Vikings notes: Bridgewater has a big heart

To illustrate the figurative size of Teddy Bridgewater's heart, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer reluctantly revealed that the Vikings had to examine the Louisville quarterback's heart after something abnormal appeared on the medical report from the scouting combine.

"We had him in to look at his heart," Zimmer said. "After he came out, I said, 'How's your heart?' He said, 'They said it was too big.' "

The Vikings took Bridgewater with the final pick of the first round in Thursday's NFL draft.

Zimmer went on to say the heart concern was alleviated by the follow-up exam. "It was nothing," Zimmer said. "It was a blip or something."

"I just had an abnormal heartbeat," Bridgewater said. "I think it was 1 percent, or one beat, less than the normal beat. So I came back up to Minnesota and got a physical, got tested and came back positive."

Bridgewater took a lot of heat for a terrible performance during his pro day. He chalked it up in part to not wearing the glove he normally wears.

The Vikings did a personal workout with Bridgewater in Florida in April. General Manager Rick Spielman said Bridgwater did well and improved during the workout while working with Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

"I don't know if it mattered or not," Zimmer said, "but he wore his glove."

Before giving Zimmer a new toy, Spielman made his new head coach wait a few minutes.

UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr was the top player left on the Vikings' draft board when they first were on the clock at pick No. 8. But Spielman traded back one draft slot in a deal with the Browns before giving his coach another pass rusher to play with.

Moments later, they selected the 22-year-old Los Angeles native, who will line up at outside linebacker.

"I'm really, really, really excited about him," Zimmer said.

"He's like a fawn," Zimmer said. "He's just learning some of these things. But it's not like he's so raw that he's not a good football player.

"Because he is a good football player. … I'm excited for the chance to take him and mold him into what I envision him to be, and I think that we will."

Said Spielman: "He has great upside as a potential edge pass rusher. He's also athletic enough to drop into coverage."

Barr, who played running back his first two years at UCLA, is excited to show Zimmer what he can do.

"I'm looking forward to picking his brain, meeting my teammates and getting to work," Barr said. "I couldn't be more excited to be a Minnesota Viking."

His wait will continue into Friday night; he wasn't one of the first round's 32 picks.