Teddy Bridgewater feeling good before preseason debut

New York Jets quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is ready to make his football debut for the team as he’s feeling good heading into preseason Week 1.

Teddy Bridgewater is two years removed from a gruesome knee injury that has kept him on the sidelines. But the veteran quarterback feels like he’s back to normal and is eager to compete for the New York Jets starting job.

In September of 2016, Bridgewater suffered a non-contact knee injury that resulted in a dislocated knee, a torn ACL, and other structural damage. Bridgewater went on to miss the entire 2016 season and played only a handful of snaps in the 2017 season.

His Jets debut in Friday night’s preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons will be the first time he’s seen significant playing time since starting the entire 2015 season for the Minnesota Vikings. The Jets released the team’s first unofficial depth chart on Monday afternoon. Currently, Bridgewater is second on the depth chart at the quarterback position. But expect him and Darnold to take the majority of the preseason snaps.

Bridgewater is a legitimate NFL starter. At one point he was the franchise quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. In 2015 he led them to an 11-5 record and an NFC North Division title.  In case you forgot, there’s a quarterback named Aaron Rodgers who usually rules the NFC North.

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According to onlookers at Jets training camp, Bridgewater has been impressive and it appears that much of his mobility has returned. He still wears a brace on his injured knee but that hasn’t appeared to hinder his mobility.

The biggest worry for Jets fans is that Bridgewater’s surgically repaired knee has not been game tested. The next time Bridgewater gets hit, it will be the first time since suffering the knee injury that threatened his career.

“Right now, I’m doing everything I dreamed of doing — and that’s waking up and continuing to play football,” Bridgewater said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “It’s a wonderful feeling. It gives me chills right now to think about it, knowing how the previous two years were.”

Bridgewater’s journey is far from over. It’s still unclear what his future holds, especially with the Jets. Many experts think he will be traded to a team in need of a veteran QB. Others see him as the placeholder until Sam Darnold is ready to take the reigns. Either way, Bridgewater is excited to do something he hasn’t gotten to do in two years, and that’s play the game of football.