Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a complete ACL tear in practice yesterday. The scene certainly wasn’t a pretty one, as seen by these tweets below:
Serious scene here. Group of players including Adrian peterson huddled on one knee around Bridgewater as athletic trainers help him.
— chipscoggins (@chipscoggins) August 30, 2016
Mood is complete shock. Players left field to locker room in silence, visibly upset.
— chipscoggins (@chipscoggins) August 30, 2016
Teddy Bridgewater just went down with an apparent injury and the #Vikings ended practice. Looks serious.
— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) August 30, 2016
Losing Bridgewater will obviously have a huge effect on the Vikings, as they now only have Shaun Hill and Joel Stave on their roster. No matter who they plan on starting (which will most likely be Hill), their spot as a playoff team is no longer as secure as it was before. They still have a very good defense and Adrian Peterson. However, not having a QB of starter-caliber will hurt them in the long run.
This helps out a lot of fringe-playoff teams in the NFC, such as the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons or even the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. Any one of these teams could take advantage of a weakened playoff team and jump into that #6 spot. Regardless of who makes the playoffs, it will likely be a tight race until the very end.
The NFL may also want to start keeping medical personnel nearby in case of an emergency injury. The Vikings had ambulances in the area and quickly treated Bridgewater’s injury. Without their actions, Bridgewater might have lost a few years off of his career. Other teams may want to have medical staff nearby during practices just in case a serious injury occurs.
