The glove-free Pro Day workout from former Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater placed extra pressure on him for any and all private workouts with teams. But since private workouts are (duh) private, there’s no way for anyone to scrutinize the things Bridgewater may be doing when throwing for one team at a time.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN nevertheless has reported that Bridgewater’s private workouts have been “shaky,” a broad observation that implies the receipt of accurate observation from every team for whom Bridgewater has worked out -- which is in this context a virtual impossibility. Teams lie as a matter of habit in the weeks preceding the draft, and any team that would say bad things about Bridgewater may want Bridgewater to linger on the board long enough for that team to get him. Or to get a second shot at him in a later round.
Not surprisingly, then, Bridgewater’s agent, Kennard McGuire, has responded to the report via text and email to PFT.
For starters, McGuire says that Bridgewater has had only one private workout. Which necessarily contradicts the notion that Bridgewater has had shaky workouts.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for journalists who work in this new age of media,” McGuire said via email. “While I am certain this statement wasn’t intended to be misleading, it is my duty to remove and eliminate any doubt. Teddy has visited multiple teams with more workouts and visits coming in the near future. The assessment we received from the one workout was ‘simply amazing and sharp,’ and we expect nothing short or less than stellar in the upcoming workouts in the very near future.”
McGuire said another workout will happen today, which will be Bridgewater’s second. More workouts will come. And whatever teams say on or off the record about the prviate workouts can’t be trusted. Too much is riding on the ability of teams to get the guys they want in the draft. Jobs, in some cases, are riding on the way the draft dominoes fall.