EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who threw for the first time on Tuesday after sitting out last Thursday's game against the Seattle Seahawks with a sore shoulder, said he expects to play in the team's third preseason game on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers.
Bridgewater would not discuss how long he expected to play, whether he would throw deep passes in practice or the background of his injury, which ESPN reported on Friday. But he made it clear he's not worried about his health. "I feel good," he said. "I feel very good."
The third-year quarterback did not throw a pass on Saturday or Sunday, and stuck mostly to short throws and passes over the middle in practice on Tuesday. His longest throw of the day was about 15 yards, and it was intercepted by Harrison Smith. Coach Mike Zimmer would not confirm or deny that Bridgewater had a shoulder issue on Tuesday, but said, "If he had an issue with his shoulder, then I'm going to make sure that I err on the side of caution." Sources told ESPN on Friday that Bridgewater would have played against the Seahawks had it been a regular season game.
Offensive coordinator Norv Turner said the Vikings have not decided how long their starters will play on Sunday, in the team's first game at U.S. Bank Stadium. "We're getting Teddy ready to play this week, and we'll see how the week goes," Turner said.
The Vikings kept their first-team offense in for most of the first half on Thursday night in Seattle, sitting Bridgewater because of what Zimmer called a coach's decision and holding out Adrian Peterson, who hasn't played the preseason since 2013 and hasn't recorded a carry since 2011.
Zimmer was mum Tuesday about whether Peterson would play Sunday, saying he didn't want to reveal to the Chargers whether the running back would be on the field for the third exhibition game. When a reporter pressed Zimmer on the idea that gaining a competitive advantage was worth being discrete about lineups in the preseason, Zimmer said, "If they knew Adrian Peterson was playing in the backfield, I think they would probably be having a lot of run blitzes and a lot of eight-man boxes and stacking the line of scrimmage." When the reporter then suggested the Vikings would want Peterson to play against such a front, given what he'd likely see in the regular season, Zimmer said, "Well, we'll see in the game."
On Wednesday, while Turner was talking, Zimmer walked behind the back of the offensive coordinator's news conference and said, "Hey, is Adrian playing this week? Is there a competitive advantage?"