The Facts: HC Mike Zimmer sounds like he's thinking more about Bridgewater the person than Bridgewater the quarterback, as Bridgewater continues to recover from a severe knee injury he suffered in August. Zimmer discussed Bridgewater on PFT Live and sounded like he is mostly just concerned about seeing Bridgewater get well. "I love Teddy Bridgewater," Zimmer said. "I never thought there would be another quarterback to play for me. I used to tell him, 'We're either going down with the ship together or we're going to sail it together.' But things didn't turn out that way. I love him as a person, I love him as a player, I just want him to get healthy. That's the most important thing."

Diehards Line:Zimmer talked like he expects Sam Bradford to be his starter in 2017, and like he just hopes Bridgewater can be healthy enough to continue his career. “Teddy is valuable to us, not just for football,” Zimmer said. “We want to take care of him.” Although the Vikings have not said definitively whether Bridgewater can play this year, the talk out of Minnesota suggests that they’re not optimistic.