The Minnesota Vikings moved to 2-0 in the preseason in Seattle on Thursday night without Teddy Bridgewater, and coach Mike Zimmer seemed to suggest there was nothing untoward about his decision to sit the quarterback.
Bridgewater practiced with the first-team offense all week and didn't appear to have any injury issues. Nonetheless, he was on the sideline in his uniform and a baseball cap at CenturyLink Field on Thursday night, as backup quarterback Shaun Hill started the Vikings' 18-11 win over the Seahawks. Bridgewater said there was nothing to be concerned about from a health perspective, and Zimmer said there were no disciplinary issues behind the decision to sit his third-year quarterback.
"You think there's disciplinary action with Teddy Bridgewater? He's like the nicest kid in the history of life," Zimmer said in his postgame interview with the team's radio network. "It was my decision. Do I have the right to do that?"
In his postgame news conference, Zimmer said the Vikings have to spend time evaluating Hill, too, and the decision to start him did give them a chance to see how the 36-year-old would fare against one of the league's best defenses. If that was, in fact, the reason behind the decision, it's a perfectly sensible use of the team's second preseason game, and it spared Bridgewater the risk of any injury (though if Zimmer was agitated by the postgame questions, it's worth mentioning they could have been diffused with a brief explanation relayed through the team's PR staff at the beginning of the game).
In any case, Bridgewater figures to get plenty of playing time in the Vikings' third preseason game next Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings won Thursday night on a nice moment for cornerback Marcus Sherels, who ran back an interception for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter as his older brother Mike (a coach at the University of Minnesota) is hospitalized.
QB depth chart: With Bridgewater out, Hill played until the final series of the first half, improving after a shaky start to finish 10-of-17 for 129 yards. Hill led the Vikings' first touchdown drive before giving way to Joel Stave. The undrafted free agent, who played the entire second half, was less impressive than he was last week, misfiring on a number of passes and finishing 6-of-14 for 67 yards.
Maybe that dude could start: Wide receiver Adam Thielen has had an impressive training camp, and after he made a leaping 22-yard catch for a key first down last Friday in Cincinnati, he was back at it Thursday night, coming down with four catches for 61 yards, including some impressive grabs in traffic. The Vikings put Thielen back in the game with the score tied late in the fourth quarter. Jarius Wright didn't play for the second time in the preseason, and it provided Thielen another opportunity to make his case for a bigger role in the offense.
Who got hurt? Cornerback Xavier Rhodes left because of a hamstring injury in the first quarter, and was replaced by Trae Waynes, who did not start the game with Terence Newman healthy again. Rhodes was quickly ruled out for the night, and while the Vikings have 10 days before their next exhibition game, the status of their top cornerback certainly is worth watching. Rhodes has dealt with nagging leg injuries in the past, and the Vikings probably will be cautious with the fourth-year corner to make sure he's ready for Sept. 11 against Tennessee.
A surprise player who impressed: Fifth-round pick Kentrell Brothers played much of the second half, recording five tackles. The Missouri product also thought he'd secured an interception to end a fourth-quarter Seahawks drive, until referee Ed Hochuli ruled the Seahawks would keep the ball on simultaneous possession.
When it was starters vs. starters, the Vikings looked ... impressive rushing the passer. It's pointless to draw any sweeping conclusions about the Vikings' offense, which didn't have Bridgewater or Adrian Peterson in the game, but the Vikings sacked Russell Wilson four times in the first half, taking advantage of a Seahawks offensive line that looked confused by the Vikings' blitz packages. The Vikings allowed Seahawks running back Christine Michael to have some success, but they showed why Zimmer said this week that rushing the quarterback is what they do best.
One reason to be concerned: The Vikings allowed Michael to gain 55 yards on 10 carries, and their backups also struggled to contain the Seahawks' running game. Troymaine Pope gained 86 yards on 10 carries, putting the Seahawks on the board with a 4-yard touchdown run that came after his 27-yard scamper to the Vikings' 8-yard line. Antone Exum's unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty at the end of the play put Seattle at the Vikings' 4. Zimmer wanted to see better run defense from the Vikings after the Bengals game, and Thursday's performance left some things to be desired.
Walsh hits from 27, but misses wide left in fourth: As silly as it might have been this week to trot out the redemption storyline as Blair Walsh faced the Seattle Seahawks again, the circumstances around the kicker's two field goal attempts on Thursday night were a bit eerie. Walsh hit his first kick from 27 yards -- the same distance as the kick he missed left at the end of the Vikings' NFC wild-card playoff loss to the Seahawks in January. With the score tied late in the fourth quarter, though, Walsh tried a kick from 47 yards and pulled it left. The kicker went 3-for-6 in his final field goal attempts of practice this week. He did hit an extra point to put the Vikings up seven, though, after Sherels' interception return for a touchdown.
Patterson gets first action of preseason: Receiver Cordarrelle Patterson played for the first time in the preseason, after missing last Friday's game because of a shoulder injury, and caught two passes for 17 yards. The Vikings got the ball to Patterson on a couple of short passes that were reminiscent of the plays the Vikings ran for him during his rookie season in 2013.