Teddy Bridgewater is back on the field.
In an uplifting post sent to his private Instagram account followers Tuesday, Bridgewater provided the first evidence of himself throwing the ball and moving around since sustaining a horrific dislocated knee and torn ACL back in August.
The video clearly shows a balky brace that covers almost his entire left leg. While it's nearly impossible to ascertain anything else from the short gif, it substantiates comments made by Vikings brass this week at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix.
"I know he's been working extremely hard," general manager Rick Spielman told The Star Tribune. "As far as a timeline, I know he was in last week and continuing to rehab with our medical staff and (Vikings trainer) Eric Sugarman. I can tell you there is no one I've seen other than Adrian (Peterson) when he came back from his ACL that has worked as hard as Teddy is working. And this is more significant than just an ACL.
"But Teddy is incredible with the attitude and work ethic that he's put in to get back on the field as quickly as we can."
At the time of the injury, it was still difficult to determine whether the 24-year-old Bridgewater would ever play again. The dislocation and tear was so severe that he had to be sedated before heading to the hospital. The Vikings immediately canceled practice and later traded for former Rams and Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford.
While the Vikings have been mum about a realistic timeline, or any timeline whatsoever, this week has provided more positive momentum than we've seen from the Bridgewater camp in almost a year. Obviously, the two years on Bradford's contract were important to Minnesota given the unpredictability of this situation.
It's easy to forget that Bridgewater was ascending into the ideal quarterback in Mike Zimmer's system. The 2015 season, where he completed 65 percent of his passes for 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions (he also ran for another three), earned him a Pro Bowl nomination. The Vikings were a shanked field goal away from playing in the divisional round and Bridgewater seemed to be following the exact type of progression one would expect from a late first-round project.
Tuesday showed that he's not quite ready to give up on his dreams.
