Vikings and Bengals shower praise on Teddy Bridgewater

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is impressing during joint practice with the Bengals, and even surprised one new addition to the team.

Having the Cincinnati Bengals work with the Minnesota Vikings for practices is interesting. The former team of Mike Zimmer, Adam Zimmer, Andre Smith, Emanuel Lamur, and Terence Newman will be a good test for a team hoping to see improvement from its young players.

Perhaps the player under the biggest microscope for the Vikings right now is Teddy Bridgewater. Not only does he play the highest profile position in the league, but as a former first round draft pick the passer needs to prove he can be more than an accurate short to mid range passer.

But that part of his game has been getting a lot of praise lately. In fact, Bengals cornerback Adam Jones was surprised to be beaten by Stefon Diggs on a deep route that Bridgewater capitalized on, causing Jones to let loose a loud swear word according to Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback.

Jones in’t the only member of the Bengals to walk away with a positive impression of Teddy Bridgewater, as Dre Kirkpatrick saw some things he really liked as well.

"“I had never faced Teddy before, but you could tell he’s pretty smart,” Kirkpatrick said. “He made some really good throws, and some great reads. I was impressed.”"

As far as those deep throws go, offensive coordinator Norv Turner insists that the impressive throws are nothing new and it’s just the struggles at the end of the year left a bad taste in the mouths of the fans and the media.

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"“He’s been making those throws all summer,” Turner said. “In fact, he was making the same throws last year. It’s just that because we didn’t end the year very well offensively people don’t remember that. I think he has a chance to be really really good.”"

However, it’s obvious that Bridgewater has heard the criticism and has been working hard to improve on that part of his game. Teddy has a noticeable increase in muscle mass in his arm as well as some new targets, new receivers, and new linemen to help him out.

Speaking of linemen, there is one new addition to the offensive line that already has a ton of respect for his new quarterback.

"“This is going to sound corny, but that guy is just a leader. The ultimate leader. Nothing gets to him,” Boone said."

Next: Vikings game-by-game 2016 season preview

Teddy Bridgewater will be seen during the Minnesota Vikings preseason game on Friday against Bengals. But it will be the regular season when all eyes will truly be on the 23-year-old quarterback and his ability to deliver the deep ball to his pass catchers.

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