BRADFORD GIVES VIKINGS REAL HOPE
New QB shows toughness, talent in debut
For a guy best known for his injury history when he arrived two weeks ago, Sam Bradford earned a lot of points for not backing down from a beating in his Minnesota Vikings debut.
“That dude is one tough (expletive),” Vikings guard Alex Boone told USA TODAY Sports after Bradford completed 22 of 31 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns (and officially took 10 hits) in a 17-14 triumph against the rival Green Bay Packers.
“There were a couple times he got hit — I thought he was dead. He wasn’t moving, so I had to pick him up. I’m like, ‘Sam, don’t be dead.’ Next play: (Expletive) bullet. You’re going, ‘Jesus, this guy’s a beast!’ ”
The Vikings needed that production and resiliency from their new quarterback on a night they again struggled to get star running back Adrian Peterson going before he was carried to the locker room in the third quarter with a right knee injury.
Bradford, 28, also went briefly to the locker room Sunday for an X-ray after taking a helmet to his left (non-throwing) hand on the Vikings’ first touchdown drive, causing nasty swelling from his wrist to his pinkie that was captured by NBC’s cameras.
“It was nice and fat,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said of Bradford’s hand. “But he’s gutsy. Just to stand in there and take hit after hit — it speaks volumes of him as a player and a person.”
Equally impressive: Bradford outplayed two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers with all of two weeks to learn Norv Turner’s offense and about a half-dozen practices under his belt, including three last week getting most of the repetitions after veteran backup Shaun Hill started the opener.
Coach Mike Zimmer said the plan was to get Bradford into that first game at the Tennessee Ttians, because he didn’t think the first regular-season game at new $1.1 billion U.S. Bank Stadium, not to mention one on na- Sam Bradford leaves the field a winner in his Vikings debut.
tional TV against a blitz-happy Packers defense, was the best atmosphere for the former No. 1 overall draft pick to make his Vikings debut.
But it didn’t seem to bother Bradford, who connected with Rudolph on an out route for the first score (and took a hit from Clay Matthews) and Stefon Diggs on a post for the second (and took a hit from Mike Daniels). Perhaps Bradford’s best throw was a 44yard strike on a deep crossing route to Diggs, who made a fingertip grab that helped set up a field goal before halftime.
“It’s unbelievable to have timing like that when we haven’t even been together for two full weeks,” Rudolph said.
Bradford is only here because of a season-ending knee injury to third-year pro Teddy Bridgewater, who was hurt Aug. 30. Four days later, the Vikings traded a firstround pick and change to the Philadelphia Eagles, flew in Bradford that night and began immersing him in an offense he’ll be learning all season.
“Right now, it’s still in the phase where I have to translate it in my mind to what it was in a previous offense, because that’s what hits my brain first,” Bradford said.
The Vikings had believed in Bradford in part because his former coordinator in St. Louis and Philadelphia, Pat Shurmur, is their tight ends coach, providing insight on how they could meld the scheme to his strengths and weaknesses. They also had extensive access to Bradford’s medical records, thanks in part to head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman’s time on the Eagles staff.
Bradford passed the team’s physical and his first test Sunday night, on multiple fronts.
“He can throw the ball,” Zimmer said. “He’s got some toughness about him. This isn’t his first rodeo, so he’s had opportunities to get in there and to go. He was pretty composed all night. ... It was a good start.”
The tests only figure to get tougher the longer the Vikings might be without Peterson, who remains the focal point of their offense, even if the numbers through two games don’t show it.
By playing like this, and holding up physically, Bradford provided something unexpected: reason to believe the Vikings have a chance to be a dangerous with Peterson or without him.
Not that letting Bradford get knocked around like that every week is a good long-term plan.
“He took some hits he shouldn’t have taken,” Boone said of Bradford. “He delivered the ball well. Just an overall great performance by him.”