Last year, Teddy Bridgewater suffered a knee injury against the Buccaneers in Week 10, which kept him out of the Panthers’ Week 11 matchup versus the Lions.
He was back for the following contest against the Vikings and started for Carolina’s through the rest of the year.
But Bridgewater’s performance lagged in those last five games, as he completed 63 percent of his passes, throwing for 1,182 yards with just two touchdowns and four interceptions. He also had five fumbles, losing two of them.
Now with the Broncos, Bridgewater questioned whether he should have played at all following the injury.
“Honestly, last year man, when I look back, I think for like the first eight weeks, the first seven weeks of the season, I think I was playing some really good football,” Bridgewater said Tuesday, via Alaina Getzenberg of the Charlotte Observer. “We had guys who were having career years.
“I think once we played Tampa that second game, and I took a shot, I probably should have just shut it down for the rest of the season, but I just love this game and I never take it for granted. So, right now I’m just at that point where I feel really good mentally, spiritually, physically. Every day I come here, I got a smile on my face.”
In Bridgewater’s first 10 games, he had completed 72 percent of his passes for 2,552 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also fumbled just once, though he lost it.
The Panthers went 4-11 in games Bridgewater started last season. Carolina traded him to Denver for a sixth-round pick in April.