Teddy Bridgewater activated to Vikings’ roster, Sam Bradford goes to IR

Teddy Bridgewater’s long-awaited return to the Minnesota Vikings’ active roster is finally here. Minnesota moved him from the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and on to the active roster. The Vikings also put Sam Bradford on injured reserve, ending his regular season.

Bridgewater, who tore his ACL and dislocated his knee in August 2016, was put on the PUP list before this season started.

What happened? Bridgewater missed the 2016 season due to the gruesome knee injury he suffered. Since Bridgewater started this season on the PUP list, he had to sit out for six weeks. He was medically cleared to return to practice on Oct. 16.

The Vikings didn’t remove his name from the PUP list then. At that time, Minnesota had 21 days to decide if it wanted to place Bridgewater on the active roster.

What does this mean? Even though Bridgewater is officially on the active roster, that doesn’t mean he’ll play just yet.

”I haven’t decided that yet,” Mike Zimmer told the Vikings’ official team site last week. “We’ll continue to take it one day at a time. Just see where he is at, where the team is at, how Case [Keenum] is doing.”

But he’s not far off. Zimmer said Wednesday that Case Keenum will start in Week 10 against Washington, but Bridgewater will be available as his backup:

A week before the Vikings activated Bridgewater, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told reporters that first they had to make a decision about whether to activate him and then they would go from there.

”We’re evaluating him in practice every day, and then we’ll have to make a decision next week, not if he’s going to start or not start, but if he’s going to come up to the 53,” Spielman said last week. “That will be the next step, and from there, the coaches will determine the rest of the way.”

Although Bridgewater isn’t guaranteed to start this season, activating him is a positive step for this franchise.

Why is this important? First and foremost, it’s great to see Bridgewater return to the active roster.

The Vikings are off to a 6-2 start, and quarterback Keenum deserves credit for Minnesota’s early-season success. Bradford, who was the starter heading into the season, was on the sidelines for six games due to a knee injury and is now on IR. Zimmer wouldn’t rule out a possible return for Bradford in the playoffs, however.

Keenum has thrown for 1,610 yards to go along with seven touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games this season.

Minnesota is coming off a bye week in Week 9, and the chances of Bridgewater playing against Washington are unlikely unless Keenum gets hurt. He could start somewhere down the line this season, but that will depend on Keenum’s performance.

But if Zimmer decides to thrust Bridgewater into the starting lineup this season, it will be his golden opportunity to prove he’s still Minnesota’s franchise quarterback. The Vikings used a first-round pick on him in 2014. He went 17-11 as the starter in his first two seasons, throwing for 6,150 yards to go along with 28 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. With Bridgewater under center, the Vikings won the NFC North in 2015.