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Teddy Bridgewater doesn't deny he could have lost leg in horrific injury

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s leg injury in practice last season was one of the freakiest in recent NFL memory, and it was also one of the scariest.

Bridgewater spoke with the media at Vikings camp Thursday and did not deny he could have lost his leg after the injury. Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweeted that Bridgewater didn’t deny he was in jeopardy of losing his leg and spoke about the effort to “save” his leg.

“I’m glad that everyone reacted in a timely manner,” Bridgewater said, according to the Vikings’ Twitter feed.

Given the severity of that injury, it’s amazing that less than a year later Bridgewater was able to do some things in offseason practices. He isn’t practicing in training camp yet as he started on the physically-unable-to-perform list, and there’s no timetable on when he might come off the PUP list.

“We all understand that it’s going to take some time and that’s the message,” Bridgewater said.

Bridgewater said he’s focused on getting healthy, and it doesn’t sound like the Vikings will push anything although they’re happy with his progress.

“For him right now where he’s at is remarkable,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said.

Bridgewater, a former first-round pick, was an ascending player at this time last year. After missing all of last season, the Vikings declined to pick up his fifth-year option, so he can become a free agent in 2018. His football future changed in an instant, on a non-contact play. Practice was called off and ambulances came to take Bridgewater to a hospital, which were the first signs it was not a typical football leg injury. After all he has been through, Bridgewater’s goals going forward are modest.

“I just want to continue to play football,” he said.

Teddy Bridgewater, shown here in a June minicamp, is still working back from a terrible leg injury. (AP)
Teddy Bridgewater, shown here in a June minicamp, is still working back from a terrible leg injury. (AP)

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!