Teddy Bridgewater’s Injury Ends a Fairy-Tale Vikings Season Before It Begins

Teddy Bridgewater hit Charles Johnson for 19 yards, then connected with Stefon Diggs on a deep corner route for 22 yards, then found Kyle Rudolph over the middle for a 27-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Three crisp, deep passes to three different receivers, 68 yards and six points in about 40 seconds of a two-minute drill, rat-a-tat-tat.

It was Sunday afternoon, the new U.S. Bank Stadium looked like a futuristic palace from a science fiction movie, and after some early sluggishness, Bridgewater and the Vikings offense was sharp and dynamic. It was preseason hope in distilled form: the young quarterback, his multifaceted arsenal, his newfound confidence and big-play capacity. For a few minutes, a breakout season from Bridgewater and the Vikings loomed on the immediate horizon.

Then Bridgewater crumpled to the turf Tuesday afternoon, and so much of that hope crumpled with him.

Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press described the scene in a graphic series of tweets that read like Herbert Morrison’s radio account of the Hindenburg disaster:

Bad scene. Bridgewater down in pocket grabbing left knee. Players freaked out, swearing and praying. Immobilized. Practice halted #Vikings

— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) August 30, 2016

Adrian Peterson, Matt Asiata and Adam Thielen locked arms in prayer huddled over prone Bridgewater, who clutched left knee and never moved

— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) August 30, 2016

I was 20 yards upfield on left sideline when Bridgewater dropped back. Didn’t appear to be touched before he went down clutching left knee

— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) August 30, 2016

You could hear a pin drop on field as Bridgewater was tended do on ground — silence only broken by several F-bombs players screamed#Vikings

— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) August 30, 2016

Ambulance presumably taking Teddy Bridgewater to hospital #vikings pic.twitter.com/4Wl1N2ua9i

— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) August 30, 2016

But a zeppelin didn’t crash at Vikings practice. A young quarterback crashed, painfully and frighteningly, taking the fortunes of a franchise with him at least for 2016, but possibly beyond.

The extent of Bridgewater’s injury remains unknown as of early Tuesday evening, but Murphy’s report leaves little doubt about its severity. During an afternoon press conference, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer confirmed that it was a “significant knee injury” and a “possible” season-ender. He even noted that Bridgewater needed sedation, a discouraging sign.

Bridgewater is going to be gone for a while, long enough to turn Sunday’s impressive effort from the first page of storybook into a forgettable footnote.

When a budding franchise quarterback like Bridgewater goes down, the whole football world holds its breath. There’s a risk that he could take an entire coaching regime, organizational philosophy and era of football down with him.

The Cowboys suffered a major loss of their own last Thursday when Tony Romo suffered his second significant back injury in two years. But the situations are very different. Bridgewater is not 36 years old …

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