Bridgewater opens up on journey back to football

MANKATO, Minn. (KMSP) - An unimaginable injury led to a feat that some considered impossible - could Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater make a return to the NFL?

“I’ve always had faith,” Bridgewater said. “Faith has gotten me this far and it will take me even further.”

Bridgewater was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on Wednesday. He hasn’t taken to the field to practice yet, but Bridgewater took to the podium for the first time since that horrific knee injury 11 months after the accident that changed everything.

“Doing interviews and different phone calls, it doesn’t help me get better health wise,” Bridgewater explained about waiting 11 months to hold a press conference.

Bridgewater is not playing football yet, but the rehab has been all progress. He has been training on his own, posting videos online in the process, but how close are those workouts to how he felt before?

“Right now, I’m still in the process of learning my body all over again,” Bridgewater said. “I train myself that if I do a movement one time, I can do it forever. It’s a mental battle.”

As the weeks pass by, there's no set timetable for when Bridgewater will actually be ready to play, but he remains positive.

“I get to continue to live out my dream,” Bridgewater said. “Don’t know when it is going to happen but for me I know that it is going to happen.”

“I think he’s in a good place,” Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer said. “I think he kind of sees the end game now.”

A finality could be in focus, but will that future continue in a Vikings uniform? This might be his last year in Minnesota in the final year of his deal, but Bridgewater is not ready to turn his back on this team just yet.

“[Football] was taken away from me 11 months ago,” Bridgewater said. “To even be having that conversation about continuing to play football that continues to motivate me right there.”