Zimmer Mum On Bridgewater, Peterson Playing Sunday
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Keeping the media at arm's length has been perfected by the likes of Patriots head coach Bill Belichik.
When Mike Zimmer took the job here with the Minnesota Vikings, he said he would try to be as transparent and honest as he could but added there are certain things that he's not going to tell the media.
So the intrigue at practice Tuesday was quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's ability to throw and Mike Zimmer's ability to talk about it. The Bridgewater story turned to the field, as in, where he did throw and does that mean he's never been bothered by an injury? Well, you decide.
"I told you guys when I first got here that I would try to be as transparent and honest as I can and I will be, but there are certain things I'm not going to tell you," Zimmer said. "If (Bridgewater) had a issue with his shoulder, I'm going to make sure that I err on the side of caution. Also because if I played him and he got hurt, you guys would kill me in the press."
Zimmer has settled into a philosophy: Everyone is on a need-to-know basis.
"A lot of times they'll say 'Hey yeah I can go' but I tell them if you go out there and you get hurt in two plays like what happened a couple times last year it's hurting the team," Zimmer said.
As for how Bridgewater looked at practice, suffice to say not 100 percent, but good enough.
"He's typical Teddy. Coming out here and making his plays," receiver Charles Johnson said. "It was good to have him back out here throwing to us. It's a little bit different catching it from the other guys."
Now that we've established that Bridgewater is indeed the No. 1 quarterback and it looks like his health is just fine, what is the status on Adrian Peterson this preseason? We know he's healthy, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll play.
Peterson could play Sunday, he's healthy. But only the coach knows if he will play.
"That's one of those that I'm going to not tell you," Zimmer said.
The Vikings will practice at U.S. Bank Stadium for the first time on Friday morning to find their way around their new digs. Kickoff for Sunday's game against the San Diego Chargers is at noon. They wrap up the pre-season a week from Thursday, also at home against the Los Angeles Rams.