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Minnesota Vikings Turning To Rookie Teddy Bridgewater

By Joseph Gunther

The future is now for the Minnesota Vikings. Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is taking over earlier than expected due to a foot fracture sustained by Matt Cassel in the second quarter of the team’s loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

The Vikings may not have wanted to get him into his first NFL game in that way. The first round draft pick came off the bench trailing 

“I think he’s a pretty composed individual, anyway,” Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said at Monday press conference. “He always has been around here. Nothing really flusters him.

Obviously, that’s a tough situation to go into, when you’re down 13, on the road, against a good football team in the Superdome. He handled that very well. We’re looking forward to getting him here at home, in front of our fans. I think that situation will help him some more. The kid has all the talent in the world. He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s a quick thinker and makes quick decisions, quick with his feet, quick with his drops. I’m excited about watching him, especially at home with our fans.”

Everything Bridgewater did was not a surprise to Zimmer or the Vikings coaching staff.

“Not really,” Zimmer said. “I think he extended plays with his feet. I was very impressed with his composure. He made some great throws. He did some real good things and extended some plays. He had a couple of good scrambles. I think his mobility will maybe keep some defenses honest a little bit. We have just got to keep going forward with him.”

Bridgewater will be backed up by former Vikings starter and first round draft pick Christian Ponder. The fourth-year veteran has been inactive for all three games so far this season for the Vikings. The team has reportedly signed former Viking McLeod Bethel-Thompson to their practice squad. Despite being on the active roster over parts of the last two seasons with the Vikings and San Francisco 49ers, Bethel-Thompson has yet to be active for an NFL game.

Kalil continues to struggle

The Vikings drafted Matt Kalil fourth overall in 2012 with the expectation that he would be their starting left tackle for 10-plus years. After posting a Pro Bowl season as rookie, he has gotten progressively worse over the last 19 games. This season, the problem has reached a head. Pro Football Focus grades Kalil as the worst offensive tackle in the NFL.

“He allows one play to affect the second play, sometimes,” Zimmer said. “He needs to be like a cornerback sometimes – have a little short memory, forget it, let’s go.”

Zimmer was asked if it was all mental with him, but he did not give a definitive answer either way.

“He’s got all of the physical tools to do it,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s mental, but I just think that sometimes when he has a bad play and it’s like the golfer when he misses the putt and then he goes up on the tee box and hits a bad drive. We’re all going to have bad plays. He has enough athletic ability and physical skills and mental toughness, he has all of those things. Now he can’t compound it. It’s like the quarterback; you can’t compound it by making another mistake.”

For more Vikings news and updates, visit Vikings Central.

Joseph Gunther is an avid fan of Minnesota sports, including football, hockey and baseball. He covered a wide variety of sports while attending Hastings College in Hastings, Neb. While at Hastings College, he was a part of the first collegiate media group to broadcast a national tournament via television, radio, internet and newspaper at the 2004 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament. He grew up in the Twin Cities playing three years of varsity football in high school. Joseph is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com.

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