When Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater got back on the practice field this spring for the first time since the devastating left knee injury that wiped out his entire 2016 season, he was wearing a large knee brace.
Given the severity of the injury, that came as little surprise but it seems Bridgewater doesn’t need to wear the brace for all of his on-field work. Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that Bridgewater posted pictures of a workout on his private Instagram account on Wednesday that showed him going through his drills without any added support for the knee.
As with Bridgewater’s work during OTAs, there’s no reason to think that a workout without the brace is a sign that Bridgewater is ready to jump up to a full schedule after an injury that created doubts about whether he would be able play again. It does add more reason to keep an eye on the Vikings’ decision about placing Bridgewater on the physically unable to perform list, however.
It seems likely that Bridgewater will be on the list to start camp, but the bigger question may come at the cut to 53 players. If Bridgewater remains on the list at that point, he’ll be ineligible to play or practice for the first six weeks of the regular season and the chance that he’ll sit out another year will remain a strong one.