Teddy Bridgewater Absent from Vikings OTA Due to Dr. Appointment for Knee Injury

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater did not attend the team's organized team activities on Wednesday due to a doctor's appointment, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com.

The news comes a day after the Vikings shared a video of Bridgewater taking snaps from under center and throwing passes:

"He is not cleared for practice, so I want to make that perfectly clear," general manager Rick Spielman said on Wednesday, per Goessling. "Basically, [what he did Tuesday is] what he's been doing, except we're able to do it on the field now as part of Phase 3 [of the team's offseason program]. That's part of his rehab protocol at this point."

He continued, "As it goes, day to day, can he do a little bit more? I don't know where that's going. We'll just take it a day at a time."

Spielman also spoke about the team's decision to release the video of Bridgewater taking reps.

"I knew it was going to be a question of, 'Why is Teddy not at practice?'" Spielman said. "We wanted to at least put something out there to show this is part of his rehab, and part of his rehab program. It gave you guys an opportunity—because you weren't going to be able to see it today—to see what he was able to do yesterday."

Bridgewater, 24, suffered a torn ACL and dislocated left knee in the August 2016. He was the team's starting quarterback going into last year, though his injury ultimately led the Vikings to trade their 2017 first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for Sam Bradford.

While Bradford played decently in 2016 (3,877 yards, 20 touchdowns, five interceptions) and led the Vikings to an 8-8 record, a healthy Bridgewater would compete for the starting job and create an interesting quarterback controversy in Minnesota. 

But with Bradford on the roster and the fact that Bridgewater's injury was so serious there were concerns his playing career might be over at one point, there's little reason for the Vikings to rush Bridgewater back into action.