Vikings HC Mike Zimmer: “I Don’t Know When Teddy Will Be Back”

Vikings HC Mike Zimmer admitted during an interview with ESPN that he isn’t sure when QB Teddy Bridgewater will be able to return from his knee injury.

“I don’t know when Teddy will be back,” Zimmer said, per Pro Football Talk.

It’s been a while since he last got an update regarding Bridgewater’s return from a major knee injury.

Back in October, Adam Schefter reported that Bridgewater was making strides in his recovery from his knee injury and the team is pleased with his progress overall.

However, Schefter said that other doctors around the league know there are no guarantees Bridgewater will be able to return to the type of player he once was.

“If he didn’t make it back, it wouldn’t surprise me,” one doctor who has worked with NFL teams said told Schefter. “This is a bad injury, about the worst knee injury a player can have.”

Schefter pointed out that Bridgewater suffered the same injury that effectively ended 49ers RB Marcus Lattimore’s career.

The good news for Bridgewater is that he doesn’t play running back, he did not suffer nerve damage in his knee, he underwent successful surgery, and is still only 23 years old.

Even so, Schefter said that Bridgewater’s injury is “about the worse knee injury a player can have.‘”

“Teddy Bridgewater continues to rehab in Minnesota and he is making progress,” Schefter said, via CBSSports.com. “Nearly two months after he dislocated his knee, Bridgewater is making strides and Vikings’ officials are pleased with where he’s at. But other doctors around the league know there are no guarantees Bridgewater will be able to return to the type of quarterback he was, if he makes it back to the NFL at all.

“As one doctor who’s worked with NFL teams said this week, ‘If he didn’t make it back, it wouldn’t surprise me. This is a bad injury, about the worse knee injury a player can have.‘”

It’s likely that Sam Bradford will open the season as the team’s starting quarterback and buy Bridgewater as much time as he needs to get back to being 100 percent healthy.

Bridgewater, 23, is a former first-round pick of the Vikings back in 2014. He’s currently in the third year of his four-year, $6,849,502 rookie contract and stands to make a base salary of $1,042,682 for the 2016 season.

The Vikings placed on him injured reserve to open the season. The Vikings are still expected to exercise Bridgewater’s fifth-year option.

In 2015, Bridgewater appeared in all 16 games for the Vikings and threw for 3,231 yards while completing 65.3 percent of his passes to go along with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

We’ll have more regarding Bridgewater’s return as the news is available.