Bridgewater agreed that playing hurt wouldn't prove anything

During his coaching days, Bud Grant often said durability was perhaps a player's most important ability, a philosophy that certainly applies to the game's most important position.

That old gunslinger, Brett Favre, was lionized for starting 297 consecutive games. Similar longevity has allowed Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady to make a run at Favre's many passing records. And while talking heads on TV have screamed about whether Eli Manning and Joe Flacco are top quarterbacks, there's no debating they have been elite when it comes to staying on the field.

This brings us to Teddy Bridgewater, the promising Vikings rookie whose Ironman streak was stopped at one — albeit an impressive one — after he sprained his left ankle in his first NFL start. That left Bridgewater to stand on the sideline in a hooded sweatshirt last Thursday night at rainy Lambeau Field, coincidentally the stadium where Favre had never missed a game during his long Green Bay Packers career.

Will Bridgewater out of uniform end up being a rare occurrence? Or was the missed game a sign of more to come? Only time will tell. But Bridgewater is determined to not make this a habit.

"I feel that I want to be at this position and I want to be the guy for 10-plus years," Bridgewater said Thursday. "I want to have longevity in my career. I feel that I don't have to prove anything, but at the same time, I would like to be out there every opportunity that I get."

Fair or not, durability was one of the concerns that draft analysts said teams would have about Bridgewater, who battled ankle and wrist injuries in college and who, at 6-2 and 210 pounds, has a lean frame for a quarterback by the NFL's standards, though that standard has been changing in recent years (see Wilson, Russell).

The Vikings, who picked him 32nd overall in May's NFL draft, say they had no such concerns. After all, Bridgewater didn't miss a game in college after becoming Louisville's starter as a freshman. And in the one game he didn't start, because of another sprained ankle along with a fractured wrist, he entered the game and willed the Cardinals to a victory.

"We didn't see any durability issues," Zimmer said. "His frame is what it is, but he's a pretty elusive, quick athlete. He's pretty smart as well. He knows when to get down."

The sprained ankle — a relatively minor injury in this brutal sport — could have happened to anyone. In fact, the man he replaced in the huddle, Matt Cassel, fractured several bones in his left foot during a similar scramble in Week 3.

And chances are if the Vikings had played on Sunday, Bridgewater's ankle would have healed sufficiently enough for him to make his second start.

But the game was on Thursday night, and coach Mike Zimmer, after conferring with the team's training staff, made the call to hold Bridgewater out of the 42-10 loss to the Packers. Bridgewater accepted the decision, figuring he might do more harm than help with the injury affecting the leg he plants when flinging footballs down the field.

"It was very hard," Bridgewater said. "Especially being a competitor, you always want to be out there with the guys."

But wide receiver Greg Jennings, who played with Favre during the quarterback's final two seasons in Green Bay, believes Bridgewater — who Jennings said told the team he didn't want to play if he wasn't going to give the team the best chance to win — actually showed toughness by not playing.

"You have to respect him because a lot of young guys would go out there and just do it just because [of] peer pressure, if you will, or just showing toughness," Jennings said. "Toughness is not always shown by what you can do physically. It's mental toughness, too, and he definitely has it."

Bridgewater has bonded with head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman and his staff since spraining his ankle, remaining in the Twin Cities over the three-day weekend to rehab the injury. He has practiced the past two days and said he is "excited to get back out there for this game this weekend."

Zimmer also said Wednesday that he expects Bridgewater to start Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

Teammates sound excited to have Bridgewater, who was named the NFL's top rookie for Week 4 after throwing for 317 yards against the Falcons, back in the lineup for Sunday's game against their NFC North rivals.

"You saw in the Atlanta game, he can definitely make plays and throw the ball," left tackle Matt Kalil said. "He's back there making plays. It's awesome to have a quarterback like that back there."