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Tuesday, August 30th was supposed to be just the day that NFL teams cut down their rosters from 90 players to 75. For the Minnesota Vikings (and by extension, the rest of the NFC North), today took on a much bigger impact as that team lost more than just a handful of training camp players.
Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered what is being described as a “serious” injury in practice on Tuesday, and two terrifying words were used to illustrate what happened: “non” and “contact.” Bridgewater was reportedly carted off the field and taken to a local hospital in an ambulance, and the Vikings actually cancelled the remainder of their afternoon practice as a result.
This tweet sums up best the scene at Vikings practice:
Bad scene. Bridgewater down in pocket grabbing left knee. Players freaked out, swearing and praying. Immobilized. Practice halted #Vikings
— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) August 30, 2016
This appears to be a devastating injury for the third-year quarterback and his team, which was counting on him to take a big step forward in 2016. Bridgewater’s development has been a regular talking point for the Vikings all offseason. APC’s hopes go out to the young quarterback for a complete recovery.
However, if it ends up that Bridgewater’s injury would be a season-ending one, the Vikings would face an even tougher task to repeat as NFC North champions. The Vikings’ primary backup quarterback is Shaun Hill, who had some moderate success as a backup in Detroit and as a part-time starter for the St. Louis Rams, and behind him is undrafted former Wisconsin Badger Joel Stave. It is almost a sure thing that Minnesota will look for another option as a veteran backup should the injury be as serious as is feared.
Click over to Daily Norseman for more coverage of this situation.