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Minnesota Vikings give Teddy Bridgewater snaps in OTAs

By Alex Butler

May 23 (UPI) -- The Minnesota Vikings released a video Tuesday showing quarterback Teddy Bridgewater dropping back and throwing passes.

This is great news for Vikings fans, as Bridgewater went down in practice after the Vikings' third preseason game last year to a horrific right knee injury. He wore a knee brace on the surgically repaired leg in Tuesday's OTAs session.

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Bridgewater spent the season on injured reserve after suffering a completely torn ACL and dislocating his knee.

He is likely to start the season on the reserve/PUP list and faces an uphill battle to unseat Sam Bradford.

Vikings teammate Kyle Rudolph told ESPN last weekend that he has noticed Bridgewater's attitude and outlook regarding the injury and his comeback.

"He's had a great attitude through the whole process," Rudolph told ESPN. "In my time in sports, it's probably been one of the craziest injuries I've ever seen, just the way it happened, the severity of the injury and the recovery he's had to go through. No one has had a better attitude than he has."

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The Louisville product earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2015 and led the Vikings to an NFC North title. Bridgewater, 24, is playing on the final year of his contract. The Vikings declined to pick up his 2018 option on May 1.

"I love Teddy Bridgewater," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer told reporters on May 5. "The guy is working his rear end off, continues to fight every single day. Everything about him is, when he's rehabbing and doing the work he has to do, it's the exact same way he approaches life. I'm excited. I'm probably more optimistic now about him eventually playing than I have been at any point in time, but he has still got a long way to go."

But the former first round draft pick isn't necessarily cut loose after this season, despite the Vikings not picking up his option. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that if Bridgewater begins training camp on the PUP list and isn't activated from the list during the season, he would still be under the team's control for 2018. If he is active in 2017, the Vikings could also decide to use the franchise tag, transition tag or give Bridgewater a new contract.

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Zimmer said he is confident the Bridgewater will be with the team past this season. He owns a 17-11 record as a starter, while Bradford is 32-45-1 as a starter.

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