On long road back, Bridgewater pumped for another big step
The first preseason game is viewed by most veterans as a chore. A task to get through, a means to an end, a step closer to the regular season. The biggest concern, for those who do play, is avoiding injury.
Teddy Bridgewater, however, doesn’t fit into that category.
His eyes widened and he smiled broadly when asked about Friday night’s opener against the Falcons at MetLife Stadium. When the 25-year-old quarterback steps on the field, it will be his first preseason action in nearly two years — another big step on his road back from his career-threatening left knee injury at the end of training camp in 2016.
“I’m looking forward to these upcoming preseason games, just getting out there and having fun, playing football again,” Bridgewater, battling veteran Josh McCown and rookie Sam Darnold to be the Jets’ starting quarterback, said Monday following training camp practice. “I look forward to every day. Some people might say, ‘It’s training camp, the grind of things, can’t wait to get to the regular season. Things will be easier.’ But I look forward to it. Embrace the grind, because it was once taken from me.”
Todd Bowles made it sound likely Bridgewater and Darnold will get a bulk of the action Friday, both in need of the reps. Having a solid camp, Bridgewater got off to a slow start Monday, improving as the practice went on. The highlight was a rifle throw to Robby Anderson on a deep crossing route that beat a double team, the kind of pass that should instill confidence in decision-makers — for the Jets or other teams — that Bridgewater hasn’t lost it.
“Those a re throws you expect to make being a quarter back in the National Football League ,” he said .“Making a throw like that, it excites you, because we love big plays. That’s what you like to see. We run those plays and call those plays for a reason.”
Bridge water appeared in one game last year, throwing two passes in a rout of the Bengals on Dec. 17. It was his first action since dislocating his left knee, tearing his ACL and suffering other structural damage from a non-contact injury during a Vikings practice on Aug. 30, 2016. That injury came on the heels of a breakout 2015 season, when he completed 65.3 percent of his passes, threw for 3,231 yards and 14 touchdowns in a Pro Bowl season. But the Jets have yet to see much rust.
“He’s sharp, man,” McCown said. “Obviously, he’s had a long road of just recovery with his knee, but his mind has been in football. You can tell.
“I’ve been really impressed with everything he’s done.”
Bridgewater never lost faith despite how badly his knee was destroyed and how long the road back was. He didn’t consider his career in jeopardy. His mother’s personal battle with cancer taught him a lesson. Rose Murphy never got down and beat the disease.
“She always said the cancer feeds off negativity,” he said. “Watching her remain positive through what she went through gave me this positive mindset and never allow any doubts or negative thoughts to creep in.”
It remains to be seen where Bridgewater fits with the Jets, if he does at all. If Bridgewater plays well in the preseason, it would heighten his value in the quarterback-needy league.
But he’s not worried about his future, not yet at least. His eyes are on the games that don’t matter — because to him, they absolutely do. “I live in the moment. You control what you can control,” Bridgewater said. “For me, it’s coming to work every day and putting forth my best effort, leading my group up and down the field and throwing completions and getting up in and out of the right plays. “That ’s what I look forward to right now.”