Sam Bradford walked onto the turf at Heinz Field, threw a small number of passes, didn't run or cut, and walked off with athletic trainer Eric Sugarman.
It didn't look promising, and it wasn't. An hour later, the Vikings released their inactives, and Bradford was on the list.
On Monday night, Bradford had his best game as a pro, inflating expectations for his team.
Six days later, his left knee, on which he has endured a couple of surgeries, wouldn't allow him to play on a grass field.
The Vikings are right to protect him, but this is a terrible sign.
The Vikings have two franchise-quality quarterbacks and neither was available to them on Sunday.
Teddy Bridgewaters remains on the physically-unable-to-perform list and may never be the player he seemed destined to become. Bradford is dealing with chronic knee soreness.
I saw Bradford walking around the lockerroom on Wednesday and he looked fine. He did not get hit often on Monday night. He just has a problematic knee.
