All of the news coming out of Minnesota Vikings' training camp is about the progress and improvement of rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The coaching staff has been singing his praises ever since he put on the jersey and helmet. However, just because Bridgewater is performing better than expected, Matt Cassel still remains the team's starting quarterback heading into the 2014 season.
Come the Vikings' first preseason game, Bridgewater will be seen with the first-team offense. The rookie has been impressing the likes of head coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator Norv Turner, but that does not mean they intend to throw him under center in Week 1. Call it the haunting of Christian Ponder, but Cassel is the veteran the original starter for the team, a plan Minnesota intends to keep.
According to TwinCities.com, the Vikings are letting Cassel have full control of the offense as the veteran is not afraid to speak his mind in regards to plays. After ten years in the NFL, Cassel understands how things work and has no issues speaking up.
"Anytime a conversation comes up, I'm very open to give my opinion about it and then see what they say," Cassel said, via TwinCities.com. "If I have an idea, I'm not fearful of the fact I can say that. Norv will be the first one to tell me to be quiet or 'I like that a lot.' You're always trying to find an edge. One of the things for me was working on some shoulder strengthening exercises."
Cassel has been meeting every expectation so far for the Vikings, but so has Bridgewater. Many are starting to believe that Bridgewater could be the starting quarterback at some point this season with the way the coaching staff is talking about him. Turner continues to note that the rookie is outperforming their expectations.
"There's a lot of things we're doing with Teddy that we would never call in a game," Turner said, via ESPN.com's Ben Goessling. "We're trying to find out where he's at in terms of what he can do. I think he's playing at an awfully high level. Those two guys [Bridgewater and Cassel] in competitive situations have over 150 passes, each of them. They've each thrown three interceptions. One of them for each guy was a bad quarterback decision. One of them for each guy was a receiver that either fell down or ran a poor route. One of them I thought was a great play. If you throw three interceptions in over 150 attempts, you're playing at a high level. Now, there's no full speed rush like a game, but I'm excited about what Teddy's doing."
Despite Zimmer stating everyone has a fair chance at earning the starting job, it appears Christian Ponder is set at third string. Team sources are reporting that he is more of a spectator during training camp practices rather than a participant. This is likely the quarterback's last year in Minnesota after the team opted not to pick up his fifth-year option and it looks like he is getting very little chances to prove he is still worth something.
