Teddy Bridgewater Looks Like a Rookie In Preseason Debut

Fans were hoping for Teddy Bridgewater to come out in his first preseason game and give them something to cheer about, and as a matter of fact he did. Just Teddy’s presence was enough to get fans cheering and chanting and expressing their joy.

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When it came to actual performance for Teddy, the results were a bit mixed. The rookie did make a couple nice plays in his first series with the first team, but unfortunately both were wiped out by penalty. Bridgewater showed good mobility and play action execution on one rolling throw to Greg Jennings that would have resulted in a first down had the play not been erased by a procedure penalty.

With the second team in, Bridgewater looked every bit the rookie. His worst play was a fumble that fortunately was recovered by the Vikings (BALL SECURITY THEODORE!). He never really got much rhythm going with the second team guys in the first half, and seemed to hold onto the ball too long in a couple of instances.

Mike Zimmer decided to let Bridgewater come out for the second half and put a few more reps on tape, and the result was some of Teddy’s best play of the evening. Bridgewater finally got a little flow going to his game, even though he didn’t do anything particularly special. Bridgewater was able to leave the game with a good feeling after a semi-effective drive that ended in a missed field goal by Blair Walsh.

The important thing is that Teddy got in there, got hit, got chased around a little bit, and put some things on tape for him, Norv Turner and Scott Turner to look at on Saturday. Knowing what we know about Teddy, he will not be happy with his performance (fans may give him a pass for being a rookie but he won’t give himself a pass). And he will be up bright and early in the morning breaking down his performance and looking for ways to improve.

Right now, Bridgewater looks like what he is: a rookie still trying to feel his way. Matt Cassel looked like what he is: an effective veteran QB who is good enough to start in the short term for Minnesota. So what did we learn? Nothing we didn’t already know.

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