Written by Chris Schad
Just over 9,300 fans packed Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato on Saturday night to see the Minnesota Vikings annual passing “scrimmage.” While acting as more of a glorified practice (as there was no live tackling) than an actual scrimmage, there were many things that the team was ready to show their largest audience of the young season.
While the middle linebacker and strong safety competitions are compelling, the main event of the evening was the quarterback competition.
What some thought was a triple threat match between Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater has already evolved into a two-man slugfest. While Ponder mainly watched from the sidelines, Bridgewater and Cassel had their highs and lows during the two-hour practice.
Cassel began with the first team and had some zip on his passes, but when he tried to go deep for Cordarrelle Patterson during the first drive, it was underthrown and intercepted by Marcus Sherels. He’d throw another interception on the third run, but it was because Xavier Rhodes covered Jarius Wright like a blanket while making a diving grab.
Cassel looked solid outside of these hiccups (and a couple other errant throws), but he’s definitely lucky that the competition isn’t a popularity contest.
That would be a can’t lose scenario for Bridgewater, who came out to a loud ovation and several “Teddy! Teddy!” chants at the beginning of practice. He was the clear fan favorite of the night, something you would expect from a guy who has already passed Adrian Peterson in jersey sales and has the future of the organization in his hands.
On the field, Bridgewater looked like a rookie on Saturday night. There were times where he made outstanding throws down the field, but he also had throws that are reserved for somebody just coming into the NFL.
His biggest mistake of the night came during the goal line drill (which was his only opportunity with the first team) where he locked onto Greg Jennings in the back of the endzone and threw into the hands of a leaping Chad Greenway.
“It’s a huge concern,” Bridgewater said. “Playing quarterback you always want to take care of the football. For me, it’s all about not making the same mistake twice. With the interceptions the past couple days, I’m going to work hard to try to cut that down.”
After looking outstanding early in camp, the Vikings have turned up the difficulty on Bridgewater. In addition to expanding from the basic checkdowns and short passes, head coach Mike Zimmer has turned up the pressure on defense with different looks. Overall, he still looks cool under pressure, but there is a learning curve to be had.
As the night ended with a two-minute drill (where Bridgewater scored a touchdown with the second team and Cassel stalled with the first team), there only thing that is certain in this battle is that nothing is for certain.
The first real test will come on Aug. 8 when the Vikings host the Oakland Raiders in their first preseason game. If Cassel struggles and Bridgewater excels, the door could be open for the rookie to start the second game against the Arizona Cardinals. If not, Cassel has a chance to finish things with a strong pair of performances.
Scrimmages like the one tonight are controlled environments that usually benefit the players. While some of the mistakes are alarming, they can be corrected with a month before the regular season opener in St. Louis and the preseason games will go a long way in that process.
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Chris Schad contributes to 105 The Ticket and has had his work featured on the Bleacher Report and Yahoo Contributor Network. He serves as the Vikings Lead Writerfor Pro Football Spot. Find him on Twitter @crishad. |