Teddy Bridgewater is cutting it loose…in practice
By Dan Zinski
Teddy Bridgewater has finally gotten the message about cutting it loose more, at least on the practice field.
If Teddy Bridgewater wants to take the next step and truly become the quarterback the Vikings need him to be, he has to learn to take a few more chances with the football.
Taking care of the ball is great but Bridgewater needs to learn that sometimes you have to say the heck with it and let it go, even if it means risking a turnover.
The above message has been delivered to Bridgewater by multiple people inside the Vikings’ organization, from Rick Spielman on down, and maybe he’s finally starting to get it.
At least on the practice field, Bridgewater is letting it fly a bit more freely. Mike Zimmer spoke about Bridgewater’s on-going maturation process (via Vikings.com):
"“He just seems to be cutting it loose a little bit more,” he added. “You know he sees it, and he lets it go. He’s shown some really nice deep balls. He seems like he’s, I guess, matured and he’s more comfortable in everything that he does.”"
It’s great news that Bridgewater appears to be progressing as a player, but now is the part where I remind you that we’re talking about practice.
And not even real practice. OTAs practice. Guys running around in shorts not hitting each other.
I personally was never concerned about Bridgewater’s willingness to cut it loose in OTAs. I was more worried about his being too conservative in actual football games that matter.
Taking chances against your own teammates when they’re running around on the Winter Park grass in June is not the same thing as letting it rip against the Green Bay Packers’ defense on the turf of U.S. Bank Stadium in September. But of course Bridgewater knows that. He’s a smart guy.