Teddy Bridgewater, self-proclaimed NFL 'survivor,' feels blessed to be playing

Teddy Bridgewater, the former Vikings quarterback and accurately self-proclaimed NFL "survivor," dropped back and delivered a touchdown pass to Denver Broncos receiver KJ Hamler in a red-zone drill against the Vikings during Wednesday's joint practice at TCO Performance Center.

"We love you Teddy!" yelled a fan wearing one of Bridgewater's old No. 5 Vikings jerseys.

Bridgewater noticed the love. And all those purple No. 5 jerseys.

"It was pretty cool," he said. "That kind of got me, not really emotional, but it was cool to see."

Bridgewater is only 28 years old, believe it or not. With better luck and a structurally stronger left knee, the Vikings' 2014 first-round draft pick just might be heading into his eighth season as Mike Zimmer's starting quarterback.

Of course, everything changed during a light practice at Winter Park on that awful day back on Aug. 30, 2016. A non-contact injury left Bridgewater with multiple torn ligaments, a dislocated knee joint and a rushed ambulance ride to the nearest hospital to save his left leg.

"I've found myself thinking more about that day lately than I have in the past," Bridgewater said. "I use it as motivation. Before, I used to brush it off and keep going. Now, it's like, man, here I am, where I could have been counted out, and I almost had to get my leg amputated.

"I wake up in the morning, I'm blessed I get an opportunity to put my feet on the ground and play football. I have so much fun playing this game. More fun than I've ever had before as I think about what I went through here."

Bridgewater missed the 2016 season and all but one series of one game in 2017. The Vikings, thinking logically based on the severity of the injury, parted ways with one of Zimmer's favorites.

Bridgewater signed with the Jets and was quickly dealt to New Orleans before the 2018 season. Serving as Drew Brees' backup, Bridgewater went 0-1 in 2018 and 5-0 in 2019.

After going 4-11 as a starter in Carolina last year, Bridgewater was dealt to Denver – whose first-year general manager is former longtime Vikings assistant GM George Paton — after the Panthers traded for the Jets' Sam Darnold. Now, Bridgewater is locked in a battle with incumbent Drew Lock that head coach Vic Fangio describes as "even-steven" heading into Saturday's preseason opener at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Lock will start Saturday's game, but Bridgewater will start next week. Wednesday, they split reps evenly with the first and second units, with Teddy winning the day.

Bridgewater looked shaky during individual passing drills. He threw some Teddy-esque wobblers and clearly has the third-strongest arm on a team with three QBs.

But during team drills and 7-on-7, he completed 13 of 15 passes with a couple of touchdowns. He made a nice tight-window throw to Jerry Jeudy during team drills that Bashaud Breeland dived for and missed. Jeudy caught the ball and scored from about 50 yards out.

The 24-year-old Lock followed and ended his portion of practice with a ball that was intercepted by Xavier Woods. Lock completed 6 of 11 passes during team drills and 7 on 7.

Denver heads into the 2021 season with what's widely believed to be one of the league's weaker quarterback situations. The pressure already is on Paton, who's banking on Lock or old friend Teddy to get the job done after passing on Justin Fields and Mac Jones with the ninth overall draft pick.

For Bridgewater, it's just another learning experience in the unlikely journey that started in Minnesota, where Bridgewater says, "I went from a young boy to a man."

Now, the man has a new baby boy – 6-month-old Theotis Ali – and younger teammates who call him "OG" – Old Guy – which is odd since he remembers calling Adrian Peterson and Chad Greenway that very same thing not long ago.

"The biggest takeaway from all my stops is that I learned I'm a survivor," Bridgewater said. "No matter the circumstance … you can lay down and be eaten alive or you survive and keep hunting."

Teddy Bridgewater career statistics