The Vikings didn’t draft Teddy Bridgewater in the first round to have him sit on the bench forever, but they went with Matt Cassel as their starting quarterback and they don’t want to give him any reason to think that he’s on the verge of being replaced from his first snap.
Coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday that he doesn’t think there will be “an early decision” about making a quarterback change, which is a sensible position to take since Cassel went into the summer as the team’s No. 1 quarterback and never relinquished the position. That’s plenty of time to change your mind and Zimmer never did, so Cassel says he won’t be worrying that the hook is coming once the season gets underway.
“I think I’ve had a tremendous offseason, I’ve worked as hard as I’ve ever worked. And I’m not going to look over my shoulder. You can’t play that way,” Cassel said, via ESPN.com. “You can’t worry about, ‘If I make a mistake what’s going to happen next?’ … I think Teddy does have a tremendous future but hopefully as long as I’m here he’s not playing.”
Zimmer acknowledged the fine line that coaches have to walk when it comes to making these kinds of quarterback choices, especially since their futures can be so closely tied to what happens at the position. Few coaches have ever helped themselves by making a panicked move, though, and it seems Zimmer’s going to trust a choice made after months of scrutiny long enough to know if it was the right one.