewater. He is one of the league’s brightest young quarterbacks, so it would be a shame to see him forced into hanging up the cleats earlier than normal thanks to a freak injury.
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