Report: Teddy Bridgewater to have knee surgery Thursday

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Teddy Bridgewater is scheduled to have surgery on his torn ACL and other damage to his knee on Thursday, ESPN’s Ed Werder reports. Thursday is also the day many NFL experts expect the Minnesota Vikings to name a starter for Sunday’s season opener against the Tennessee Titans.

Bridgewater was injured in a non-contact drill last Tuesday. An MRI determined Bridgewater suffered a complete tear to his ACL and other structural damage to his knee, but the team said there appears to be no nerve or arterial damage. Vikings head athletic Eric Sugarman said the recovery time will be significant, but the team expects its starting quarterback to make a full recovery.

Shaun Hill has been the No. 2 quarterback throughout training camp and the preseason, but the Vikings acquired Sam Bradford in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday. The Vikings traded their 2017 first round pick and a 2018 fourth round pick for Bradford.

Bradford was on the practice field at Winter Park on Monday, with less than a week to learn the new offense.

“Everything’s just sped up,” Bradford said of his preparation with the Vikings. “Normally, when you learn the system, you start with the base things and you kind of build on that, and you talk about the variations off your base plays, and you kind of take it step by step. Obviously here, going into Week 1 of the regular season, all those variations are already in. So you don’t really have time to take it step by step. You’ve just got to learn everything at once, and that’s just how it’s got to be.”

Bradford had 3,725 yards passing, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 14 games with the Eagles in 2015. He had a completion percentage of 65 percent and a passer rating of 86.4.