Teddy Bridgewater Suffers Serious, Non-Contact Injury During Vikings Practice (UPDATE)

Teddy Bridgewater went down Tuesday with what looked like a serious, non-contact knee injury in Vikings practice.

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UPDATED 8:20 p.m.: The Vikings have released a statement confirming Bridgewater suffered a complete tear of his ACL. The team says he'll undergo surgery within the next few days and that they expect him to make a full, though lengthy, recovery.  

UPDATED 5:24 p.m.:

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer toldESPN's Adam Schefter that Bridgewater has "a significant knee injury," adding this grave outlook on his quarterback's chances of playing this season. 

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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered what early reports seem to indicate was a serious injury to his knee during Tuesday's practice. After just 25 minutes, practice was called off when Bridgewater went down in the pocket and immediately clutched his left knee. According to Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Vikings players "freaked out," started swearing, and prayed as trainers tended to Bridgewater.

Going into his third season in the NFL, Bridgewater has shown steady improvement under center, which led to the Vikings finishing first in the NFC North with an 11-5 record last season. The visible and audible frustration from Teddy's teammates is a reflection of the team's optimism going into the upcoming season. If Bridgewater misses an extended period of time, Minnesota will need to rely on either veteran Shaun Hill or Joel Stave, a rookie out of Wisconsin. 

Shortly after suffering the knee injury, an ambulance arrived at Winter Park to presumably take Bridgewater to the hospital, where he will undergo further tests. 

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer will address the media later today, per Mike Vensel of the Star Tribune. While Zimmer isn't expected to provide reporters with any definitive answers, we can only hope for the best at this moment.  

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