Teddy Bridgewater was a surprise scratch before Thursday night’s Vikings vs. Seahawks preseason game.
Fans tuning in to Thursday night’s Vikings-Seahawks game hoping to catch a glimpse of Teddy Bridgewater were in for a nasty surprise.
When the game started, Shaun Hill was in at quarterback for the Vikings instead of Bridgewater.
According to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press Bridgewater sat out because of a “coach’s decision.”
In other words, Bridgewater wasn’t hurt. Mike Zimmer just decided that he didn’t need to play.
Why would Zimmer elect to hold Bridgewater out of the game? We can only speculate on that.
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But let me throw this out there and see if it sticks for anyone:
The Vikings’ pass protection in preseason game one was kind of bad. In just the first possession of that game, the Vikings gave up one sack of Bridgewater and two other pressures.
Andre Smith was particularly miserable for the Vikings last week against Cincinnati and is probably now in danger of losing his starting spot to T.J. Clemmings.
So is it possible the Vikings decided that with the offensive line struggling to gel, it might be prudent to give Bridgewater the night off against the fearsome Seahawks?
If Zimmer has any doubt about his offensive line’s ability to protect Bridgewater, then it’s absolutely the right call for him to let Shaun Hill go out there instead.
The more pertinent question is, what the heck do the Vikings do if the pass protection isn’t fixed in time for the season opener?
The Vikings can’t afford to sit Bridgewater when the games start to count. At some point, they’re going to have to trust that their five men up-front can get the job done.
Who will those five men be when the season rolls around?
Maybe it will be Andre Smith at right tackle, or maybe T.J. Clemmings. Maybe the injured Brandon Fusco will be back by then. Maybe John Sullivan will be at center or maybe it will be Joe Berger.
Right now, it seems the offensive line is still a big mess. Tony Sparano has his work cut out for him if that’s the case.