Teddy Bridgewater inactive, and that can't be a great sign for his future with Vikings
Teddy Bridgewater is healthy, at least healthy enough to be the Minnesota Vikings’ backup quarterback since Nov. 12.
So it’s telling that when the playoffs started, Sam Bradford became the Vikings’ backup.
Bradford, finally healthy after a mysterious knee injury that kept him out since Week 1, was Minnesota’s backup for its playoff opener against the New Orleans Saints. Bridgewater was inactive.
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Perhaps that seems like a minor transaction, but it might matter because Case Keenum, Bridgewater and Bradford can all become free agents after the season. Deactivating Bridgewater after he has been healthy enough to serve as the backup for two months seems to indicate that the Vikings aren’t entirely comfortable with where Bridgewater is at. It’s hard to imagine they go from preferring Bradford as their backup in a playoff game in mid-January to paying Bridgewater to be their 2018 starter by mid-March.
Bridgewater made it all the way back from a devastating knee injury suffered just before the 2016 season started. When Bridgewater finally made it back during this season it was a great story. But there was never any guarantee that Bridgewater would be the same quarterback he was before the injury. The Vikings have seen him in practice for a while now. And when it came time to pick their backup they chose Bradford, who hasn’t taken a snap since Week 1.
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The Vikings will have to make tough decisions at quarterback this offseason, and one of the decisions will be what to do with Bridgewater. Reading between the lines after Sunday’s move, the Vikings might not be fully convinced that Bridgewater is all the way back yet.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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