Teddy Bridgewater’s Confidence Has Become a Topic of Conversation
By Dan Zinski
As Teddy Bridgewater continues to throw interceptions in practice – two more today, giving him five in the last two days according to Star-Tribune reporter Matt Vensel – some are beginning to wonder openly about the state of the young quarterback’s confidence.
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The topic was brought up to Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, who said this about Teddy’s state of mind (via TwinCities.com):
"“It’s not affected his confidence at all,” Zimmer said. “Obviously, we don’t want to throw interceptions in the red zone, and that’s one of our core goals. But it happens. … His confidence is not shaken. He’s fine.”"
That was before the two interceptions Teddy threw on Wednesday, one to safety Mistral Raymond, the other to linebacker Gerald Hodges (Bridgewater likes spreading his practice turnovers around to all the defensive units, which is nice).
Zimmer was unavailable to give a further assessment of Bridgewater’s confidence after Wednesday’s session, but Adrian Peterson was available, and gave his take on the rookie QB:
I asked Adrian Peterson if confidence could be a concern for teddy bridgewater with 5 picks in last 2 practices he said it could be
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) August 13, 2014
Maybe, just maybe, throwing a ton of interceptions in practice could be detrimental to a rookie QB’s confidence. Maybe performing somewhat inconsistently in a preseason game could play into that as well.
And maybe, just maybe, that same rookie QB, once he gets a few more reps under his belt and begins delivering the ball with a little more ease and timing, could feel his confidence come back to him.
Unless his confidence has become so undermined by his struggles that it affects his overall game in an adverse way. But if his confidence was so weak to begin with, so feeble that a few bad practices was enough to kill it, did he ever really stand a chance in the NFL?
That’s the real question to ponder here with Bridgewater.
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